Mentor Person
Many of us aspire to be a mentor to younger interns or colleagues. A mentor is seen as a person who imparts wisdom and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague.
The ideology of mentorship was first perhaps outlined in Homer’s Odyssey in which Goddess Athena disguises herself as Mentor and guides Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope.
A mentor is someone who has the ability to look beyond his/her mentee’s vision and provide guidance and support which is based on trust, emotional intelligence and subject proficiency.
Mentors are people who may or may not be in the same organization or even in the same industry; however quite often they are senior and experienced persons.
When it comes to mentorship at work, usually the senior managers are looked upon as immediate mentors by their teams. Being a mentor is an added responsibility because when someone looks upon you as their mentor, they put their trust entirely upon their mentor’s judgments and opinions. Most of the times , mentors are looked upon as people who support their mentees or teams emotionally more than anything else and to be able to do this in itself is a great challenge.
If you are looked upon as a mentor by your teams or anyone else outside your workplace then I would like to discuss with you a very critical part of your responsibility of mentoring that person. That is : Conveying and discussing Opportunities For Improvements (OFIs) of your mentees.
Discussing OFIs can be a tricky affair because I feel that “words” which we speak have the power to either inspire someone or embarrass them.
Over the years I have worked with many visionary leaders who have inspired me through their unique and powerful traits and the way they demonstrate values and positive behaviors in front of their teams. They are leaders not because they always display pleasing demeanor but mainly because are always willing to guide and mentor their teams through effective approach of giving feedback so that their teams can work on their OFIs. I have divided this article further into Part A and Part B.
Let us take a look at the Part A:
Here are some of the techniques which I have seen those leaders adopting whilst conveying OFIs to a team member, either as a mentor or a leader or both:
1) Don’t discuss OFIs in public
Discussing OFIs with a team member in public or during team briefings or in front of their peers always spells disaster. This can create a feeling of resentment in the mind of the team member and it can be perceived as humiliation and embarrassment which would lead to loss of respect for you as their mentor or their leader.
2) Don’t start right away
When you call someone to discuss their OFIs, don’t start right away. Make that person feel comfortable and start with some small talk then gradually build it. Whether experienced or less experienced, nobody likes to be told right away, “Hey. How are you? Listen, these are your OFIs”. Create an environment of trust first by using the right tone and positive body language. Your positive body language would have a mirror effect on the team member and would prepare them mentally for what’s heading their way.
3) Use the sandwich technique
When you discuss OFIs start with that person’s strengths. Tell them what their positive traits are, then gradually talk about their OFIs by stating what else and what must they could improve and then close with a positive statement in the end. Don’t just leave the conversation lingering or hanging wherein the person leaves your office wondering what to do about the OFIs which you just discussed. Offer your support and assistance. Make them feel that they are not alone in this. Assure them that you genuinely care about their best interest.
4) Follow up
Just closing the discussion on a positive note is not enough. Being a mentor and a leader, it also becomes your responsibility to keep checking regularly about how the things are going with your mentee. Are they working towards improving on their OFIs? Don’t tell them to figure it out on their own. After all, there is a reason you are looked upon as a mentor. Guide them if they feel that they are not being able to work through the improvement plan.
Now here is the part B of my article:
Recently I stumbled upon an interesting story of an experienced leader who was taking a leadership session with his senior team and their deputies. The session was an insightful one which touched upon the subject of fostering an organizational culture of openness, accountability and transparency.
The leader quoted various successful organizations which are known for their great culture including Zappos, GE, South West Airlines and a few more and encouraged avid discussions amongst the participants. He conducted a few effective activities and exercises which were welcomed by all the participants.
Towards the end he broached about the subject of receiving feedback and discussed with his team on how feedback can be powerful tool to initiate a positive change. As he was making his closing remarks, he announced that there was one more activity that he would like to do to make the session more interesting.
He took out a list of all the participants on a single sheet of paper and gave a copy of that list to each participant.
Then he asked each participant to write one strength and one weakness in front of each name. The managers and their deputies were seemed taken aback when they heard this. They looked at their leader to ensure if they heard him correctly. The leader instructed them again. Each of those participants looked at the list. It had the names of each and everyone in the classroom including the leader’s name on top.
There were a few anxious sighs and some nervous shuffling of feet. The leader again repeated himself and said, “ Let us see if you can fill this sheet up in the next five minutes !” The list contained about 25 names. Some of the participants got busy scanning the list to figure out how to fill in the strengths and weakness of each participants.
Many of them started filling up the strengths first. When the leader saw this , he again insisted that the weakness column was also required to be filled. To cut the long story short , the team of managers and deputies somehow completed the give assignment and handed over their filled sheets. The leader had instructed not to write their names on the sheet.
Once the lists were collected , he announced that the results would be displayed on the spot .
Each participant would be shown their strength and OFI as compiled through that secret ballot activity.
There was a nervous laughter and the participants quietly waited for the results to be displayed.
Eventually, on chart paper the entire list was displayed. All 25 names in bold letters and in front of each name was listed their strength and OFI.
The participants were then asked to read their strengths and OFIs aloud and then accept it as a feedback awarded by the team inside that room . The activity was thus completed. The session was concluded on an enthusiastic note by the leader. The participants thanked the leader and left the venue.
Here, I am leaving you with some questions and would welcome your responses :
1. As an expert in your field of Human Resources/ Learning and Development/ Customer Service/ Leadership Skills, how do you rate this leader’s approach to discuss his team’s strengths and OFIs in that training session on a scale of one to ten (one being the lowest and ten being the highest)?
2. If you were a participant in that training session , how would you have felt regarding this exercise about ‘on the spot’ peer to peer evaluation of strengths and OFIs?
3. If you were that leader, would you have conducted the activity differently?
I invite you to share your expert thoughts and valuable insights about this case and look forward to hearing from you!