Shannon Lucas, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Catalyst Constellations
Shannon Lucas, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Catalyst Constellations, has over twenty years’ experience working with startups, launching her own ventures, and driving innovation into the world’s largest companies. She is a passionate thought leader about creating sustainable organizations in every sense of the word; for people, planet and profit. Along with her business partner Tracey Lovejoy, Shannon recently launched the book MOVE FAST. BREAK SHIT. BURN OUT, The Catalyst’s Guide to Working Well. Check it out on Amazon here
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: I've had a lot of amazing mentors in my life, and I think it's important to pay it forward to other people. My mission is to support catalysts around the world and empower them to create the change that they want in the world. Mentoring is a way that I can support other people as they're pursuing their dreams to create positive change. It lets me have a little bit of an imprint on the exponential, positive change we'll create in the world because we desperately need it.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: It's rewarding for me to have a mentee willing to bring new challenges to the table to troubleshoot collectively. These opportunities for new types of problem-solving are very rewarding, as well as learning about other people's worlds and environments, even different industries. And finally, seeing the positive change ripple effect is deeply rewarding.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: I attribute my success to a few key things: being able to follow my passion, living an intentional life, having big supporters, and developing a sense of self-awareness.
As an example of living an intentional life, I've been a single mom for my son's whole life. There were times when I didn't get to live my purpose in terms of my work, although I always tried to nudge it towards inclusivity and using technology for sustainability. When it became uncomfortable for me, when I wasn't living my full purpose, I would reground myself in: I'm here to be a present mom. By recognizing that my purpose at that particular moment was choosing to be present with him allowed me to lean into who and what I wanted to be.
Another factor to my success has been finding big supporters, whether it's a mentor, coach, or boss. And finally, a big theme in my success has been developing a sense of self-awareness. If you aren't aligned with your purpose or passion and aren't conscious of how that's impacting you, it can take a toll on you. I'd say cultivating mindfulness is the biggest thing, and it's a lifelong effort.
“If you aren’t aligned with your purpose or passion and aren’t conscious of how that’s impacting you, it can take a toll on you. I’d say cultivating mindfulness is the biggest thing, and it’s a lifelong effort. ”
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: Ceresa does an amazing job outlining what great mentorship looks like. For example, being present for your mentee. When you commit to spending this time together, you must be truly present for the entire conversation to unfold. Mentors owe it to the mentees to create a safe space, but the mentees have to show up and lean into their vulnerability. As a mentor, I share all of the mistakes that I made.
Good mentoring is also consciously leaving more space to let the deeper stuff start to unfold. For the mentor, it means not to be thinking about the next great pearl of wisdom that they can drop as the mentee is talking. We all have these narratives about who we are and what we do and what the problems are. But something amazing happens when you leave the pause for an additional five or ten seconds and just let the person explore inside themselves, past their own surface stories, to something deeper.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: If you're considering mentoring others, think about the diversity of the people that you're mentoring. Many times, we get stuck in our networks, and it can be hard to cross the chasm to disparate networks. Due to the power structures in place right now, there's a large percentage of one homogenous network that exists in power. If you are in a smaller subset of people in power, think about the different types of diversity you can actively cultivate. You can change someone's life. Mentorship can change someone's life.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: In my early 20's, as a woman in the tech industry, I had a mentor from Microsoft who shared a job opening on his team with me when I’d I'd only been a network engineer for 18 to 24 months. I looked at the job requirements and thought, “There's no way I'm qualified for that.” This mentor reassured me that nobody had all those qualifications, which I didn't realize at the time. When you're early in your career, you don't know how the game is played. It was great to have a mentor say, "You are totally qualified for this job. Let me walk you through the how and the why." I ended up getting the job, but I would never have applied if I hadn't had a mentor who saw me and my capabilities and encouraged me.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: Ceresa's program is fantastic by recognizing the bi-directional support that exists in mentorship. I love the structure, guidance, and tools given to the mentor and the mentee. I've just started the process, so we'll see how it supports me as we go along, but I'm very deeply grateful for it. It's a big gift to the world in all ways. I cannot wait to see the exponential impact that Ceresa will be having on the world.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.