Sheridan Mangal: Inspiring mentorship – a Q & A

Finito World meets Sheridan Mangal, a mentor with a particular line in career change mentoring

Can you talk a bit about your upbringing and early career choices and how they shaped your work as a mentor for Finito?

Born in 1961, I am what many would refer to as a baby-boomer, but also first Uk-born from the ‘Windrush’ generation. Raised in East London, progressing through primary and secondary school was a bumpy ride, but was equally the origin of my developing interests and ambitions. Once I realised that being a striker for Chelsea FC required some football talent, I turned my attention elsewhere…the City.

So how did you make your way in your chosen field?

After doing well at Brooke House Secondary, the intent of a temporary summer job prior to sixth form education turned into a permanent career decision. A City opportunity arose and at 16 years wrapped in sharp suit, my 16 year career at the London Stock Exchange began. This presented many challenges regarding steep learning curves, but also the unpleasant social ills of the time that crept into the workplace. After some years and despite the work experience gained, It is here that I always felt few steps behind those entering via the graduate intake.

Notwithstanding the lack of confidence, I pressed on, supported by great parents. Effectively, they were my first mentors. As my career progressed, the challenges persisted, but maturity, experience and simultaneous education enabled a response mechanism and positioned me as source of advice for others following.

This triggered my interest in mentoring. After many years of alliances with youth charities, schools and colleges, often deploying self-designed initiatives, my interest has never waned. Hence, my involvement with Finito, where I can draw on many personal and professional experiences that equate with entry-level candidates as they build and apply their career plans.

Did you have a mentor growing up or early on in your working life?

Apart from parental guidance, I had no mentor as such. Indeed the concept of mentorship was unfamiliar and unrefined compared to today. I often say my professional navigation of financial markets through the 70s, 80s and 90s was predominantly by combat rather than design: responding to ad-hoc opportunities as opposed to proactively seeking the next logical step.

Against this backdrop. I can certainly appreciate the benefits of guidance from someone who has already travelled my journey. It would have saved some considerable pain, particularly at the junctures of indecision and plain fear. The anxiety was debilitating. Hence, I am here today with Finito, offering my stories and knowledge that I trust can be useful to those who are apprehensive, lacking direction or facing obstacles that appear insurmountable.

You’ve worked for a long time in the financial and hedge fund sectors. What is it you think that mentees ought most to know about those sectors?

Understanding the dynamics of the securities industry is crucial. Heavily regulated and often driven on market sentiment, the financial markets space is broad and deep, with a variety of instruments and strategies for those of low to high risk appetites.

As an entrant, my advice would be to know the target sector’s current and emerging states and trends. This includes the leaders and their respective strengths, the established and rising boutiques and the general issues the chosen sector is facing.

This is particularly so with asset management. The adoption of AI and algorithmic strategies is pervasive as is the growth in passive investing. Regarding employment, candidates must be aligned with entry programmes including ‘off-cycle’ routes.

Mentees should also ensure applications focus on value offered at the earliest opportunity, from the perspective of the employer. Furthermore, the objective shouldn’t be for a particular role, but to just get into the industry or sector and navigate to where your developing strengths are needed.

It’s astonishing to see your passion for the law come through on your CV. What is it that drives your passion for the law and your desire to keep on learning?

Further to my active interest in financial markets, I have always held a curiosity for the legal implications and general application of the law.

Quite late in my career, I decided to take this further and embark on my legal qualifications while working, culminating in my bar exams during Covid. There were several drivers; my increasing interest in commercial law, unpicking an issue with legal reasoning and the gravitas of becoming a lawyer. More importantly, proving to myself that I could actually do it was the strongest motivation.

The distillation of a problem into a legal case, concurs with my pattern of detailed thinking regarding outcomes, the inherent dependencies and viable strategies. Indeed I am always curious about a variety of subjects, incidents and histories, some exciting and astonishing, many quite dull, but revealing.

Nonetheless, I have a constant thirst for learning, teaching and testing myself, albeit through new formidable social and business challenges ….or simply the latest FT cryptic crossword while on the 0659 from Eastbourne to Victoria.

