Tech Trajectory
Presented by DiUS – where growth, grit, and bold ideas collide to uncover the human side of innovation.
Join us each fortnight as we dive into the journeys of trailblazers shaping the future of technology. Through engaging conversations, we’ll explore career highs and lows, groundbreaking ideas, and the challenges of leading in a rapidly evolving industry.
Whether you’re navigating your own tech trajectory or looking for fresh insights, this podcast is your go-to for inspiration, connection, and actionable takeaways.
Tech Trajectory
Unlocking Potential: Mentoring the Next Generation of Leaders and Innovators
In this episode of The Tech Trajectory Podcast, host Chris Davies sits down with Alex Young to explore the transformative role of mentorship in leadership and career development. As a mentor, industry fellow, and innovation leader, Alex shares insights on fostering meaningful mentor-mentee relationships, the importance of self-awareness, and how mentoring can shape not only individual careers but also entire organisations.
1. The power of mentorship in leadership
[02:06] The best mentoring advice Alex ever received and why indirect guidance is often the most impactful.
[03:16] Mentorship isn’t always formal—sometimes, the most valuable lessons come from small, casual conversations.
[05:28] Why Alex dedicates time to mentoring and how it has shaped his perspective as a leader.
2. Lessons from being both a mentor and a mentee
[08:20] How Alex’s first mentor influenced his approach to leadership and ethical decision-making.
[10:50] Why mentorship matters most at the start of a career—helping people who "don’t know what they don’t know."
[14:43] The importance of vulnerability in leadership and how sharing failures fosters a culture of learning.
3. The difference between mentorship and coaching
[19:56] Coaching vs. mentoring: What’s the difference? Coaching is goal-driven, while mentoring is an open-ended journey.
[23:08] What separates a great mentor from a good one—why real mentors care beyond structured sessions.
[27:16] The best mentees are open-minded, proactive, and committed to applying what they learn.
4. Future-proofing leadership in the age of AI
[33:36] How AI is shifting the value of technical skills, and why leadership is about human connection, creativity, and vision.
[36:33] Remote mentorship—how digital transformation has changed how we connect and learn.
[37:49] Where to start if you want to become a mentor, from university programs to startup accelerators.
5. The one piece of advice Alex would give his younger self
[30:11] Say “yes” more often—how taking chances can shape your career in unexpected ways.
[41:17] If mentorship could be summed up in one word, it would be "enriching"—for both mentor and mentee.
Where to find Alex Young
- LinkedIn: Alex Young
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Hi everyone, and welcome to the tech trajectory podcast, where we explore the human side of technology, leadership and innovation. I'm Chris Davies, and today we're talking about something every great leader needs to think about, mentoring the next generation. My guest today is Alex Young, who has a passion for enhancing the lives of those around him, in addition to his roles at oculo Medibank and most recently, Australian Red Cross lifeblood, which sees him introduce and implement impactful innovation, Alex is also an industry fellow for rmits future skills and workforce transformation, a sleep guru and influencer as part of the snooze strategists, and last but not least, a mentor for emerging leaders. Alex, welcome to the podcast.
Alex Young:Thanks a lot. Chris.
Chris Davies:So yeah, lots we want to get through today. You know, talking about your background as a mentor and a leader, but we wanted to inject a little bit fun in the podcast as well, hence why we have the board game operation. So how's your hand eye coordination?
Alex Young:It's pretty good. I've never played it. I know the game, but this will be a first.
Chris Davies:Same here. I mean, I have admit, a little bit of sneaky practice beforehand in setting it up. Didn't go too well. So, yeah, we'll see how we go today, but I think it could be a bit of a hidden metaphor in there, for some of the themes that we talk about today. So things are like patience and sometimes knowing when to step in or even step back. So would you like to kick off with the first move of operation? I think if you take a card, you'll be told what, what you have to remove from our patient
Alex Young:Broken heart. Tell Sam there are plenty of fish in the sea. Fix that broken heart and earn some good money. $700.
