Leaders Mentor and Coach

Are you mentoring and coaching your team members?

As a young officer, I was blessed to have a great mentor, who helped me reach my career goals. Over the course of my military career, my mentored encouraged me to grow as a leader. Her wisdom helped me to avoid many mistakes.

So, when I left the classroom to work in the Central office, I realized I needed a mentor to help me navigate the next steps in my new career. Once again, I was blessed to connect with a senior leader in the district.

My mentor was more than a mentor. She was also my coach. My mentor took me under her wing and helped me learn how the District worked. Over the next several years, she introduced me to key people, gave me additional opportunities to expand my skill set, and challenged my mindset.

During our meetings, my mentor would walk the line between mentoring and coaching. Sometimes my mentor would be very directive in her advice. However, most of the time she would let me struggle through the process. On a rare occasion, she let me fail so I could learn how to overcome adversity.

A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”

Oprah Winfrey

While my mentor has retired, I still rely on her wisdom. When I need wise counsel, I reach out to my mentor. She is a valued member of my inner circle.

As a leader, you are responsible for developing your staff. While it’s important to offer your team members mentoring, it is not enough. It helps new hires learn the ropes, but there are limits to what a mentor can do.

First, mentoring is not goal-oriented. It basically serves to get new team members acclimated and comfortable. It is focused only on this goal, and once the employee is settled and fully part of the team, there’s not much more that it can offer.

In fact, too much mentoring could be a bad thing. It’s possible for an employee to rely too much on mentoring to such an extent that they become dependent and then find it hard to do things on their own.

Unlike coaching or other forms of training, mentoring isn’t structured and strategic. It’s an approach that relies on the problems facing the person only. The mentor is responding to these challenges with their expertise and experience.

Mentoring is effective for bringing new people into your organization, but you also need to do structured, one-on-one coaching. Coaching focuses on removing obstacles and teaching the employee to be more self-sufficient and engaged with your organization. With coaching, the employee does the work.

The key to being a good mentor is to help people become more of who they already are – not to make them more like you.”

Suze Orman

The best approach is to combine mentoring with coaching. You can use mentoring to get new hires on track and help them overcome challenges when they’re getting started with your organization and coaching for more general personal development.

Are you mentoring and coaching your team members?

Your leadership guide,
Kim

Dr. Kim Moore | Your Leadership Guide | kimdmoore.com