Winner - Steven Wheatley, Specsavers
The Mentor of the
Year is awarded to a Manager, Team Leader or Mentor who have supported an
apprentice as they complete their Intec Programme. The stand-out winner and our first ever
Mentor of the Year is Steven Wheatley of Specsavers.
Steven has been fundamental in apprentice Kirby
Raper’s development. His transformational leadership style, valuable support,
advice and guidance has allowed Kirby to grow exponentially in her role. Kirby,
also an apprenticeship award winner in 2021, has progressed from apprentice to Specsavers’
Clinical Manager in less than 4 years.
“Steven
took me on as an apprentice nearly 5 years ago and has been nothing but
supportive ever since. When I first started at Specsavers, I was shy, quite
negative and lacked massively in self-belief and confidence. With Steven’s
help, I have really come out of my shell and I have been able to achieve what I
have.”
“When
Steven first found out about the Intec leadership apprenticeship Specsavers
were offering, he put me forward. Throughout the course he’s supported me
whenever I needed him and always gave me time away from the shop floor to
ensure I had my work completed on time.”
“Steven
helps me grow each week which has helped me become a Manager of a store,
achieved a Distinction in my Team Leader Level 3 and move onto the level 5
Operations Manager programme. He has pushed me beyond my comfort-zone but he
sees the potential in me and wouldn’t do this if I thought I couldn’t achieve
it.”
Kirby
initially saw Steven as quite cold in his management style but as she has
developed on programme, she now understands how his constructive feedback has
challenged her and how he has a strong belief in her abilities.
Steven
comments: “Chimp-paradox is a book which was ground-breaking for me. I
recognised a lot of this book in Kirby’s approach to life, so I purchased it
for her Christmas. I’ve always wanted Kirby to realise she can’t always be ‘the
best friend’ and the need for tough love.
The key is always being able to justify your feedback. I give Kirby
freedom to do her role as I trust her, however, any self-inflicted issues I
will feedback to her. She is well aware
that I will always be able to justify my comments be it positive or negative…this
is the relationship we have now and this feedback is two way.”
“My
main support for Kirby has come in the form of changing her mind-set. Through my own experience, I know the
transition to Manager can be tough mentally. The best learning experiences I
had were sadly due to ‘mistakes’. My goal for Kirby (and all my staff) is to
make sure they have a better support network.”
“Our
store has around 40 staff, many with long tenures and lots of experience. As a
young Manager, Kirby often felt like ‘who am I to tell them what to do?’. I
made it my mission to eradicate Kirby’s imposter syndrome mind-set and
re-affirm constantly ‘why I made her Manager’ and that I trust her to do the
job. To help her grow into the role, I decided to make her accountable for our
8 person clinical team. To empower her,
we focused on the basics: ‘a one-minute chat daily’ and ‘getting in the habit
of saying thank you’ - it knocks down mental obstacles/barriers quickly and is
definitely good habits to have for business."
Assessor,
Sally Furnish, witnessed first-hand how Steven’s approach has helped shape Kirby
into a confident competent Manager: “He has given her advice and directed her
in finding her own path. Although he guides her, he does not dictate to her and
is very much a mentor and coach. She feels motivated, respected and sees that
she is a crucial part of his succession plan.”
“Steven
cares about his staff and is the epitome of what a transformational leader is;
inspirational, democratic, supportive and motivational. He is no way a push
over or diplomat but his style, whilst direct is also very democratic and he
listens to his staff and ensures he gets the best out of them.”
Congratulations Steven!
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