Leadership and Mentoring Challenges faced by Business and Community Leaders

As an alumni I recently had the opportunity to join a number of fellow Top 40 under 40 recipients in a luncheon at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce hosted by Calgary Inc Magazine and sponsored by Lois Mitchell of Amherst Consultants Ltd. Premier Ralph Klein was on hand to present a keynote to the group, looking decidedly more relaxed now than his days as Alberta’s Premier.

The Alumni’s on hand were tasked with considering two very important questions over lunch:

Questions:

1. Mentoring can be an equally rewarding experience for both the mentor and the mentee. What role have mentors played in your success? Who’ve been some of the key mentors in your life? What’s been your experience mentoring others?

2. Many of Calgary’s most active business and community leaders are nearing retirement. How can the next generation – our generation – step up to the plate and fill some of the key leadership roles that are essential to build and improve our city?

I was very impressed (and encouraged!) by the importance that my colleagues placed on the issues of mentoring and leadership. There is a sincere interest in engaging the leaders that make Calgary such a great place to live; capturing that knowledge and experience and developing future leaders with the pervasive ‘can do’ attitude that surges through this city. They will play a crucial role in helping to maintain Calgary’s prominence as a leader in commerce and lifestyle. More to come on this as this group of young leaders are very committed to doing their part in crafting a great future for Calgary.

The discussion on mentoring underscored how new the concept is within the general business community. That is not to say that is not present and being implemented effectively in some businesses. Rather, it remains a somewhat nebulous opportunity that is coming in to focus with some urgency. I would caution any organization looking to implement a mentoring component to their leadership development to do so with careful planning.

Mentoring can be a powerful tool in the process of developing future leaders. The difference between a successful mentoring initiative and one that dies on the vine should be front of mind when an organization embraces the opportunity. Some essential ingredients include:

Identify a Champion – This is the critical first step. Your organization must identify that individual that espouses the core values critical to your organization and, equally as important, clearly sees the power of mentoring in the development of others. You have to get this right! Imposters will be quickly detected and your mentoring initiative will be derailed with certainty.

Select for attitude and train for Success – Not every senior leader in your organization is appropriate for a direct mentoring role. The wrong attitude/perspective can be very damaging and has a reaching impact on the initiative; one that can transcend the specific relationship between the mentor and mentee. While I think every senior leader has a role in developing future leaders, I also realize that some leaders would be better positioned as skill or opportunity coaches rather than as a mentor. They can and should be expected to contribute to the learning process. Use their experience and expertise effectively; keep it skill or situation specific.

I too often experience organizations that implement a mentoring initiative without the requisite training and resources/support that are critical to success. The idea that a person that has experienced success in their position or role will be a successful mentor is similar to the concept that the effective frontline worker translates to an equally effective supervisor; this is simply NOT true! You need to prepare that mentor for their responsibility. Formal preparation will achieve two important outcomes for your organization. First, your mentors will have a clear understanding of the expectations the organization has with the mentoring initiative. They will understand the process, embrace their role and responsibility and deliver an experience that will have a powerful and enriching impact on your future leaders. Second, a training program will serve to draw your senior leaders into the mentoring initiative. It is my experience that many senior leaders feel they are not prepared to perform in this capacity; they simply do not know how it works. Show them that they will be supported in the process and you will attract a worthy group of mentors.


Get these key ingredients right and you have taken two very significant steps to launching a very engaging and effective mentoring program within your organization. I would recommend that each and every mentor be indoctrinated with David A. Stoddard’s principles for developing people. In The Heart of Mentoring , Stoddard covers the essential life-changing principles that work in mentoring, they include:

Effective mentors understand that living is about giving.
Effective mentors see mentoring as a process that requires perseverance.
Effective mentors open their world to their mentoring partners.
Effective mentors help mentoring partners align passion and work.
Effective mentors are comforters that share the load.
Effective mentors help turn personal values into practice
Effective mentors model character
Effective mentors affirm the value of spirituality.
Effective mentors recognize that Mentoring + Reproduction = Legacy
Effective Mentors go for it!

They Need to Know You Care Before They Care What You Know

This past week I attended the Notre Dame Alumni Sports Dinner in Calgary. The Alumni group does a great job of organizing these events and consistently attracts great speakers.

We were regaled by Dave King as he recounted many of his experiences as a head coach in the NHL, Europe, Russia, Japan and with Team Canada. Dave is a great story teller with a unique set of experiences in the competitive world of professional sports. Clearly very grounded, he has assembled a vast amount of experience with amateur and professional (read: extremely well paid!) athletes. I can only imagine the unique challenges of motivating professionals in contrast to the amateur athlete.

King spoke of the difference in hockey players today as compared to when he started in the great game in the late 70’s. Specifically, he spoke of players in his early days possessing a sense of obligation and responsibility. He contrasted that with the hockey professionals of today; where the prevailing focus is on rights and privileges. Now where have you heard that before?

So what are we to make of the Calgary Flames recent decision to install Mike Keenan as the new head coach of the local NHL team? If we are to accept King’s view on today’s professionals, one would expect that the present day coach would be better served by espousing the nurturer rather than the drill sergeant approach. Keenan has a colorful history, earning the name ‘Iron Mike’ for his demanding nature with his players and unique relationship with the media and on-ice officials. During this past season, sports pundits took many shots at the Flames lack of discipline and woeful away record. Clearly, Keenan has been brought in to instill that sense of responsibility with his charges. Time will tell how this story will end; will certainly make for some highly charged media scrums during the upcoming NHL campaign.

Fresh Perspectives

Thank you for the feedback that you have been sharing. I would like to encourage you to continue sending me your thoughts and ideas.

I will be introducing a monthly post entitled 'Perspectives'. This feature will present discussions with senior leaders in the public and private sector. Notably, the focus will be on the challenges and opportunities that these leaders face in their rapidly changing sectors. I look forward to sharing this with you and I am confident that the perspectives and insights will be of immense value for us all.