Peer Learning Programs

“I’ve worked for 7 years to become a CA and I still can’t find a job.” A junior (let’s call him Rahul) said this to me over a shaky phone call. He had reached out to me on LinkedIn, freshly qualified, full of hope, and now six months into rejection after rejection. I had been through the same exam pressure, the same uncertainty, the same fear of “what if nothing works out?” So I started helping him in the way I wished someone had helped me. One call became a week of calls. We worked on his resume, ran mock interviews, and slowly rebuilt his confidence. A month later, HE GOT THE JOB he was dreaming about. I thought it ended there. It didn’t. Every time I shared Rahul’s story, more messages came in: “Sir, can you guide me too?” “Sir, I’ve cleared CA but don’t know what to do next.” “Sir, is something wrong with my resume?” That’s when I realised Rahul wasn’t alone. This gap was huge. So a few of us got together and created something simple: a community where young professionals could get guidance without feeling lost or alone. What started with helping one Rahul slowly turned into Mentoverse®, a peer-led network of mentors, job leads, and support that now helps thousands. The best part? Many of the people we once mentored are now mentoring others. A full circle I didn’t see coming. What’s one thing you wish someone had told you at the start of your career? #CA #CAguidance

Finding the right mentor can change the trajectory of your career. But in today’s job market, and especially when nearly a quarter of recent grads are unemployed, traditional mentors alone may not be enough. That’s why Alexis Redding and I wrote a new piece for Fast Company about the overlooked value of peer mentors, or what we call “mirror mentors.” These are the friends and colleagues who know you well, who can keep you accountable, offer encouragement, and share tactical support along the way. Sometimes mirror mentors can even be more helpful than senior mentors. They’re in the trenches with you, they understand your struggles in real time, and they often have the bandwidth to provide the kind of consistent, hands-on support that’s critical during a job search. We shared three key ways mirror mentors can transform your job search: ✔️ Sourcing opportunities, including the hidden job market ✔️ Providing tactical help, from résumés to negotiations ✔️ Offering encouragement and accountability when the process gets tough By building a small mentor pod, you can make the journey less isolating and much more effective: https://lnkd.in/ezJPbFWs Who are your mirror mentors, and how have your peers supported you in your own career journey?

Sharing an approach I’ll be using to kick off the facilitation of an HSE Leaders Forum tomorrow that I hope others might find valuable. Instead of starting with the usual introductions (name, job role etc), I want to focus on the reason we are there: discussing innovative ways to solve the challenges participants are facing in their workplaces or industries. Each participant will introduce themselves by sharing a challenge framed as a "How Might We?" (HMW) statement. This simple method encourages participants to: 1️⃣ Clarify the Challenge: Turning a health and safety challenge into an opportunity helps focus the conversation on possibility. 2️⃣ Spark Collaboration: Open-ended, opportunity-focused challenges invite diverse perspectives and ideas. 3️⃣ Create Immediate Value: Sharing key challenges helps everyone see where they can contribute and connect meaningfully - on the things that matter. "How might we better communicate critical risk management expectations with subcontractors?" "How might we reduce working at height activities in our business?" "How might we assure critical risk controls in real-time?" I’ve found this approach aligns discussions with what really matters, and leaves participants with actionable insights. If you’re planning a collaborative session, this could be a great way to shift from introductions to impactful conversations right from the start. Feel free to adapt this for your own forums or workshops; I’d love to hear how it works for you and if you have any other facilitation tips. #SafetyTech #SafetyInnovation #Facilitation #Learning

Day 8/30 of the Idea to Revenue Mentorship: Something magical happened today. I stopped talking. The group started solving each other's problems. One participant was stuck on their product format. Before I could jump in, three others shared what worked for them. Problem solved in 10 minutes. It made me realise: The best mentorship isn't mentor-to-student. It's student-to-student with a guide on the side. Three powerful shifts emerged: 1. PEER FEEDBACK HITS DIFFERENT When I critique, they listen politely. When a peer who just solved the same problem shares? They take notes furiously. 2. COLLECTIVE WISDOM > INDIVIDUAL EXPERTISE 100 people trying 100 approaches beats one mentor's playbook every time. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY COMPOUNDS Disappointing your peers who are grinding alongside you? That's harder than disappointing a mentor. This is why accelerators work. Why building in public beats building in private. You don't just need a mentor. You need mirrors — people on the same journey. Question: Who are you building alongside? If the answer is "no one" — that might be your biggest bottleneck. Day 8 complete. 22 days to revenue. P.S. The participants helping others the most? They're moving the fastest. Teaching forces clarity.

