Pros
I joined Lighthouse International having already been a client for almost 4 years which meant I already had strong relationships with the rest of the team and had experienced the impact of our work first-hand in my own life and career prior to joining. Everyone in the team has been a client before joining and so is a firm believer in the aims and objectives of our work. Throughout my time as both a client and a member of the team I have been actively encouraged to develop a vision of what I want for my life and business. My role involves mentoring, coaching and counselling which means I have my own mentors who are being mentored themselves. For instance, I have been mentored by Chris Nash, who is a Senior Director at Lighthouse International and Chris is mentored by Lighthouse International Chairman Paul Waugh. What I feel is unique to Lighthouse International is that everyone in the Lighthouse International team is being mentored in order to maintain the integrity of our work. Through my 9 years of being involved full-time, I have been supported through a number of personal and professional challenges. The most notable being the loss of my mum last year. I had the most incredible support through this time from my mentor and those around me. This was not an isolated case; every member of the team has access to incredible and unprecedented levels of support to handle challenges in all aspects of their lives, not just ones in the workplace. I personally know of no other organisation to be so committed to the holistic health and wellbeing of the people involved; including partners and clients.
Cons
Every member of the team is encouraged to realise more and more of their potential; to grow and develop to be the best person they can possibly be. This requires a lot of self-examination which is not for the faint-hearted! We can’t grow and develop without a degree of struggle, suffering and facing inconvenient truths. For me personally the biggest challenge has been learning how to care for myself and others when I didn’t learn how to do that growing up. I’ve been held accountable to hold higher standards for myself and my work which has really stretched me. Self-development is something that many people feel uncomfortable with and so it has been challenging to explain what I do to others. At times I’ve even found myself being judged and criticised by family and friends for wanting to develop myself in order to make a difference in the world. This has not always been easy to deal with.