Chris Davies:Well, that's that's not too bad. Hey, so as you're doing that, I will ask you the first question, and yeah, try not to set off the buzzer. What would you say is the best piece of advice a mentor has ever given you?
Alex Young:Okay, I buzzed the nose twice, but I got the heart.
Chris Davies:I'll let you get away with that one.
Alex Young:So the best advice mentor has given me, and this interesting question, because my the best advice I got from mentors were indirect, and it was really about observations they shared with me, and one in particular, I remember very young. I was probably 24 during my first startup, and it was really about not judging those around you, and as a young founder of a digital startup, not that I recognized that I was judging others around me, but you know, you're starting to mix with new people different personalities, and as part of that, you have your own set view of how people should work or operate. And it was kind of like my mentor at the time is great at giving little nudges. So it wasn't a direct Hey, by the way, because just a little note here and there that was enough for me to pick up on. Okay, maybe I need to rethink how I consider others around me and how I treat them as well.
Chris Davies:Yeah, yeah, definitely. And yeah, there's lots of things that I'm really interested to explore today on the subject of mentorship. I've never been mentored and I've never mentored anyone myself, but, yeah, I think just interesting how that dynamic works sometimes, of because it sometimes feels like it could be quite formal, whereas if you were saying it was those kind of, you know, little remarks here and there that actually kind of resonate the most. Yes, is that sometimes the case where you know, you don't want it to fulfill too forced. You want it to be like a natural thing.
Alex Young:Well, I was reflecting on this, that in the probably 15 years that I've been doing actual mentoring versus five years. On top of that, being mentored, sometimes it is quite formal, and I don't mind that. I quite like that in terms of, let's agree. You know, I've never met you before. You've never met me before. Let's agree on how we're going to connect and communicate and for how long. But there's other times that you don't think of it as mentoring, but there are those individuals around you or in the workplace that care, and if you ask them a question, they'll, from the heart, give you a response. And there's a whole framing that I think we should have around, how do we be self aware, and how do we askfor help when we need it, and then take that on board. So so big learning when I was younger, which was 1000 people tell you things, but how do you how do you recognize which advice to take on board and open yourself up to that? Because when you're young, full of energy and feel like you can take on the world quite often you don't take on the best advice that you should.
Chris Davies:Yeah, for sure. Yeah, fascinating. So obviously, mentioned a bit of background. Mentored yourself, then became a mentor, and I believe you've mentored, yeah, a lot of different people, a lot of different industries. What is it that that really draws you to it, and why have you kind of given up your time to focus on this?
Alex Young:For me, it's been, I think that the starting point of the motivation initially was, and I remember that the exact moment when I applied, and I've been part of a number of different programs. The first one was young entrepreneurs in the northrun by two square pegs. I've been part of rmits, career counseling, sorry, career counseling, career mentoring and venture mentoring services. VMs, I've been part of stone and chalks. I've done a little bit with startup boot camp as well. So a wide variety. You can see there's a flavor of younger audience, younger emerging leaders, many startup founders, but at the same time, what attracted me was really about, how can I share what I know, but also what can I learn as part of that process? And I think it's not so much the spread of industries that was also interesting, but the spread of ethnicities. So I've that without intending to to target anyone in particular, I've had a mix of guys girls. Last two were one migrant from Somalia, another migrant from Vietnam, worked with individuals in, yes, the social impact space, as well as startups, as well as students that were just trying to find their way out of university and into working life.
Chris Davies:Yeah, incredible. And I think obviously a really broad spectrum of people, or with the unique challenges. How do you think mentorship can help them navigate those, those kind of challenges that they come up against?
Alex Young:I think it's often when you're at that stage of life, you don't know what you don't know. And you're entering every stage of life, exactly, entering workforce, navigating new relationships, trying to understand what are my options and how best to go about them. Similar to me, you may have concepts in your mind, big ideas, but you don't know how to shape them and form them. So quite often, I'll reflect and play back to them, and they'll go, yeah, that's what I meant. So I think for these individuals that there's and I appreciate that they've got the self awareness to seek assistance, because not everyone does, but I think there's a real interplay of a relationship there between the individuals, yeah, yeah, right.
