Many practices have in house mentoring schemes. These provide a vital role in ensuring that less experienced architects can learn from those further along the career path. Management level architects can also benefit from the insights, concerns and ideas of those newer to the profession.
At the same time, many top architects acknowledge that they also picked up a great deal of informal learning from experienced architect "gurus" in practice. This has played an instrumental part in their careers.
Formal mentoring within practices
Guidance from a figure in a leadership role is important, and architects should make sure they take advantage of any opportunities for formal mentorship that their practice provides.
Katerina Examiliotou is an architect at Grimshaw who is very appreciative of its formal mentoring. Regular meetings with a mentor have helped improve her confidence in speaking to more senior members of staff, and are a good testing ground for your ideas.
“There is plenty of unofficial, on the job mentoring as well,” she reveals. “It is very useful in identifying aspects of my professional behaviour I could be improving: what has been working and what has not.”
Examiliotou’s mentors at Grimshaw have shown her how design teams can work at their best. Part of this is ensuring that all team members have a voice, and are able to challenge more senior figures when appropriate.
Carlo Magni, a Senior Architect at EPR Architects agrees. “Find a leader that you can learn from,” Magni urges, “but as well as taking inspiration from them, do not be afraid to present your own ideas.”
Mentoring "up" and mentoring "down"
Mentoring schemes typically pair up staff members from different teams, to take an architect out of their usual context and remove any concerns about potentially saying the wrong thing to a regular co worker.
Femi Oresanya, Principal at HOK's London Studio, has led on the structured mentorship programmes there for almost two decades.
“Mentors are paired up with staff based on a list of preferences,” Oresanya explains. “It is aligned with career progression, and it is not just about chatting to someone about current work.”
HOK’s scheme is as much about mentoring down as mentoring up: a learning process for the senior part of the mentoring pair. Oresanya has his own mentor.
“I can use mentoring to address my own issues with career progression, while my more senior mentor can be informed by someone closer to the shop floor.”
Having your talent and hard work recognised
Valerie Evans, Director at Atkins, testifies to the positive effect that having supportive staff champion her at work has had on her career. She was fortunate enough to have worked with senior architects whose philosophy and values align with her own at key points of her career.
“It has certainly helped to have a ‘champion’ keeping an eye on you and your career,” she reveals. “I’ve been lucky to have had people above me who have seen my level of commitment. They have trusted me to take on projects and new roles and give me more challenging, more difficult projects than the last one.”
“Without a champion, or someone you feel reasonably comfortable speaking frankly to further up the career chain, it is hard to ask for more experience, or to ask if you could work on a project in a new sector.”
Evans found that such figures saw more potential in her than she saw in herself.
“At the turn of the 20th century it was unheard of to give woman a £600 million responsibility,” she recalls. “I did not trust myself to do the job, but my champion did. This gave me the confidence to deliver the project. In hindsight the big leaps in my career have been in trust.”
Making your own opportunities: a virtuous circle
Oresanya reveals that his own career benefited from his talent and hard work being noticed and championed by figures within his practice.
There was a virtuous circle: he always worked hard and was very good at his job, which was appreciated by more senior members of staff; this led to an organic, strong rapport. If you have a good rapport with management level staff, it follows that your ideas are more likely to be taken seriously.
This is not favouritism: it is more akin to the old adage that "you make your own opportunities". If senior staff are impressed by your work, your efficiency, your curiosity, and your palpable enthusiasm, you are more likely to be at the forefront of their minds when a lead for an interesting project is required, or a more senior vacancy comes up.
“When it comes to career progression, you may well need more than one voice advocating for you,” he counsels. “This is ultimately meritocratic. Are you good at what you do? Do you make the firm money? Do clients like you? If a ‘godparent’ at work were to champion you in entrusting you with more responsibility, it would only be because you had proven you could deliver.”
Thanks to Femi Oresanya, Senior Project Manager, HOK London Studio; Valerie Evans, Director (Architecture), Atkins; Katerina Examiliotou, architect, Grimshaw; and Carlo Magni, Senior Architect, EPR Architects.
This feature is one of a series that supports architects in building career resilience. The series helps architects at all professional levels with advice on career progression, advancement, promotion and learning.
The RIBA is interested in hearing from members about their own career challenges and successes. Please send us your own experiences, feedback and ideas.
Find out more:
- Student mentoring services are part of the RIBA's Future Architects programme: watch and learn from participating students
- Learn the soft skills of leadership
- Do you have the right technical and practical experience?
- Make the most of speed mentoring events
RIBA Core Curriculum: Business, clients and services.
As part of the flexible RIBA CPD programme, Professional Features count as microlearning. See further information on the updated RIBA CPD Core Curriculum and on fulfilling your CPD requirements as an RIBA Chartered Member.
