Advertising Week APAC: The secret sauce of problem solving

Advertising Week APAC 2022 was held in Sydney earlier this month, Yahoo senior executives and regional leaders have taken part and given their inspiring sharing.  

Jen Whelan, VP, Head of B2B Marketing, Yahoo, was there to share a refreshing and motivating session on The Secret Sauce of Problem Solving and her top tips for building career-defining mentor relationships.  To find more pearls of wisdom from Jen, click here for the virtual session.  Below are the key takeaway:

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

I’ve been able to have an amazing career and an equally amazing life. But none of this I did on my own. I had friends, mentors and champions wrapped around me the whole time, and even then, on many occasions I almost failed before asking for help.

So when you do need assistance, here are four key components to think about:

Why: Ask yourself why you need help at this moment.

Who: Who you approach for your specific problem is crucial.

When: Timing is everything. Ask yourself when you need help, and when it might be too late.

What: It’s so important to know what you expect from a mentor relationship, and to consider what your responsibilities are also.

Give as much as you take

Everyone has a mentor in their life, yet it’s important these relationships go both ways. Asking for help will only make your experiences better, but it's essential that you’re also offering to help the people that are there for you.

It’s often as simple as messaging them to ask how they're going, what they're up to, what their goals are for the next six months, and how you can help them.

Because the best way of leveraging help and receiving it from champions, mentors, colleagues and allies is by being one yourself.

Always trust your gut

When it comes to forming a mentor relationship, these people will help shape your experiences, so it’s important you trust your intuition when it comes to finding the right people.

As a starting point, you will want them to have some expertise within your sector. And if your gut is saying some of their advice isn’t quite sitting right with you, validate that by asking a second or third person.

At the end of the day, you need to make sure you respect that person and their advice.

To read more on this content check out Jen's LinkedIn blog here.

All session are now available on demand virtually on the AWAPAC official site.