Chris Davies:And is that something you did when, when you were younger? Did you seek out that that mentorship, and was there anything that you know one of your mentors? Did they have a big impact on your career? What did they do that really kind of opened your eyes to something new or different?
Alex Young:My first and only kind of formal one that I had very early when I was doing my first startup. We're still friends now. He very much, it's strange to say, a little bit like a father figure, in terms of when he was only like 10 years older than me, but just in terms of his life experience was enough to give me some guidance. So at that point in my career, I was doing my first startup and navigating this world of Who do I work with, and understanding business ethics. So in the heady world of 2000s dot coms, there was a lot of money about there was a lot of people that were hugely aspirational, and some questionable practices also were around. So I was doing a lot of business throughout Asia Pacific, and sometimes you don't know who to work with and how to judge someone based on the character. So a lot of what he helped me with was just navigating what's what's the norm, or what's the what's the ethical norm when it comes to doing business, yeah, and that sort of set me off in the right direction of, wow, there's you won't read this from a book, but you you learn through the doing, and there's a whole emotional side, particularly as a startup founder, that you're not prepared for. Yeah, when they say, dig deep and it's a roller coaster, it is a roll emotional roller coaster. Some days are great, some days are horrific, up and down, up and down, and you need to be resilient and be prepared for that. And no one really. Is until you're in it. So the support that you get and the support that I had with my first startup and my my mentor, really made an impact for me in terms of of, how can I also provide that guidance to others?
Chris Davies:Yeah, wow, awesome. And I think we'll dig into, yeah, the role that that can play an organizational level, but I think it's my turn to try and, yeah, pull a piece, and I'll ask you a question while we're doing so. So let me pull the card and see which I've got to pull wishbone. Sam's got a wish? Can you make it come true? I'm not sure about that. Take it out quick, but don't break it in two. It's quite nifty. $600. Let me try and do this while I ask you if you could mentor anyone in history. Who would it be, and why?
Alex Young:It's a challenging question. I think, rather than pick an individual, and quite often, we think of individuals as those that have made it, so your Steve Jobs and all this sort of thing. But I kind of think that with mentoring, you want to help people that haven't made it yet, that are at the start, at the beginning, and that's when you can make the biggest impact. So I think it's interesting, like whether it's the workplace or just in the community, if you find the youngest people that are willing to listen and be open, then that that's who, that's who I like to help these days, that those whose lives I can shape in a positive shape or form.
Chris Davies:Yeah, understandable. And I don't think Sam was too happy with me. Then it definitely, definitely buzzed. I don't think I'm deserving of that $600 so, yeah, awesome. So going back to how mentoring can play a part in organizations, it doesn't have to be just obviously one on one. It's about building a culture that supports growth as well. So how can leaders create environments where people feel empowered to learn from others, but also take risks.
Alex Young:I think from what I've seen, leaders that have the self awareness to be open themselves, is the starting point I was probably three years ago now at lifeblood, I set up a kind of like a showcase for leaders across the business to share when things didn't go right in their lives or their projects, and to share what did they learn. So it was really about called a learning showcase, and it's a very polite way to demonstrate we're not perfect, even our leaders. And by hearing personal stories, you develop some empathy for them, and they demonstrate vulnerability. And that went on for about a year, and it was actually very difficult to get individuals to put their hand up and to share very personal stories. And the ones that did step up, which weren't all technically like directors or the most senior but they were clearly very well put together individuals that recognize that that life has its ups and downs. So individuals would share some very personal stories, and that change your perspective of that individual. And yeah, wow, that they're open to reflecting on life and and the good and the bad and rolling with the punches and doing things differently. And then that changes your relationship with them. And so that's a real starting point being that first individual to put your hand up and say, like, I'll share my story and what I did, right or wrong and what I learned, without sharing that and without saying that, it can be seen as and I have worked in corporate, so I know that you you've got your shields up and your defenses up, and any fallibility is a weakness, and so people keep the cards close to the chest or they deny so I think, as a leader in an organization, take the first step and be open to even asking others stories. Make that a ritual. Build it into how the team operates. Offer support. Some organizations offer internal coaching. That's that's often a paid for service. Other ones partner with organizations to get external mentors, even volunteer mentors, or they just internally mentor, which is a really interesting approach as well, but the first step is always vulnerability and self awareness.
