The Mentoring Mindset: The future of your next GREAT leaders depend on it
When was the last time you thought about your company’s mentorship program? Do you even have a formal program of mentoring? If the answer to these two questions is can’t remember and no; then I believe you are missing one of the most important and impactful tools your organization could be using to develop amazing talent and improved results.
Mentoring seems like a thing of the past. It used to be a reason you joined a company and stayed with a company. Personally, I was very fortunate to have had two really good mentors early in my career. They both made a huge impact on my life and career.
But before we go into more detail on the value of mentoring, we need to first understand what mentoring really is and is not. Mentoring is not a part-time, when it’s convenient coaching role. It’s not about giving people “pat on the back” encouragement. Mentoring is about making a serious commitment to an employee’s development. It’s real-time coaching, feedback, corrective action and holding the employee accountable for improving their work and taking on more responsibility. It’s also a way to develop your next leaders. Through the mentoring process, mentors learn about their strengths and weaknesses related to their own leadership skills. A good mentoring program measures both the mentee and mentor.
My first two mentors were tough and demanding, but always patient and respectful. They weren’t drill sergeants, but they certainly paid close attention to details and the quality of my work. I remember my first mentoring moment like it was yesterday even though it was nearly 40 years ago. My mentor made me rewrite a correspondence I was drafting to a client 5 times, until it was perfect. I keep this in mind every time I write any kind of business correspondence. My mentors took their roles very seriously. When I failed, so did they. They took a critical eye to everything I did. They were not there to be my friend. They were there to make me a better employee in every aspect of my job. And my success had a huge impact on how they were perceived by the rest of the organization.
Mentoring brings a ton of benefits and value to an organization. First and foremost, mentoring develops employees, and it helps identify your best leaders/mentors and future leaders. It also creates a natural succession plan. As employees develop, they can take on more responsibility and move up the organization. You no longer have to guess who’s the right person to take on a new role or move into a more senior leadership position. It takes the pressure off potential recruiting mistakes and improves your chances of keeping quality employees. It can dramatically limit the revolving door of employees, which is not only costly, but very disruptive to the organization. A formal mentoring program allows you to divert valuable resources to the things that will help grow the business and reduce the time and cost spent on recruiting. It also reduces the disruption caused by staff transitions.
One last thing, mentoring is not just for entry level employees. Every level of the organization should have mentors, including your most senior leaders. The overall goal is to develop and train the next generation of leaders and possibly the next CEO. The more you mentor, the better your business results. And it might just identify the next star within your organization.
