Elena Bayeva, Senior Director Global Technology Sourcing & Partnerships, Warner Bros. Discovery

What made you sign up as a mentor in the first place?

I strongly believe that mentorship is a two-way stream, and both mentees and mentors learn a great deal from each other. I’ve been privileged to have had many highly skilled mentors throughout my professional journey, helping me greatly with both career decisions each step of the way, as well as my professional growth, as I’ve been moving up the career ladder in the companies I’ve been working for. Being challenged and encouraged to step outside my comfort zone and take a broader perspective, along with the guidance and support I’ve been given along the way, has shaped me into the global leader I am today. Looking back at my first career steps back home in Ukraine and the professional journey I've had in Sweden by now, after my MBA at SSE, I do believe that my mentors have played a vital role in forming me as a professional, leader and individual, as we were jointly navigating through the era of transformations and constant change.

 What does mentorship mean to you?

A way to share experiences and learn from each other, being there to help provide guidance and support when needed, from preparing for interviews, presentations etc to identifying desired career goals and plan of achieving them. I am beyond grateful to all my mentors at SSE and beyond and am happy to pass forward the advises I’ve received and experiences I’ve had along the way to help the young professionals in taking their first career steps. Personally, it has been exciting for me to learn from my mentees, who are studying and developing their career in an era of next generations of technology and social interaction.

What’s been the most rewarding part of mentoring a student?

There have been many moments of me being extremely proud of my mentees and their achievements in the school and beyond. The emails you get where they want to share great news were warming my heart. I am very impressed with all the achievements of my mentees with having been selected for a leadership role in the program, successfully gone through interviews and landed in great roles in impressive companies, having secured exchange programs in well-known European schools and so much more. And most of these happening at once! As much as we are there to help steer the ship in the right direction, our mentees own their professional journeys and are successfully putting immense effort in investing in their future career. Very inspiring and motivational for all.

Have you developed or improved any personal skills through the program

Absolutely, one learns so much – from discussing specific courses and learnings the mentees have, to being challenged by specific questions or situations we needed to prepare for. Much of what we discussed took me back to the early years of my career before and after my MBA. Taking a moment to pause and reflect on the recommendations I’ve been given and decisions which have made me succeed and develop further, was a great exercise and a reminder of the fact that life takes you to directions you might not had considered obvious at the time, but having made your hard choices, you end up taking next step into an exciting new phase.

What advice would you give to future mentors?

See this as an opportunity to be there to help professionals of the future in their early career inspirations and challenges, as well as an opportunity for you to learn from these impressive young professionals. It’s been great for me to be inspired by the energy, determination and drive the mentees have. Learning is a constant process for us all given the constantly changing world we are living in.