Chris Davies:Yeah, amazing. And, yeah, you mentioned coaching. Keen to dig into that as well, because I think the terms mentorship and coaching maybe a little bit of confusion. So yeah, what's the kind of difference, and how can both mentorship and coaching play a role in someone's career.
Alex Young:From my experience, the mentoring is very much about free form conversation, addressing challenges in the mind of the individual at that time. And I know some mentors, and it's interesting you don't go to school or you could do a course in either, which I haven't I've just learned through doing different mentoring roles and understanding different structures and different approaches and what works for different individuals. But the mentoring is very much being an open mind, open book, listening, a lot of listening and giving some guidance and feedback, versus the coaching. Is much more specific. You've got a very specific outcome in mind. Sure, help me finish writing this book. Yeah, okay, help me ensure I hit my targets. What are the habits that I've got around me that I need to remove in order to achieve that goal. So coaching is much more outcome specific. Mentorship could last from I've had single conversations to three months engagements to first wonderful individual that I mentored. We're still friends, and this is the beauty of the process, which is, and I should say, all of my work has been voluntary, so it's all volunteering in these mentorship roles at some point in the relationship. It is why it's wonderful to have the opportunity to mentor younger individuals when they become the teacher, yeah, student becomes the teacher, which is amazing to see that, that you share what you can and at some point you hope to unlock their potential, and you hope that they're better than you, smarter than you, with greater possibilities. And I see that in individuals and and then it's like reverse mentoring, then suddenly they're giving me advice and saying, Alex, why don't you do this? Have you thought about that and like, like, wow, I really appreciate that, because it's not every day you have someone challenging you and not scared to hurt your feelings. Yeah, sure. So that's a really powerful benefit. And you know, the more people you mentor, the more feedback you get over time. So it's a two way street, yeah, and I really appreciate that opportunity to see them grow.
Chris Davies:Yeah, yeah, amazing. Oh, that's awesome. So I think it's your turn to pick a card. We'll see what we get this time.
Alex Young:Water on the knee. Water on the knee has got Sam feeling down. No, take it out quick before his legs rounds.$500.
Chris Davies:And while you're doing that, I will ask you your next question, which, yeah, kind of plays into what we were just talking about. And maybe, oh, it's very well done. Because maybe it was from a you know, former mentee of yours. So what's the most unconventional piece of career advice you've ever received?
Alex Young:I don't know. I hadn't answered this at some point, unconventional career advice. It's I don't have an unconventional career advice mainly because the mentor that I've had, I've rarely had mentoring for me personally, to do with career and more about startup, the startup world, yeah, sure, which, I guess is a career, but, but in that line, I think it was very much about knowing when to move forward and when to step back. So I have, at the time, I had a team of eight in my startup, and sometimes you need to know when to not draw the pictures for the designer, sure, yeah, write the code for the coder, and step back and let them be the experts and let their it's almost like you're sharing the responsibility or sharing the vision with others, and that's hard as a founder, because you're like, Hey, I've been dreaming this every night for however long. I know exactly what it should look like and how it should work and what the future set is. But actually, it's a blessing to share that with others on your team and allow them to contribute, them themselves to it, and that's something that I carry on now in the work that I do to to I have to mentally tell myself, like, like, don't step back, you know, let them run with it, yeah, and it may look different to what you expected, and that's okay.
Chris Davies:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Yeah. Even and the team that we have around us at DiUS, and for example, our design team are incredibly talented and good at what they do. And I've just learned to kind of say, well, yeah, you're, you're the expert here. Like it might not be what I had in mind or slightly different, but hey, I'm going to trust you and what you what you think, and it makes it a lot easier. And I think even yeah, as a as a parent of young children, you pick your battles as well. So moving into the kind of the dynamic between the mentor and the mentee, what practical insights have you got from from both perspectives? So what's what makes an effective mentor? For example, what separates a good mentor from a great one.
