When a senior leader in the Employee Health and Wellbeing space describes an action he took as “one of the genuine joys” of his career, which has been “hugely fulfilling” both personally and professionally, you sit up and listen.
For Charles Alberts, Global Head of Wellbeing and People Experience at law firm Clifford Chance, that action was the decision to embark on reverse mentoring.
“In the workplace, as much as we develop relationships with our immediate and wider teams, it’s often about a particular objective,” he says. “What reverse mentoring enables you to do is meet with someone with a common intent but no agenda. So it creates a far deeper connection between the two of you. That kind of space, in the workplace nowadays, I think is quite rare.”
To hear more about his reverse mentoring experience, and meet his mentor, Giulia Peluso, Associate at Clifford Chance, tune into our latest MAD Leaders Podcast here, or wherever you find your podcasts:
Giulia also talks about how the experience helped her better understand the “pressure” that senior leaders, including senior men, “carry” which is often “not obvious from the outside”.
During this podcast, topics covered include:
- how to best set up a reverse mentoring programme
- how to create psychological safety
- how to use it to sense check Employee Health and Wellbeing initiatives
- the best mindset to get the most out of the experience
- what Charles learnt most about experiencing the world of work from a female perspective, and from the perspective of an employee living with a disability
- what Giulia learnt about the pressures of senior leadership, and the company’s Health and Wellbeing strategy
- the multigenerational workforce and how reverse mentoring could help
- why reverse mentoring is a bit like a dance
If you’ve ever been curious about reverse mentoring, then this episode could be the nudge you need.
Time stamp of the podcast conversation:
00:00 Welcome and Leaders Club (to find out more about joining, see here)
00:35 This Week’s Challenge
01:19 Meet Charles and Giulia
02:17 What Reverse Mentoring Is
03:36 Nerves and First Impressions
05:48 Giulia’s Lived Experience
06:38 Building Psychological Safety
08:53 Intentional Structure vs Coffee Meetings
11:09 Key Learnings and Assumptions
16:32 Calling Out Behaviour
17:50 Disability Inclusion and Language
19:48 How to Make It Work
22:27 Why Leaders Should Make Time
26:22 The Alien Question!
28:06 Wrap Up and Subscribe
