​Hitting the Mentor Jackpot 

 

 

Marcus Niles isn’t prone to exaggeration.  Described as your typical Kiwi bloke, he tends to be more understated. Unless you ask him about his first experience at being mentored. “I’m stoked, I feel like I won the lottery with who I got. There were some real quality mentors in the room. I may be biased but I feel I got the best one for me.” 

 

Having spent the last nine years working as Regional Manager of Squash Bay of Plenty, Niles admits his job had become second nature in many ways. Which is why he was originally hesitant when it was suggested he enter the mentoring programme at Tauranga’s SociaLink, run in partnership with the Mentoring Foundation of New Zealand.   

 

“I sat on it for a week or two. Those thoughts do go through your head - ‘what does it really mean?’ ‘What am I signing up for?’ There was some trepidation about what it could expose…” 

 

Niles eventually caved, but he still didn’t know what to expect. When asked what he was hoping to achieve from the programme, Niles says “I kinda looked at the piece of paper with nothing really in my mind. I didn’t know what mentoring really meant or what I could get out of it. I was a real blank canvas.” 

 

But to his surprise, that didn’t last long upon being introduced to his mentor, Phil Holland. “I didn’t have a problem letting my guard down with Phil to be honest,” Niles reveals. “In the first session, I was telling him some stories about things that I haven’t spoken about with anybody for a long time. He was quite disarming and empathetic in that regard.” 

 

The ability to make people comfortable is one of Holland’s go-to skills. After starting his career in the financial service industry, he quickly worked out that he had a real passion for growing businesses. That saw him head into the business consultant/coaching world with his company Love Your Business. 

 

After hearing about the course through the Tauranga Chamber of

Commerce, Holland saw this as a great opportunity to put his talents to

good use.  “Seeing people morph, grow, transition and believe in what

they’re doing and believe they can do it - for me, it’s honestly more around

the more human element.” 

 

The programme sees mentors and mentees matched together based on

compatibility - what skills the mentor has and what skills the mentees

need. A business development blind date, you could say. 

 

“I always believe people were put in front of you for a reason.” Holland

explains. “The blind date happened, and happened to be a really good fit."

 

“There was definitely a click straight away because I totally got where he

was coming from and I was able to give him that level of trust, hope and

confidence straight away as well."                   

 

Niles agrees, praising Holland’s empathetic approach to nurturing their relationship. “One of the good things that Phil did was really challenge me. “We talked about some of the things that were holding me back in my career and Phil pointed out they could be worked on at a personal level, things like my own confidence. "

 

“It was a real awareness thing, in terms of being aware of what triggers you to react the way you do, then he gives you the tools to react differently or change what you think about those things. It was amazing what he offered and the value he produced." 

 

“I’m more aware of when I go into what Phil calls my red zone,” Niles continues. “There were situations in the past that I probably took personal sometimes." 

 

“He explains why you’re feeling that way and even just being aware of that snaps you out of it.  

That just gives you a level of confidence, it gives you a level of self-worth." 

 

“He gave me some really good practical tools that I use with my colleague in our weekly meetings. I’m able to pass on some of that stuff to him which has been great.” 

 

It’s taken quite a shift for Niles to allow himself to be the centre of the conversation.  “As guys, you don’t spend a lot of time talking about yourself. I’ve always been brought up to be quite humble. Particularly when you’re working in the not for profit sector, you’re always giving - rather than developing yourself you’re developing others, so that was really different."  

 

“Some of the things he’s gone through were similar to stuff I was going through, so he related quite a few stories and that made you feel like it was quite normal - I wish I had done it 20 years ago, I wish I could put my kids through this, it’s awesome.” 

 

Holland’s expertise and hands-on mentoring approach was ideal for what Niles needed to break out of his shell. Holland says “we caught up every week, the odd phone calls and texts to celebrate the wins and achievements during the week. When he had questions and wanted to bounce something, we had the odd email.” 

 

“We had a quick touch base over text just the other day, as he knows I’m always here for him and I’ll always check in on him as well. To see him morph to where he is today has been so rewarding.” 

 

Holland has one last piece of advice - not for his mentee, but for those contemplating putting their name forward to be a mentor.  “Just do it. The big part is always understand your why, why do you want to give?"  

 

“For me, I understand what motivates me in life and one of my motivation themes is legacy. That’s not about what you leave when you pop your clogs at the end of this world it’s about what I can leave every day." 

 

‘The more you put into life, the more you get back. If you’re ever hesitant about ‘what skills have I got’ or ‘what can I give’, get past that and just give.” 

 

Niles echoes his mentor’s views for those looking for professional development, labelling himself  “100% satisfied” and pushing his colleague to take part next year.  “Even if you don’t know what you want, what have you got to lose? The development you get might be something you didn’t expect, you didn’t see any weakness or an area with room to improve - you don’t know what you don’t know.”