You’ve been doing a lot of mentoring for Finito. What’s the most common mistake you’re seeing when it comes to young people when they choose their career paths and start out on their career journeys?

I have been mentoring for over 20 years, recently with Finito. Socially, I remain active volunteering within the context of addressing youths within or vulnerable to negative lifestyles.

Concurrently, due to my varied experience and knowledge areas I am seen as a source for career advice. Within both settings however, there are similarities. Mentees often are unaware of their real value to an employer. Moreover, they know their abilities, but cannot translate them into something compelling for an employer. This shortfall often arises when networking and when writing to recruiters.

For example, the narrative is often, “I am good at workflow mapping as seen on project x”. This is incomplete. There needs to be the outcome in terms of “and this helped the company to achieve a faster compliance process”. Another mistake is goal-setting that tends to be too narrow.

Despite the submission of numerous applications, the candidates perceived success is the ideal one or two employers and/or seeking a post that is far too sophisticated for an entry-level candidate. This can dilute the positives and motivation for alternatives.

Career change mentoring is a huge growth area for Finito at the moment. What’s your sense on why that is, and what sorts of trends are you typically seeing in this area?

I look at my experience, having traversed financial markets, teaching/lecturing and the law. Also, the voluntary aspects, including mentorship. Many changes in focus, that draw on different skillsets.

The bridges I have had to cross have not always been a choice, and the mix of excitement and trepidation was often difficult to grasp and manage guidance at these moments is invaluable.

In my view, career change mentoring is a growing need due to the pace at which industries are changing. This stems from changing work patterns, the abundance of AI architectures and the shift to platform based solutions.

The heavy reliance on social and professional digital media, with the near constant stream of opportunities being delivered to subscribers, also raises awareness of alternatives outside the current environment.

Many candidates, young and more experienced are attuned to a better work-life balance and as such, are less hesitant to take a leap of faith and restart with something new. This is especially so for those wanting to start their own enterprise.

Naturally, we also have to accept, sometimes we make the wrong decision or it just doesn’t work out. Hence, change is necessary.

Who are your heroes who have most inspired you in your career?

These come from several perspectives. Generally I would call on historical figures who despite immense social challenges, took the helm and instigated positive change.

This served as a character building platform for fearlessness and pushing through. Career-wise, there were those with similar backgrounds to mine, that blazed a trail; footballer Viv Anderson playing for England in 1978 (one year after I began my City career), Baroness Patricia Scotland becoming Attorney General in 2007. Also Sir Damon Buffini in the 1990s, as a major force in Private Equity.

The underlying inspiration from these figures was collectively, their talent, drive and belief in achieving success.

As a child (when I was allowed to stay up late!), I was amazed by Sir Patrick Moore’s knowledge of the cosmos. He spurred my interest and explained things that were literally ‘out of this world’, many topics of which I have yet to grasp. His ‘Sky at Night’ TV program was my introduction to independent learning i.e. not connected with the school curriculum, where I would read and enquire. Since then I have remained constant learner.

What single thing do you most wish you’d known at the start of your working life?

A career does not always progress in an ordered, linear fashion. Hence, I have to refer to my cub scout days here and their mantra of “Be prepared”. This infers the need to plan, become aware, to investigate and know the prevailing narrative.

Rather than just reacting or more accurately, panicking when opportunities come knocking, concentrate on being ready to act and assist. The journey may start, but know that the destination could change, many times.

My time at the Stock Exchange entailed a variety of unrelated posts, successful and failed projects, plus the interaction with all types of personalities. Thereafter, more of the same, including redundancy, international assignments and freelance consulting.

A career-cocktail with no prevailing recipe. If I could speak to my younger self, I may indeed champion many cliches; “Think like there is no box”, “Know your value”, etc. etc.

Essentially, my advice would be to expect the unexpected from your preferred industry or alternative, but be ready and resilient through preparation. Further. encourage creativity and have the requisite knowledge and skills ready for deployment.

Enjoyed this article? See our other mentor interviews:

Meet the Mentor: Rara Plumptre, A Journey of Resilience and Kindness

Tom Pauk: Meet the Inspirational Mentor