Richard is 22, headstrong, overflowing with self-belief and entirely confident in his own judgement. He has just taken control of a little travel shop in North Birmingham and fully expects to have created the next travel powerhouse within a few short years.
Just six months later Richard’s business is clinging on to survival, having granted way too much credit to the kind of chap he really shouldn’t have. More arse than smart now hey Richard!
Luckily for me I had my father to turn to. An experienced businessman himself, the advice and guidance he gave me through the next few pretty challenging months helped my shop survive, and went a long way to rebuilding my shattered ego. Thankfully, the renewed ego was a tad more rounded.
It would have been nice to have learned in a less painful way that to seek out the thoughts and support of others is a strength, rather than the weakness that Richard at age 22 saw it as. Nevertheless, the deep hurt of the lesson is probably the reason behind it sticking so powerfully with me – and for that I will always be grateful.
I have been lucky enough to benefit from the wise countenance of some incredibly experienced and successful individuals over the past two decades. None more so than our chairman at Holidaysplease, John McEwan, whose industry knowledge and business acumen is a major asset to the board as we continue to successfully grow the company.
In his own charming way, John challenges and stretches us. He offers a perspective that is invaluable and of course John knows the odd person or two in travel, which is always useful.
It was John’s advice that I sought when considering becoming a mentor as part of the fantastic TTG 30 Under 30 programme.
John’s enthusiasm helped convince me to get involved, and so recently I have been at the splendid new TTG Towers learning how to become a great mentor.
And little did I know how much I would learn.
My vision of cosy coffee house chats was soon quashed. For the relationship between mentor and mentee to grow, prosper and be worthwhile there is an awful lot more than good old intuition to be applied.
Which for me, it turns out, is very much part of the appeal.
Of course I want to share the benefit of my 25-odd years in the travel business to help others achieve their business and career goals. But learning new skills and then applying them always brings a renewed freshness – which often then spreads and invigorates other aspects of our work lives.
There is also the opportunity to meet and get to know some of the brightest young things in travel right now. It will be exciting to hear about their ideas and plans.
Today I learned that this is called reverse mentoring, which, having now discovered it – I’m absolutely up for!
