The Power of Mentorship; An Interview with Kevin Lyons
An interview with Kevin Lyons, Senior HR Manager at Pearson by Zoe Schulz
Kevin is an HR expert and Global Diversity and Inclusion Advocate for Pearson, whom he’s worked for the past four years. On top of this he’s a key member of their LGBTQ+ network, Spectrum, leading on their allies’ program, plus he is co-chair of their disability and accessibility network, with an expertise within neurodiversity. Intersectionality is core to how he approaches his work within these networks, making sure he’s involved with and learning from the other networks within Pearson too. He has over 20 years’ experience as a mentor under his belt, having been initially inspired by the book Everyone Needs a Mentor, by David Clutterbuck, since then he’s taken part in formal programs, informal mentorship, reverse mentoring and more. Kevin explains that “there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing someone develop their talent and full potential and that’s where I’ve seen the power of mentoring happen.”
One of the many programs Kevin has been involved in is the 30% Club, this is a cross-company programme which is run for the benefit of female progression. This is a program where women can receive mentorship to support them with their career progression and exists to help combat the gender inequality we still see across sectors. This also includes reverse mentoring, where senior leaders learn from aspiring and talented women. Kevin is a big supporter of programs that specifically support marginalised individuals, having also taken part in the Saks Institute of Disability’s program and also mentored LGBTQ+ individuals. He explains that one of the great values of mentoring is that it can show LGBTQ+ people that they can excel as their authentic selves, sharing that mentoring has the ability “to convince them of the accepting and inclusive culture within a company, which gives them the strength to be themselves and to get the best from the talent they possess.”
When it comes to successful mentoring, Kevin advocates that setting goals are paramount. At the beginning of a relationship with a mentee, he will always set outcomes and discuss what they would like to achieve together. On top of this, Kevin suggests setting up consistent meetings as he has always found flexible, effective and regular communication to be key. When it comes to finding the right mentor, he advises to start by thinking who inspires you, “if you approach that person, invariably people say yes. People are very welcoming to helping others when asked.”
To Kevin, mentorship isn’t just beneficial to the mentee, but everyone involved. He explains that being able to talk to different people about their challenges and experiences gives you the invaluable lesson of understanding a different perspective from your own. This is something we especially need at the moment, as he has observed “right now, in the lockdown, I’ve seen that mentoring has had a very beneficial effect. To be able to reach out to your mentor, to someone you trust, at a time where we are all finding this different and challenging and to keep your focus on your development despite our world being turned upside down is motivational and enriching.” Although the pandemic has taken many things from our everyday lives, Kevin doesn’t think this should be a reason to prevent mentoring, especially with the technology and tools we have available to us, as he believes mentoring is a way to connect us and can be done just as effectively remotely.
Looking forward, he is focused on developing a formal LGBTQ+ mentoring programme for Pearson. Although this is currently at early stages, he hopes to draw on his previous experiences and open up the conversation to learn from others that have done this previously. He shared the importance of having these specific programmes “having been involved with the disability mentoring programme, I’ve seen the value of focussing on a particular area and am particularly interested in LGBTQ+ youth and mentoring of youth and the challenges that a younger LGBTQ+ person faces and how mentoring can benefit in that situation.”
Mentoring has been important to Kevin for several decades and this isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Throughout the years he has learnt the vital role that mentors from senior positions play in ensuring everyone can thrive in the workplace, especially as they have the power “to show their mentee that the environment is inclusive, accepting and respectful”, so this is exactly what Kevin plans to continue to do.