Alex Young:Few questions there. I think, I think having great mentors, really care about the individuals they're mentoring, and put a little bit of extra effort into them. And it it's not necessarily a mechanical you can only talk to me between this time and I think the great mentors are willing to develop a relationship over time and be accessible and really open up at the same time. So there's an element of trust between two, initially strangers, basically to get to know each other and to share and at the same time for the mentee to respectfully take on board any advice or opinion. The best mentees I've seen or have had were very open minded, and actually sometimes I'll give homework, and they'll go away, and they'll do it. They really think about it, they really listen. And you can see the change in them very quickly, over weeks, months or years, as they develop themselves. So I think that component of mentors that actually have a process or a structure great value. Some of them just have a conversation. We just sit and have a coffee and we talk. But actually that could go all sorts of directions. Other ones have a clear sort of process where you, the recipient, feel like you're on a journey to somewhere, and it's clear what the somewhere looks like. That's yeah, typically the clarity of process being open with experience, but also not being a mentor who is trying to force too much of their own style onto someone else, something I need to hold back in times and go and let them once again, let them translate it in their own mind in a manner that makes sense for them. Yeah, that's like giving them enough and then let them do the work, let them experience it.
Chris Davies:Yeah, yeah. So I think something off the back of what you said is quite interesting, how a lot of the times could be just complete strangers, and this is the first time you're meeting, and as you said before, in some of the sessions you've had, some people are putting their hands up and, you know, revealing pretty personal things and their struggles and things like that. Yeah, is there some way that you can kind of break the ice with someone so you can get that, that flow of conversation going?
Alex Young:I don't try. If people like Want to share something, they'll share it. Yeah, I try not to. I'm not a therapist. I won't draw it out of them if, then, if that's not what they're comfortable with, then that's okay. But I think that starting point, when you first meet is important, and I say to each of them that, look, let's get to know each other. We've got a half an hour an hour together. Let's just get to know each other. If you feel like we fit. And if you feel like I've got something to offer, let's go ahead and move forward and book something in. If not, I won't be offended if you say, No, yeah, that's right. Just tell me, yeah. Don't go to me. Just Just tell me that, that no, I'm not the right fit. Because every mentor you may be looking for something in particular, whether it's life experience, work experience, it could be something about you've been able to overcome something incredible that I would like to overcome at some point. So they're looking for something it's and you're looking for an individual that sees that you've got something to offer. But as part of that sort of process and getting to know each other, it's just about being open on both sides in terms of and that's the hard bit as well, because. Yeah, it's not always easy to sit in front of a stranger and someone the mentor may be someone much older, more experienced, they may look different to you, and you're trying to work out, how do we connect? Yeah, like, like, business relationships or any sort of networking. It's very hard, particularly if you're on the younger side, to go, oh. And I've experienced that as well when I was much younger, meeting directors in telecommunications, when I was in working in Hong Kong. And I'll go, how do I how do I connect with this individual that's 2030, years my senior, who probably does golfing on the weekend or has a very different lifestyle? So I think it's really trying to that's the skill of the mentor, to be able to draw out what's your goals, Chris, what are you trying to achieve here? What would success look like for you? What are some of the challenges that are top of mind? So those questions, and it comes back to a mentor, will have great questions I'll make you think not a mentor, but someone who I'd say I would love to have, a mentor that I communicated with quite a bit last year gave me the question that had me stumped, which was, Am I afraid of being successful?
Chris Davies:Right? Okay.
Alex Young:I don't think so, but I wrote it down. I've still got written down in front of my monitor, just in terms of, wow, what? What's holding me back? Because over the course of my career, I've had huge highs and then some lows, and then over time, you sort of get to this normal sort of state, yeah, and I know from my level of aspiration, that's, that's not me, but what's drawing me back to this, this sort of normalization, but like a great mentor will sort of ask you those questions that you'll go, Gee, I don't have the answer. I don't know. Yeah, I'll think about, I'll sleep on it. So that's great, yeah.
