Ben Maguire: 2005 AGSM Alumni Mentor of the Year

AUTHOR: Editor   DATE: 08.12.05   ISSUE 3, 2005
AGSM’s Alumni Mentor Program is a unique feature of the School’s MBA (Executive) program. It serves two purposes: first to provide support for learning syndicates that enable final year MBA (Executive) students to direct their own learning and development; and second, to engage alumni to contribute back to AGSM and to the students who follow them.

Each year AGSM selects an ‘Alumni Mentor of the Year’ who exemplifies the role and contributions that will ensure the success of the program.

"The mentoring has been great because by listening and practising the group techniques, it has become part of my natural tool kit at work."
Ben Maguire

This year, Ben Maguire, Manager Energy Shop Channel AGL (MBA Executive 2003), was named AGSM’s ‘Alumni Mentor of the Year’ at a ceremony at Sydney Opera House. Ben became a mentor in 2004 and is now a mentor advisor, assisting mentors to support their syndicates.

Denise Weinreis, Alumni Mentor Program Coordinator, said: "Ben is one of the program’s 'backbones'. Ben is heavily involved with Professor Roger Collins and me in the on-going development of the alumni mentor program.

“Ben has provided guidance to each of the syndicates in which he has been involved. Ben exemplifies what I search for with our AGSM alumni mentors. He is pro-active and influential with ideas, enthusiastic, and committed. Ben follows through with what he says he will do, demonstrating a superior level of integrity,” says Ms Weinreis.

Ben was motivated to become a mentor because of his positive experience during the Executive Year (EY) of the MBA (Executive). “I wanted to continue to give back as an alumni mentor and add to development of the program,” says Ben Maguire. “Being a mentor gave me an opportunity to stay in contact with AGSM and invest in the AGSM brand.

“In terms of the highs, for me it was the feedback that you get from the syndicate in appreciation of being there … giving them tips and encouraging them to become an effective team is very rewarding.

“I have used a lot of the mentoring techniques that I learnt in my EY and have been practising them in my role at AGL. The mentoring has been great because by listening and practising the group techniques, it has become part of my natural tool kit at work,” says Ben Maguire.

The Alumni Mentor Program, which evolved out of AGSM research, was developed to enable Executive Year participants to have a more productive year and develop transferable teamwork skills that could be applied after graduation. Over 150 alumni are involved in the program.

The Alumni Mentor Program provides a developmental opportunity by engaging alumni with EY participants and offering alumni the opportunity to develop networks amongst themselves, as well as with EY participants, whilst improving their teamwork and mentoring skills.