Interview with Cross Mentoring participants
The Cross Mentoring: program is one of the Talent to the Top programs, intended for management potentials who, as mentees, have a mentor (senior manager) from another organization for one year.
The participants are linked to a mentor by Talent to the Top on the basis of their profile and development questions. After a plenary kick-off meeting in January, they have four to six mentoring meetings during the one-year programming period. For this they receive guidelines and tips and they can attend a preparatory workshop.
This year we follow 3 couples who are on this program, they share their experiences and talk about the development they are going through together. We would like to introduce the first couple: mentor Christina Kruisdijk -Duhen (Head of Category Procurement at ABN AMRO) & mentee Hanna Mironchyk (Product Owner / Data Steward at Rabobank). In the article below they introduce themselves to you.
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I am a 52 year young developing-oriented manager with a care for people and organization. Motivated, decisive, energetic, enthusiastic and passionate. Extensive management experience where the strength lies in switching between the various levels. I don’t hide for difficult situations, but engage them by analyzing and converting them into new opportunities. Drive to provide space for everyone’s talent and to work with self-organization.
What are your main drivers when it comes to your work?
Psychological safety, working from everyone's strength and room for development is what I aim for in a team. Contributing to the strategic topics of the organization from insight and overview. Not only making the strategy or design but contributing to the execution as well.
What do you still plan to achieve in your current role?
More movement towards self-organisation and to have the added value of procurement growth for the organisation.
For what reasons did you decide to participate in the cross-mentoring program?
I love to engage with people from other organisations and to learn from each other and contribute to diversity and inclusion.
How did you find the first meeting with your mentor / mentee?
It was a good 1st session but I think that a first face to face meeting is preferable but COVID does not give us the opportunity yet.
What expectations do you have of the program?
Get to know Hanna, learn from what key questions are the most important to address and discuss and thereby learn how we optimize organisations to create a better place for the development of talents!
Mentoring is an effective tool to increase diversity and inclusion within organizations: What does ‘inclusion’ mean for you?
Share talents, grow from being open to embrace diversity. Create an inclusive environment within organisations.
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I am a Rabobank employee with a Data Consultant / Data Steward / Product Owner / Project Manager profile. Originally I come from Belarus and I have been living in the Netherlands for more than 10 years.
What are your main drivers when it comes to your work?
Working in the ‘change’ area triggers me. I like to make things structured from unstructured and define the unknown, making complex things easier for everyone.
What do you still plan to achieve in your current role?
I have been working in a specialist profile successfully and now I would like to develop seniority to move to the next level.
For what reasons did you decide to participate in the cross-mentoring program?
It is important to step back and look at yourself from the outside and even with another pair of eyes, that’s why I was happy to take this opportunity.
How did you find the first meeting with your mentor / mentee?
It was a very good experience. I felt connected and it was easy to talk openly.
What expectations do you have of the program?
I expect insights that will help me to develop in the direction I want.
Mentoring is an effective tool to increase diversity and inclusion within organizations: What does ‘inclusion’ mean for you?
This is not a question about which I think a lot, so I do not have a profound answer. In simple terms it means to me: giving same opportunities to people regardless of assumptions and images that you have about people based on their background.