Chris Davies:Yeah, amazing. And I think we touched upon it a little bit there, but you mentioned what makes a great mentor. What makes it a great mentee? How can they get the most out of the relationship that they have?
Alex Young:Probably three things. One is they're they're committed to the process. They'll turn up. Yep, I have had individuals that just want one chat, okay? And that's it, yeah, and they've actually gone off to do great things, and I'll go, what is that? It? Lots of more, yeah, so that's interesting. Some of them just want to a quick, quick chat, yeah. Others are quite committed. So the ones that do well are committed. They'll turn up, they'll do the homework, they'll be present. All the ones I've had generally like that, that have committed to longer term engagement, but being open minded and following up on work. So from week to week, or fortnight to Fortnite, or month to month. Whenever we meet up, we want, I like to see continuity of the conversation. Last time we talked about marketing and your goals and what you've done to move towards it, what have you done? So there's a real commitment from the individual to achieve what they say they want to achieve.
Chris Davies:Yeah, cool. It's not just a chat. Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. Okay, fantastic. So Right? My turn with the operation, let's see what we get. Funny Bone, the apt for my podcasting style do you think? Sam bumped his elbow, and it's feeling funny. Make it stop laughing to earn big money,$400. I think I'm gonna know how this is gonna go. Which one is the funny bone.
Alex Young:I'd say this side. Yeah. Chris has hit the sides about four times there. Okay, so next going to look at future leaders. So, Alex, I've
Chris Davies:I'm terrible. got a quick fire question for you. If you could go back and mentor your younger self, what's the one piece of advice you'd give?
Alex Young:Great question, I think,quite simply, it would be to say yes more often, even if you're not sure. Okay. So in my career, I've had many opportunities think about thinking about job opportunities over time, as you develop your career, had really interesting job opportunities, and I've always been fortunate in having options. And my first major role, or first full time permanent role, was with Nokia. And at that time it was Nokia Sydney, I had the option of that, which was exciting, global telecommunications company. Fantastic salary. And then at the same time, I had another option, which was a lesser known database organization paying six figures when I was at the age of 21 it's like, what do I go for? Money, big money or passion? Because the Nokia opportunity was working in gaming, which was my real wow, yeah. So I went with passion, and I've, I've learned from that to always go with, what do you what do you think you're going to get the most out of emotionally and learn from the most, rather than the money? And that's driven every single decision I've had for every single role, yeah, which means there's actually been a lot of roles that I've said no to based on that, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened, what? How? How would life have been different if I chose the other options? And there are many along the ways like I always, I don't regret any of the choices, but I always think thatsometimes, even if you're not sure, you should say yes and try it. Yeah, that would be my advice. But to myself, I tell my kids that as well. Just, you know, say say yes more than no, my eldest has a habit of saying no by default to anything. Just experiences, you know, try these things. Little one is definitely the yes column, and he'll always say yes to everything, which is great, because he experiences so much more in life. You know, the foods that he eats? Yes, of course, where I take him on the weekend, that sort of thing. So my advice to myself when I was younger would definitely be, take more chances say yes more often. You don't know where it can take you.
Chris Davies:Yeah, no. 100% agree with that. And yeah, I think I'd probably say the same thing. You know, there's lots of those sliding doors, moments, those What if moments, unfortunately, we'll never know. But yeah, hey, we can, we can live in the theoretical for a little bit. Yeah, so gonna look at what makes a good leader for what the future has in store. So obviously, you know, there's a lot going on at the moment in terms of AI and how it can, you know, augment roles. Lots of talk of whether it will replace roles and things like that. But what skills do you think would be important for leaders in the tech space trying to, you know, navigate the really fast moving, you know, trends that keep coming up. How do you think they'll kind of navigate this, this world moving forward?
