In a time of uncertainty, who in marketing can you turn to mentor you?

During a time of uncertainty, we look for guidance. 2020 has been a year of professional uncertainty for many of us. Work from home, working remotely. The changes impacting many businesses. Some impacted financially, others having to go through accelerated transformations to cope and adapt.

There is general anxiety about what will come next. A recent survey reported that around 69% of employees said the Covid-19 pandemic has been the most stressful time of their entire professional career with almost half saying they worry about the future of the company they work for, and their job specifically.

It is particularly challenging for those marketers working inside smaller enterprises where, remote working means losing contact with your colleagues, but where marketing peers may be in short supply. So, who can you turn to for independent help and advice? Especially in this time of uncertainty.

During the lockdown, earlier this year, we decided to pilot a mentoring program for marketing. More specifically for people working in marketing in Australia. At a time of so much disruption and uncertainty, it was the ideal opportunity for creating a platform for people to connect professionally and personally.

Very quickly the pilot engaged 150 marketers from a broad range of companies, disciplines and backgrounds. The pilot of the Marketing Mentors ran for just over four months. Because of the success of that pilot and incorporating the lessons we have learned from the experience; we have relaunched the TrinityP3 Marketing Mentor Program once more.

Now, I know this is not the only mentoring program in Australia. It is not even the only mentoring program for marketing. There are some terrific programs in place already in Australia. So, what makes our Marketing Mentor Program different?

Well, firstly it is available to any member of the marketing community living in Australia, irrespective of gender, age, culture…

To be a member of this community, all you need to be is working in marketing, within the broadest definition of the term.

It could be advertising, media, AdTech or MarTech, human-centric design, graphic and corporate design, marketing procurement, media sales, public relations, corporate comms, or any one of the vast numbers of other marketing services. If you think of yourself as working in marketing, you can join.

The purpose of the TrinityP3 Marketing Mentor Program is to create a community and provide a platform for all professionals within the broader marketing community to be able to share and receive mentoring beyond category silos and company boundaries.

By facilitating the sharing of experience and knowledge through mentoring, we can help prepare all within the marketing profession to deal effectively with the challenges ahead.

Next, the program is hosted on a platform that uses AI to match mentors with mentees and mentees with mentors. But you make the decision on who you choose. The platform simply makes recommendations based on your profile.

The platform is from MentorCloud, who’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Ravishankar Gundlapalli, is the author of the book “The Art of Mentoring: Simple Tools and Techniques To Achieve Your Full Potential,”

Plus, they have the industry-leading technology, including the use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence algorithms within IBM Watson, to pair users as mentors and mentees, and facilitate mentoring sessions and relationships. The platform provides video conferencing and chat tools on web and mobile platforms, making it extremely effective and easy for mentors and mentees to interact. Their vision is to impact 100 million people with the power of mentoring.

Finally, the traditional vision of a mentor is a senior person in your industry with whom you sit down once a month for guidance and advice. But we found in the pilot this was turned on its head. In 2020, the world and the workplace are more complex and the demands more complicated than ever. You need different mentors for different needs.

Even with my many decades of experience, I found it invaluable taking on a mentor during the pilot and will do so again in this program.

It is your choice. You can have one mentor or a couple of mentors. You can be a mentor. Or you can have a mentor. Or both. You can check out being both a mentor or a mentee or both here.

So, the only question is, are you looking for a mentor? If so, you can find out more at https://www.trinityp3.com/marketing-mentors/.

What do you do to ensure your business is resilient?

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