Submitted by CalKen on
in
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Hello everyone;
Today we had a senior level management meeting where we were all told to "find someone junior and mentor them". This is mainly due to the "brain drain" due to senior personnel leaving the company due to retirement or attrition. I very respectfully recommended that mentoring should be mentee-driven (and I even mentioned the company web-site which actually says the same thing) and I was quickly told that mentees do not have the knowledge of knowing what they need to be mentored on. I see this as going the same direction as many other mentoring movements in the company has gone, basically nowhere.
So, in this regard, I have identified a top performer which is very junior with whom I will be "mentoring". He seems eager to learn and as such I will try to keep the momentum going. What pitfalls do I need to be aware of when trying to drive mentorship from a mentor perspective and is it even possible to be effective driving the mentoring? How would I respond to upper management who keeps insisting that mentors need to drive the mentoring? In this instance where mentoring is required, how would you all recommend the mentorship being done?
Mentor-driven mentoring
As a mentor approaching an unsuspecting mentee, my biggest word of caution would be: listen to him/her! Don't simply assume that because you've selected them for whatever reason (turned in a good report, dresses sharp, reminds you of your best friend in high school, seems bright) that your plan or vision of their career path is necessisarily their own.
If senior management is trying to cultivate more managers and the person you've selected tells you "Nah, I'd hate to be a manager" listen to that person! Don't force the square peg in the round hole. Many top performers are top performers because they like performing and would feel terribly isolated and out of their element if taking out of the performance arena, plunked behind a desk & given a bunch of paperwork to wrangle.
Of course, keep your door open to them but it's probably best to resume your hunt for a different mentee who is actually interested in following the path senior management has set out.
Mentor-driven mentoring
First, congratulations on finding someone you think you can successfully mentor.
Have you listened to the two podcasts on being a mentee, and the two on being a mentor? If not, please do so.
And then, have your mentee go to Manager-Tools.com and listen to the same four podcasts.
Now you can say: This is how professionals have a mentoring relationship. You can put the onus on him to drive the administrative side of it.
If he's on board, great! If not, then you have another issue. Perhaps others on the forum here could provide insight and guidance on that outcome.
Anyway, I think the key is to be open and upfront about how you think it should work, and let him know that there is a better way.
Good luck, and please let us know how things develop.
John
Mentor-driven mentoring
One of the things that top performers complain about in today's corporate environment is a lack of growth, training, education, coaching, etc. Most want to grow and learn, but down know which direction to go or what resources exist to help. Your company is trying to overcome this and retain/grow high-pots. I think you should be pleased to see your organization making efforts, even if they are a bit off track. Now, given this directive, move your focus to the individual you are mentoring - not because of what it does for your company but for what it does for the individual. The company, and you personally will reap huge benefits by developing a reputation for this stuff (see this article from Fortune: [url]http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/10/01/100351... )
Here's what I would do in your shoes:
1) Find out if this individual has an mp3 player. If not buy one as a gift and preload it with the Manager-Tools Podcasts on Mentoring, Feedback and Coaching (the only reason I skipped O3 is because you might not be in a position to ensure that he gets O3 with his/her manager.)
2) Coach the individual to first listen to the Basics of Mentoring cast and follow the guidelines to set your first formal mentoring meeting. Set up recurring meetings
3) Share with him/her what you are reading and invite discussion.
Good luck!
Mentor-driven mentoring
I'm extrapolating a bit here, but isn't mentor-driven mentoring really just coaching? Not that there's anything wrong with coaching, but maybe treating as such, and not getting too lost in the semantics of what everyone is calling something, might be more effective.
Mentor-driven mentoring
Ken-
Is this about mentoring or development? Are the junior people lacking the skills and knowledge they need to perform the functions of those leaving? If so, then what should be happening is development. If it is career guidance they need (i.e., should I work towards a lateral rather than an upward promotion next?) then mentoring is appropriate. If it is development that is needed (as I expect), then that responsibility falls on the direct manager (whatever the title) of the person being developed.
M&M have provided much good discussion about development in their coaching 'casts.
Hope this is helpful.
Regards,
Lou
Mentor-driven mentoring
Good call Lou.
If its Mentor driven, then its focused on what the Mentor wants and is therefore flowing downward. By definition, that isn't mentoring, it is development. Calling it mentoring strikes me like "enforced happiness".
Recognizing the difference may make it helpful to recognize a better way to proceed.
Brian