The Leader as Mentor
Here are a host of statements about leadership, mentoring and the leader as mentor. See which ones (if not all of them) you agree with and apply in your daily practice and interactions with others:
- The leader as mentor is someone who takes a genuine interest in their employees’ career and guides and sponsors them
- Mentoring is an ongoing capacity-building tool rather than a one-off event
- Leaders should make mentoring an active part of their everyday work
- Research shows that mentoring can improve staff retention and performance, and increase loyalty and organisational commitment. Mentoring is therefore a natural component of effective leadership
- Effective leaders are seen as mentors, coaches, facilitators and team-builders
- Leadership is about influencing others in positive ways to accomplish individual and organisational goals
- Mentoring is a core element of succession planning
- Mentoring leverages leadership and experience of senior employees to develop and maintain staff, helping new employees navigate and succeed. Mentoring is a way senior staff can drive the success and sustainability of a company
- Leadership is about action not position. Mentoring is about action and about the mentee, not about the mentor’s position
- The most effective mentors improve their leadership skills and vice versa
- The most successful companies don’t recruit leaders. They grow their own
How can you develop your leaders as mentors?