Meet a mentee

Anthony McCourt - Director, The Cube

Anthony is a 28 year old property developer working at The Cube.  Anthony was formerly a commercial development lawyer with Wragge & Co, having studied law at the University of Birmingham. In 2008, Anthony was awarded Birmingham Young Professional of the Year, at the time the youngest winner. 

Anthony is a keen advocate for the City and this year was included in Business Insider’s ’42 under 42 entrepreneurs’ list to watch in 2011.  Anthony is also Chairman of the Enterprise Academy in the West Midlands, the UK’s first Academy dedicated to Business and Enterprise for 16-19 year olds.

What difference has mentoring made to you?

I was sceptical at first as to how mentoring could help me, especially if the mentor wasn’t directly involved in the sector you found yourself in.  However, I’m very glad I joined the Future mentoring programme and over the course of at least 12 sessions in a year, I valued the ability to be wholly honest with my mentor about my career progression, my instincts that the legal profession wasn’t for me and we then worked out an exit route into business.  It’s made a huge amount of difference to my career to date and I’m glad I signed up.

What benefits have you found to be being a mentor/being mentored?

I’ve been lucky enough to both mentee and mentor.  As a mentee, I had access to a senior business figure who was an excellent sounding board on a variety of issues and could really tune in to some of the topics we covered, such as career progression, work/life balance and personal franchise and how to grow it.  As a mentor, again, this is a mutual process and I learnt a lot from my mentee and how they approached some issues in business.  It was great to be able to share experiences with someone not directly within your sector, and as with all skills and lessons, they’re pretty transferrable to whatever business you find yourself in.

Would you recommend mentoring? Why?

I think every business person, whether junior in a professional organisation or a chief executive of a large corporate, should have a mentor. It’s in this relationship, that we can air views, share experiences and have a confidential sounding board for the everyday and longer-term questions we find ourselves having to answer and judge.  

Can you give a specific example of when a mentor has helped you?

As mentioned above, when I had made the decision to leave my legal career, my mentor was able to chat through some of the opportunities and challenges that this decision would bring, and in a discrete confidential manner and in doing so, I could talk through the decision with someone I trusted and in someone who I respected.

Is there any advantage in having a mentor from a different sector?

I used to see this as a disadvantage.  When I started, I queried why I didn’t have someone who directly knew my industry (and most likely the people in it!). In retrospect, I’m very glad my mentor didn’t have a detailed knowledge of the industry and its individuals, that way, I was able to be wholly honest with him and in return, he provided a fresh perspective on some of the issues and often came at a question/issue from a totally different angle, which helped and made the conversation that more engaging.