Alex Young:I think there's almost a a shift happening when it comes to technical leadership, and you know, AI is playing a big role in that, in terms of the loss of value of some skills as technology can can do it faster or cheaper or better than you. And I think it's the as a leader in this space you need to be aware of what's changing and moving around you. One thing that will never be replaced. They should bank on is your humanity, your your creativity, your connection to people, to relationships, stakeholders, and vision. These are things that that you probably see less of coming out of AI, but more around you as a human, and how you connect and empathize with those around you, that's not going to change, and that needs to be something we hold on to, how we treat each other as we've shifted to this remote working world as well here in Melbourne, some organizations going back, but I'm fortunate to be able to work remotely as much as I like. But as part of that, I think it's really important for leaders to really double down on that self awareness and to really focus on what do they know. So in your in your career, you tend. Into the first half of your career, you're trying to learn everything, and then at some point you wake up, and I did early 40s to think about actually, I do know a bit. I know a lot, and that's the one the beauty of mentoring, that you start realizing these things. You go actually, I know so much. You baseline yourself against your peers and your peers in industry, but actually, there's so much you've got to offer others. So I think for leaders, it's about recognizing what do you know and how is it valuable, and passing that on and in doing so, it's no longer about making yourself the rock star, but you can be a rock star by enabling and teaching and enriching those around you, and you don't have to try hard to do that. You know that's very much about just sharing what you know and being generous with knowledge and experiences. I think they're the kind of people and leaders that people get attracted to, those that are generous with knowledge and not gatekeeping, yeah, yeah.
Chris Davies:Yeah. 100% agree. And I think, yeah, interesting. Some of the things you mentioned there around connection and empathy, is that something, and also mentioned the world of remote work, is that something that's can be a bit challenging with, with mentorship? So, you know, increasingly digital world. How does that kind of work from a mentorship perspective, are you one that likes to get in person, or does it still work virtually?
Alex Young:It's interesting. I've never thought about that before, but it totally changed after COVID. Yes, it used to be coffee catch UPS all the time and and that was great. And I always prefer face to face over virtual, but now it's 90% virtual. I like to meet someone face to face at least once, have a coffee and get to know each other in person. But generally, we're busy people these days, whether students or office workers, we're pretty busy so and quite often these are after hours. Yeah, sure be mine. So the mentoring sessions are usually not during work hours, where we do it evening or weekends. So virtual seems to be the standard now, yeah, okay, and it's not a bad thing. It works out still, it does.
Chris Davies:You can still have those conversations and it's still, yeah, okay, that's good, great. Now we're approaching the end of our chat today. One thing I did want to ask is, if anyone's listening today who says to themselves, I'd love to be a mentor and provide that advice to someone, but don't know where to start. What would you say to them?
Alex Young:I think a good starting point is the universities. Universities often have mentoring programs. So sorry, it's specifically mentors, not mentees, right? Yeah, correct. That feels like have something to give or wants to kind of impart wisdom. Be that open and transparent person. I've got a few experiences here that I think someone could benefit from. Where do I start? Where do I begin? All universities have mentoring programs. I'm most familiar with rmits only because I'm an alumni, and I've been helping them out quite a bit. So University hits have programs that you can go to, the website, submit your name, attend an information session, and they typically do a great job of arranging, connecting days. So information sessions. They also have platforms, so they've got matchmaking kind of platforms, and they run programs. They'll brief and prime the students beforehand, that kind of thing. That's great. So that's it's if you're starting off that it's great to start with uni students, if you've got a special skill set technology startups, design that kind of thing. You may want to participate in accelerator programs. So any accelerator or incubator programs, they often have mentorship opportunities as well.
Chris Davies:Yeah, awesome. And then on the other side of that, mentees worth it. Should they be looking? Do you recommend looking within their own networks, or is it good to kind of have someone more outside?
Alex Young:Think it depends on what you're looking for. Is it career advice? Is it startup, you're doing a startup and we need some help and advice, or is it you're doing a social venture or doing some community project. So depending on what you're trying to achieve, I'd say it depends. A bit of googling doesn't hurt in this space, the very first opportunity I found, oddly enough, was sometimes they're on seek. Sometimes there are volunteering websites or even community notice boards. They're around. You wouldn't have seen them unless you're actually looking there. Yeah. Sure, opportunities are all around us for this.
