“Good mentors help to anchor the promise of the future.” These words, written by Sharon Daloz Parks in the second edition of her book, Big Questions Worthy Dreams,  speaks to the power of mentoring for leadership development.  Good mentors inspire, motivate, inform, and even empower a mentee to step boldly into the future.

I’ve been on the road the last month presenting talks and workshops on the topic of leadership and what I’ve discovered along the way is that more and more organizations are integrating mentoring as part of their leadership development initiatives for some pretty compelling reasons.

1. Mentoring drives recruitment of future talent.  While Boomers exit the workforce, another door has opened and almost 80 million Millennials are in or entering the workforce. Many of them will become future leaders and are already convinced that having a mentor is their ticket to success. They are looking for employers will provide them that opportunity. As an example, Hinda, a recent MBA graduate from a prestigious eastern school, had four job offers waiting for her when she graduated. The company she ultimately chose offered to pair her with a mentor from the moment she walked in the door and throughout her career.

2. Mentoring contributes to increased retention rate of leadership talent. Almost all successful leaders can attribute their success in whole or in part to the mentors who have supported their growth and development. When leaders feel that someone has a vested interest in their success, they are more likely to tough out the hard times and work through difficult issues.
Bob stood up at our workshop and proudly declared, “I would not be a company leader today if it hadn’t been for my mentor who cared enough to help me get out of my own way and provide me with honest, straightforward, no-bull feedback.”

3. Mentoring nurtures to commitment to the organization.  Emerging leaders are more likely to be loyal to an organization in which they feel valued. Committed leaders want to deliver a return on the investment.

Mari’s company weathered some pretty rough times in the last six months and there were several times she was ready to throw in the towel. Her mentor kept her focused on the big picture and the strategic direction of the organization so she would understand why changing her behavior was so necessary.

4. Mentoring builds and strengthens the talent pipeline.  Cutbacks affect a surprising number of individual contributors and good performers. Expectations for them are higher than ever before. Organizations need to invest more - not less - in their development in order to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of prepared leaders.

Greg, an HR Manager, gave his talent pipeline a C- minus two years ago. And then they instituted several mentoring programs. He was surprised at how eager the emerging leaders were for these programs and how positively they effected their quarterly results. People were digging in, moving up and becoming increasingly productive.

5. Mentoring facilitates strategic alignment. Knowledge is distributed unevenly throughout most organizations. Some information is known by some people. Other information is known “in pockets.” Knowledge silos contribute to lack of alignment and make it difficult for leaders to be effective.

Within one year after a company I worked with created a cross-functional mentoring program for new leaders, the entire culture shifted. Previously, mentees had no idea what they didn’t know about other divisions. Their work world revolved around their silo. The knowledge sharing that occurred through mentoring created new networks throughout the company and allowed them to align their efforts more strategically.

6. Mentoring promotes diversity and inclusion. Mentoring gives everyone an opportunity to learn from the diversity within an organization. Knowledge is shared and diverse perspectives get heard. As trust increases, perspectives expand and difference becomes a source for learning and shared understanding, and boundaries disappear.

Sonja had never really known a Hispanic person before and went into her mentoring relationship with biases and invalid assumptions. In the process of mentoring Carlos, she came to realize how her stereotypes had been holding her back and negatively influencing her behaviors as a leader.

When an organization seriously engages in mentoring its leaders, everybody wins.

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Now managers, teachers, and leaders from any career, professional, or educational setting can successfully navigate the learning journey by using the hands-on worksheets and exercises in the newly published second edition of The Mentor's Guide.  It explores the critical process of mentoring and presents practical tools for facilitating the mentoring experience from beginning to end.

Dr. Lois J. Zachary is an internationally recognized expert on mentoring excellence and has been cited as “one of the top 100 minds in leadership” today. Her first book on mentoring, The Mentor’s Guide, was originally published in 2000 (reissued in a second edition in 2011) and has become the primary resource for organizations interested in promoting mentoring for leadership and learning and for mentors seeking to deepen their mentoring practice. With her best-selling books Creating a Mentoring Culture (2005) and The Mentee’s Guide (2009), and almost 100 published articles, Zachary has created a comprehensive set of resources for promoting organizational mentoring sustainability. 

Welcome to my blog.  My goal, during our time together, is to offer some fresh thinking and creative strategies to help enhance your personal and organizational mentoring practices. So, let’s get started by taking a peek at some of trends that seem to be driving much of the resurgence and expansion of mentoring in the workplace today.

There is no fat! Over lunch on Friday a friend and I were chatting about some workplace changes we’ve observed over the last couple of months. She mentioned that her employer was anticipating still another 5,000 employee RIFs in the next 90 days. “Bummer,” I said, and she nodded, saying “there is no fat left.” 

In this economy, being good is not good enough. Cutbacks affect a surprising number of individual contributors and good performers. When pushed to the wall, companies opt for retaining the really great performers. Expectations for them are higher than ever before. The price of losing them is dear.

The bottom line: When the workforce is cutback others take on additional responsibilities, often with little or no preparation, skills and training. Organizations need to invest more - not less - in their development to retain them. Mentoring relationships provide a just-in-time sounding board, a helpful source of trusted feedback, and a trusting relationship that promotes organizational loyalty, increased morale and reduced stress. 

Millennials Are Antsy! Seventy-five percent of today’s Millennials say that they plan to leave their current jobs when the economy improves. For any employer this is a very scary statistic. Millennials (GenYs) have been raised to feel valuable and very optimistic and eager to take on increased responsibility and leadership. They want a seat at the table and when they aren’t offered one, become resentful. They believe that they can learn quickly, take on significant responsibility and make major contributions far sooner than their Baby Boomer and Gen X counterparts think they can. They are eager learners and want challenging assignments or they will move on.

The bottom line: Millennials seek mentors and look for jobs in companies that offer mentoring programs. It is one way they know that the organization is invested in their future development. They value mentors who acknowledge what they bring to the table and treat them as partners in the relationship. Since they are eager learners they look for multiple mentors who are are caring and supportive and will give them the candid feedback they crave.

Mentoring is a proven strategy for managing organizational knowledge, reenergizing Baby Boomers and adding connection and value to the organization. If your company doesn’t have a mentoring program right now you’d better get busy. You are going to need it to hold onto your employees, to develop them and raise the level trust in your organization!