The Value of Mentoring

“People who grew up in difficult circumstances and yet are successful have one thing in common; at a critical juncture in their adolescence, they had a positive relationship with a caring adult.”  Former US President Clinton said this.

If you’ve read Bill Clinton’s memoirs, you know about his difficult circumstances – the early death of his father, the turbulent relationship between his mother and abusive stepfather – and yet, because he was given proper instruction by the right mentor at the right time in his life, Bill Clinton went on to serve for two terms as President of the United States.

Can you remember a significant mentor in your life?  Someone who set you straight or helped you develop your potential?  I can.  I remember three.  One helped me understand the value of teamwork and mutual support, one motivated me to begin my career overseas, and one rearranged my paradigm for how I work to develop others.  My life, and probably yours as well, would have been much different had it not been for these caring, influential mentors.

The need for mentoring is not limited to adults working with adolescents.  There is also a need for mentoring as a manager within your organization.  In addition to managing your staff, your role is also to mentor and develop them as individuals for their benefit, for yours, and for your company’s.

Mentoring adds new dimensions to your role as a manager.  You also become a facilitator, a developer and an empowerer.  You work with individuals to bring out the best in them as you, in turn, become their role model.

Mentoring is a useful alternative to training for many reasons.  For one, it’s flexible and can be accomplished in many different ways requiring only time and two people.  Also, it’s an off-line activity, so it needn’t interfere with normal operations.  Unlike training, mentoring is individual and can meet individual needs as group development activities cannot.  It’s also all-encompassing in its focus, while training tends to be on specific technical or functional skill areas.

Finally, mentoring requires no outside resources or expenditures.  Your expertise and your willingness to devote your time to developing others is all you need.

The success of your organization depends, to a large extent, on continuity.  This means that you always have a large pool of talent within your organization to fill critical positions when necessary.  To help ensure this, a successful mentoring program may be just what you need.