This week, I facilitated a manager workshop on how to grow and develop people and teams. One question sparked a great conversation: “How do you develop your people outside of formal programs?” It’s a great question. IMO, one of the highest leverage actions a leader can take is making small, but consistent actions to develop their people. While formal learning experiences absolutely a role, there are far more opportunities for growth outside of structured settings from an hours in the day perspective. Helping leaders recognize and embrace this is a major opportunity. I introduced the idea of Practices of Development (PODs) aka small, intentional activities integrated into everyday work that help employees build skills, flex new muscles, and increase their impact. Here are a few examples we discussed: 🌟 Paired Programming: Borrowed from software engineering, this involves pairing an employee with a peer to take on a new task—helping them ramp up quickly, cross-train, or learn by doing. 🌟 Learning Logs: Have team members track what they’re working on, learning, and questioning to encourage reflection. 🌟 Bullpen Sessions: Bring similar roles together for feedback, idea sharing, and collaborative problem-solving, where everyone both A) shares a deliverable they are working on, and B) gets feedback and suggestions for improvement 🌟 Each 1 Teach 1:  Give everyone a chance to teach one work-related skill or insight to the team. 🌟 I Do, We Do, You Do:Adapted from education, this scaffolding approach lets you model a task, then do it together, then hand it off. A simple and effective way to build confidence and skill. 🌟 Back Pocket Ideas:  During strategy/scoping work sessions, ask employees to submit ideas for initiatives tied to a customer problem or personal interest. Select the strongest ones and incorporate them into their role. These are a few examples that have worked well. If you’ve found creative ways to build development opportunities into your employees day to day work, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you!

Engaging shy, introverted students online was tough. The switch to offline sessions was a game-changer! Session Synopsis ➡️Breaking the Ice: The Picture Card Activity sparked energy and conversation, breaking barriers instantly. ➡️The Power of Time: The "86,400 Seconds Activity" taught the value of time. ➡️The Stinky Fish Exercise revealed productivity blockers, leading to strategies for improvement. Key lessons: ▶️ Time is Allocation ▶️ Time is Energy ▶️ Time is Money The Urgent-Important Matrix helped students master task prioritization. 🌌 Mindset Shift: Mindset affirmations sparked "Aha!" moments, showing that time management is energy and mindset management. ➡️Energy Boost A super-energizing activity recharged students after lunch. ➡️ The Double Negative & Flip-Flop tool made grooming and etiquette engaging and fun. Reflect, Learn & Grow: The Start-Stop-Continue method revealed student growth in self-discipline, time management, and professionalism. Key Takeaways: ✅️Offline sessions boosted engagement and energy. ✅️Activities drove reflection, learning, and personal growth. ✳️Students gained tools for self-discipline and professionalism. This wasn’t just training — it was a transformational experience. Which activity would you try next? Share in the comments!

"Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Milk for Free?" is a horrible mindset... when it comes to building your business Too many worry that sharing too much insight upfront will eliminate clients’ need to hire them. But, in reality, holding back does more harm than good. Here’s why giving value freely brings clients to you. Building Trust, Not Dependence Clients pay for more than knowledge; they want unique insights and tailored guidance. Sharing valuable information builds trust, not dependence. By freely offering actionable insights, you establish yourself as a knowledgeable and generous expert—qualities clients remember. Action Step: Share part of your process, like a checklist or framework that solves a specific problem. This builds initial trust and allows you to filter in for your ideal client. 1) Information Isn’t Implementation Clients don’t just want information—they want your expertise in applying it to their unique challenges. They seek transformation. Offering valuable information lets clients experience your approach while highlighting their missing personalized support. -> Action Step: Host a webinar on a common issue, then share case studies that showcase your hands-on impact. 2) Free Value Creates Bridges to Paid Services When clients experience your expertise they are more likely to seek your deeper guidance. Giving valuable insights for free builds familiarity with your methods, making the transition to paid services natural. -> Action Step: End each piece of content with a call to action—invite clients to connect or share a success story. 3) “Free” Expands Your Reach and Credibility Freely sharing expertise increases your visibility. As your content circulates, it introduces you to new clients. This isn’t lost revenue—it’s marketing. -> Action Step: Encourage sharing in your posts to boost reach and credibility. 4) The More You Give, the Stronger Your Brand “Why buy the cow” suggests that giving devalues your work. The opposite is true in consulting: the more you share, the more clients see you as a go-to expert. People remember the problem-solvers. -> Action Step: Consistently publish content that answers questions and offers solutions. In Consulting, Giving is Selling By freely offering value, you aren’t “giving away the milk”—you’re showing potential clients why you’re the right partner. Clients aren’t buying your information; they’re investing in your ability to deliver tailored solutions and guide them through challenges. Generosity is your best brand-building tool.

