Charlotte is Strategy and Decarbonisation Director at Bring Energy, and a DHN Board member. Her unique role is a three-fold: developing long-term Net Zero strategies for Bring Energy’s existing Heat Networks, analysing and preparing for future policy and regulation, and managing new heat networks opportunities.
Her experience in mentoring has been extremely varied, from in-house civil service schemes to cross industry and peer to peer relationships, both as a mentee and a mentor. Her advice?
“Whatever grade you are, seize the opportunity to be part of a mentoring programme! It can be beneficial to your career and support your individual growth”.
Discover Charlotte's testimony below.
“I got into mentoring quite late in my career, during my time in the civil service. Mentoring in the civil service was actively promoted and encouraged as part of your objectives; the mentoring scheme included training, a great way to understand its benefits and have a proper introduction to it. I started as a mentee but became an active mentor fairly quickly.
Mentoring has supported me at turning points in my career: when I was navigating a new sector, understanding the politics in a new space, or wondering about my next steps. It has always been beneficial. From my experience, it is important to test the chemistry and make sure you define clear objectives at the beginning of any mentoring relationship. You need to think about its purpose and the added value it will have for both parties from the start.
You might encounter a few challenges. If it’s work-related mentoring and dealing with issues in the workplace, it can sometimes get more personal or emotional. It then comes back to the added value of that mentoring relationship, it is always good to check in and consider if it might be good to look at other routes for support.
People often wonder how to make the time for it. We all have busy schedules and adding something to it regularly could prove difficult. But if this mentoring relationship is valuable, then you will naturally find the time for it. It needs to match your workload, but you could think of it as training – because in my experience, you learn as much being a mentor as a mentee. Being a mentor has made me a better manager and supported my own development. Getting insights on different career paths and ambitions is also fascinating and it played an important a role in both my personal and professional growth.
Mentoring is also a great way to improve retention in our ever-moving sector and to address the skill gaps. Mentoring means gaining advice from different perspectives and can break down barriers. Something I haven’t done yet, but I would love to, is to participate in a reverse mentoring programme. I strongly believe that exchanging ideas and perspectives with more junior profiles across the industry could be very beneficial.
There are lots of great mentoring programmes out there. I’d recommend you check out the HEMP run by the District Heating Divas or ReWiRE run by Regen SW – I’ve participated in both, and they’ve been good experiences helping matchmaking relationships across the Heat Networks and wider Renewable Energy sector.
In a nutshell, whatever your grade and your level of experience, go out and do it! Mentoring is a great way to help you work through career questions and goals, break down barriers and network across the industry. It’s also excellent to get out of your daily bubble and actively talk outside of the transactional workspace.”
Comments