Tapping into the Transformative Power of Mentorship

Pat Murphy, founder and CEO of MCA, and Victoria Ijeh, CEO of Iconic Steps, met by chance. It was at the Cannes Lions festival last year in 2023 that Pat offered his services as a mentor to an audience full of people, keen to ‘pay forward’ all the great mentorship he received over the course of his career. Later that evening, Victoria found herself sitting next to Pat at a dinner and decided to take him up on the offer.

Iconic Steps is a “social enterprise that gives hard-to-reach young people unique and exciting opportunities to develop essential skills through media training in order to prepare them for employment,” in its own words so, in that sense, Victoria isn’t new to mentoring. She’s also not new to being mentored as says she’s been doing it since the start of her career and her company. She’s always chosen her mentors carefully, looking at what skills and experience she’s missing and would like to get more of. Iconic Steps is a “growing business,” says Victoria and she knew that at this stage she needed someone at the CEO level of a larger organisation to help it reach its next stage. “I didn’t think that I’d ever be in a situation, environment, or a network that would lead to meeting someone at Pat’s level. But everything aligned,” she adds. For Victoria, securing her next mentor was doubly vital because she was on maternity leave and she wanted to continue being connected to the industry and continue to help her business operate, “even if I’m not there day to day.”

To ensure that the mentorship ran smoothly, Pat set aside monthly time for a meeting with “no excuses -- I do it because it’s in my diary.” Soon, the monthly meeting was not enough, as Pat realised that there was a lot more to cover. “I’ve tried quite hard to make myself available to Victoria whenever.” Why the shift in approach? “I passionately believe in what Victoria is doing, and most importantly we have good chemistry. When you get on with someone, you want to help them even more. When I see that someone has a lot of potential, I want to give them whatever time is necessary,” Pat says. “I don’t know if that’s the right way to be a mentor but that’s what feels right to me.”

 

Clear goals

Though Pat has never mentored someone officially, he knew he wanted to approach the process with structure and clarity. The very first meeting between him and Victoria focused on two things: values and goal setting. “I thought that was fantastic,” says Victoria. They found that they shared core values: respectfulness; the idea that ‘good enough’ wasn’t good enough; and a pioneering attitude. Pat was also realistic with her about what he does and doesn’t know, and how he can supplement the latter. “I put my whole business at Victoria’s disposal. That includes anyone in my team and anyone in my network that I can tap into which, I think, is a great thing for a mentor to do,” Pat explains.

They also drew up a contract outlining the goals Victoria hoped to achieve and agreed to review at the end of the year - the mutually agreed duration of the mentorship. Each meeting likewise has an agenda, giving them structure and purpose although they both admit that often the meetings go off-piste as things like this do between people who genuinely get on and enjoy each other’s company. “It’s actually very structured,” Victoria reports, “our last meeting was about reflecting on what’s been achieved and where I want to go next.” Pat notes that a key thing is that they “have a laugh too,” about the situations Victoria finds herself in, and Pat as well, with Victoria bringing a fresh perspective to some of his business dilemmas.

The next step feels like an organic one, thinks Pat, and it’s for Victoria to attend MCA’s board meetings so she can start to learn how a board meeting might run. “There’s so much to learn from being in the boardroom, hearing those conversations, and observing meetings at that level,” he says. “I think it will be exciting for Victoria but I’m also hoping that she will bring something to the table. I’m very happy for her to chip in when needed since she brings a fresh perspective that I can’t get from anyone else.”

Victoria has some advice for anyone looking for a mentor. “Anyone can be a mentor! I’ve always approached it by knowing very clearly what I want to get out of mentorship and then I’ve just asked people. So I would say keep your eyes open and be aware of whether the people you’re interacting with can teach you what you want to learn.” Her other piece of advice is to have clear goals so no one feels like their time is being wasted. For Victoria this was a mix of pragmatic skills like presenting and pitching and broader strategic guidance on business growth and development; both areas Pat was more than capable to help with, individually and with the assistance of his vast professional network. Pat confirms that simply reaching out and asking is a good approach to take. “Most times if you just ask people to mentor you, they will say ‘yes’ because busy people don’t actually get asked often, if at all. People at a certain level want to give back. I was delighted when Victoria asked me because I had never been asked before and I liked what her organisation stands for,” he adds.

 

A leader’s duty

Pat is direct about encouraging industry leaders to mentor the next generation. “I think we have a duty to be mentors and to give something back. Once at a certain level and having achieved certain accolades, I do think it becomes a duty. I used to work at Procter & Gamble and one of the things about senior people there was that they were never elevated in the company unless they were helping to bring up the people underneath them. People had to ensure that they were tutoring and mentoring those that would come after them; there was not another way to succeed. I have adopted that responsible approach to business and life”

As their year together drew to a close, Pat and Victoria decided to extend the mentorship by another 12 months. “There’s still so much for me to learn from Pat and so many resources to tap into that I’m really happy to continue for another year,” Victoria says. Pat agrees: “I’m really looking forward to the next 12 months because there’s just so much more for us to do and have some fun along the way.”

If you are interested in mentoring a young person into the creative industry, join Iconic Steps mentoring programme through completing the form.