99% of the best engineering teams I’ve seen share one simple rule: → The more you share, the faster you all grow. 🔁 Knowledge flows both ways: ∟ Seniors mentoring > Seniors managing Real growth happens when seniors teach, not just assign tickets. ∟ Juniors asking questions > Juniors guessing No one expects you to know it all. The ones who learn quickest are the ones who speak up. ∟ Sharing mistakes > Hiding them The team that admits bugs and failures up front fixes them before they spread. ∟ Pair programming > Solo struggle Two brains spot more edge cases. You pick up new habits, shortcuts, and ways of thinking. ∟ Writing docs as you go > Documenting at the end Knowledge that’s shared in real time helps everyone, not just future hires. The best engineering cultures are built on trust and curiosity— Seniors who lift others up. Juniors who bring new energy. Everyone growing, every day. That’s how you build teams that last. That’s how you make work worth showing up for.

Are we realising the potential of our networks to make change happen? Most innovation emerges from collaborative projects where teams openly “borrow” & adapt each other’s (often small but powerful) ideas. Many networks & communities of practice could achieve so much more by experimenting together around collective priorities to generate & share new solutions. This is beyond spreading known “best” or “good” practices. It is about innovating to design new solutions collectively. So I appreciated this piece from Ed Morrison about three different kinds of networks: - Advocacy networks are communities that seek to mobilise people, creating pressure to shift policies, priorities or messages in a particular direction. Their aim is to connect & influence rather than to change how they themselves work. - Learning networks are communities of practice. They share knowledge, compare practice & build shared capability. Learning networks often excel at spread & improvement of existing practice, but only sometimes move into structured innovation work. - Innovating (or transforming) networks are communities that combine their assets - ideas, relationships, data, capabilities - to create new value that none could produce alone. They manage collaboration as a process of experimentation: agreeing a shared outcome, running multiple connected tests of change, learning by doing & amplifying what works across the network. https://lnkd.in/edbbexiG. Every learning network has the potential to become an innovating/transforming network. Some actions to enable this: 1. Build a foundation of strong, trusting relationships within the network, understanding each member’s starting point & motivation for change 2. Focus on helping each other to succeed; listen to each others’ stories & plans, co-coach, give advice to each other & build shared inquiry 3. Move from “sharing” or “raising awareness” to some concrete outcomes the network want to change together through collective experimentation 4. Agree some simple norms for the network so that members help each other to make progress, make it safe to try things, fail fast & share incomplete work 5. Encourage multiple, parallel tests of change around similar outcome so projects can “steal with pride” from one another & quickly refine promising ideas 6. Put simple routines in place for noticing patterns (what is shifting where & why), capturing these insights & amplifying them across the network 7. Add additional success metrics including innovations tested, adapted & adopted in multiple places Graphic by Ed Morrison. Content with added inspiration from June Holley.

Integrating play with structured learning is one of the most effective ways to engage young minds. This "Build a City" activity is a brilliant example of how simple materials like colorful building blocks can be transformed into a multi-sensory educational experience. By following the numbered sequence on the paper, children aren't just playing they are actively developing several critical foundational skills: • 🔢 Mathematical Literacy: Recognizing and ordering numbers to determine the height of each "building." • 🖐️ Fine Motor Development: The physical act of stacking blocks precisely helps build the hand-eye coordination necessary for writing. • 🧩 Spatial Awareness: Understanding scale, balance, and how individual units come together to create a larger structure. • 🧠 Cognitive Focus: Following a specific set of instructions to reach a clear, rewarding goal. As leaders and educators, we know that the most complex systems are often built from simple, well-executed foundations. When we make learning interactive and visual, we foster a natural curiosity that stays with a child long after the blocks are put away. ✨ Save this post to remind yourself that creative, hands-on activities are the building blocks of a child's future intellectual success. 🚀 Repost this if you’re committed to promoting innovative learning methods that keep children engaged and motivated. 💡 Follow Afiya Mohammed BCBA, IBA for more honest reflections on educational leadership, early childhood development, and finding motivation in the small wins.