The first 6 months of 2024 have seen me grow as a business professional \u2014 approaching business in a more pragmatic and sustainable manner.\u00a0 This growth has been catalysed by the guidance I have been receiving from my mentor, Pat Sandall.\u00a0 Pat and I meet on a weekly basis for 45 minutes via Zoom video call. Our initial discussion focused on sharing my goals and aspirations with Pat. Subsequent discussion topics have been tailored to meet my needs and specific requests. After a few discussions, it become evident to me that the goals submitted were not SMART.\u00a0 Given the magnitude of the tasks and extensive coordination required, the goals were unrealistic, and would not be attainable in the stated time frame.\u00a0 The goals were adapted to be SMART based on situational analysis, and each goal is now tracked as a project. I have set up recurring weekly calendar events to ensure that adequate time is set aside to work on tasks set out for each goal.\u00a0 Progress is being made on all of my goals and has resulted in tangible steady business growth, particularly in enquiries from local corporates for incentive travel and team building trips to Maputo, Mozambique. Additional support received from my mentor has included:\u00a0 Sharing of industry knowledge in relation to building world-class incentive programs, with emphasis on meticulously paying attention to every step from planning to post-client surveying The mentorship program has been beneficial to my personal and professional growth. I could not have asked for a better Mentor as Pat is patient, and selfless \u2014 allowing me to express myself \u2014 and giving of her time.\u00a0 I further look forward to interaction with other mentees so as to expand my SITE network and to share knowledge and experiences. Thank you, SITE!<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How a year of mentorship is shaping a future-ready incentive professional <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_views_all":74,"_views_30d":11,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-3635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-insights"],"custom_author":{"byline":"Akhona Fakudze","byline_avatar":"https:\/\/siteglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/akhona-fakudze.jpg","byline_email":"","author_id":"1455"},"yoast_head":"\n