Chris Davies:Yeah. Okay, great. Now, as I said, approaching the end. So maybe one more move for you, Alex, on the old operation. And one question I will ask you while you do that, you want to reach your card.
Alex Young:Right wrenched ankle. Sam fell down on the basketball court. Now his ankle is all out of sorts, $200.
Chris Davies:I did wonder why that was the piece that was chosen, but it's because he's wrenched. I'm glad it's not too much of a buzz. Oh no.
Alex Young:It's harder than I thought. Yes.
Chris Davies:Are we blaming the equipment or or what?
Alex Young:I'm gonna blame it on the angle. I mean, a funny angle.
Chris Davies:That's a yes. So the question I was going to ask is, if you could sum up the impact of mentoring and just one word, what would it be?
Alex Young:I'd say the experience of or the impact of mentoring is enriching for both parties. In terms of, I hope, I've been able to articulate just how life changing it can be for both parties. You know, there's friendship, there's development, there's sharing of experiences, there's growth on both sides. I think beyond this, the business framing of mentoring, it's very much about community and trust and relationships, and that these shouldn't be just seen as point in time, but this is lifelong, so hopefully people get involved as a mentor, as an or as a mentee, and you're never too old even to be a mentee. These are relationships that you could should consider as part of your network and part of your trusted personal board advisors, type of situation. So I think if you haven't been involved at all get involved. To take take the first step. It doesn't have to be a formal mentorship or even coaching situation. It could be just a let's do it. Let's catch up for a coffee once a month. Yeah, I've got some questions. I really I love what you've achieved in marketing Chris and I love to learn from you and work out, how do I apply some of what you what you've done?
Chris Davies:Yeah, awesome. No, I really like that approach, and I think it makes it, yeah, accessible, which is another thing that we mentioned. It's so important making it as easy as possible. I'm gonna pull one more card. Writers cramp. Hey, that's that's pretty apt for my journalistic and copywriting background. Sam has a cramp right in his wrist from writing out a very long grocery list$300. As I do this, I'm going to ask you, Alex, has our game of Operation drawn parallels with the world of mentoring?
Alex Young:Hmm? It's probably not as I'd say, mentoring is
Chris Davies:Yeah, yeah, great. Well, I think we've given Sam easier than playing the game of operation. Or it's more forgiving. Yes, it's more forgiving. Pulling a bone out of a very small hole a tweezer is tricky. But I think, I think, you know, the world of mentorship, it's, it's, it's the time and attention he deserves. I hope he's got humans, it's just talking, it's communicating, it's sharing, it's supporting each other. So it's a lot more forgiving, yeah? And I think it's just about committing some time and being there for each other. something out of today. We've fixed some some broken bones along the way. But yeah, thanks so much for today's conversation, Alex,lots of things we've discussed, the power of mentorship, fostering talent. Yeah, those those relationships, what makes a good mentor, mentee, etc. So yeah, really appreciate it. If anyone wants to kind of follow your journey and learn what they're doing, how do they find that? How do they find you?
Alex Young:I'm available on LinkedIn. I'm pretty active with my profile. Feel free to connect with me. I'm very open to meeting new people, connecting if you'd like to have a chat, always open for that. I also have a medium page. I'll share a link. So I do like to write. Unlike you, I have no training in writing, but once again, in a little bit of my journey is trying to extrapolate from my head. What do I know? What can I share with others? And writing is a great way to do it. So I do have a medium page, and when I share some of my insights.
Chris Davies:Yeah, fantastic. And we can share all those those links with our listeners, but yeah, thanks so much, Alex. It's been a great conversation. And yeah. Hope everyone enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to just subscribe to the tech trajectory podcast, and we'll be back next month with more insights from the people shaping the future of technology. Alex, thank you very much.
Alex Young:Thank you. Chris.
