Maximize Your Mentor Relationship
This is the final strategy in the three part series on maximizing your relationship with your mentor.
Let’s review before we conclude this series on maximizing your relationship with your mentor. The first two strategies we discussed were:
Strategy 1: Find the right mentoring relationship by asking the right question.
Strategy 2: Don’t look for a mentor that only gives you positive feedback.
The final strategy in this series is:
Expect the relationship to require a lot of time and energy. It
should. Be prepared before your meetings. If you are not ready to devote time and energy to being an active protégé’ then wait before you launch a mentoring relationship.
A mentoring relationship should both challenge and inspire you. If you have the right mentor that knows how to give you honest feedback to propel you forward and expand your core capacity. Then friend, you have a good mentoring relationship.
Until next time,
Stephanie
3 Strategies to Maximize Your Mentor Relationship
This is part two of a three part series on maximizing your
relationship with your mentor.
Strategy 2
Don’t look for a mentor that only gives you positive feedback. If
you have a mentor and you are only receiving positive feedback, you
are missing out on growth opportunities. When you think about the
coach/athlete relationship the job of the coach is to help the
player see weak areas in their ‘game’. On the other hand, don’t
buy into the mindset ‘constructive criticism’. Did you know that
‘criticism’ also means disapproval and condemnation? What is
constructive about disapproval and condemnation? Instead you want
a mentor relationship to be realistic, truthful and they should
‘call you on it’ when you make up excuses or don’t deliver on
between meeting actions. Your responsibility is to keep in mind
that you didn’t ask for a mentor so that they could be ‘really
nice’ to you.
Until next time,
Stephanie
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3 Strategies to Maximize Your Mentor Relationship
This is part one of a three part series on maximizing your
relationship with your mentor. You can also use these strategies to
help you find a mentor.
Strategy 1
Find the right mentoring relationship by asking the right question.
Often potential mentors overestimate the amount of time the
relationship will require and sometimes potential mentors don’t
believe they are qualified. Asking a potential mentor, “will you
be my mentor”, could lead a mentor to think how busy they already
are and how they can’t take on one more thing. Instead ask people
you would like to be your mentors if they have time to offer their
opinions on some of your ideas. Be clear on how their strength can
help move you to the next level of professional development.
Until next time,
Stephanie
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If you ask a leader what has been beneficial and memorable in their leadership journey, you will find somewhere along the way — At least one mentor. A recent article by Dr. Gary Collins commented on what makes a good mentor.
A good mentor:
To your success, Stephanie
“Nice” teams get mediocre results. Teams that know how to ’stir up’ healthy conflict get ‘great’ results. Controversial statement but let me clarify. “Nice” team members don’t show weakness because” you never let them see you sweat” or be wrong. Likewise “nice” teams don’t disagree openly. Here is an illustration: One of the “nice” team members suggests a low sales call goal. The suggestion is: only make two new sales calls a week. The team agrees. Each member of the five-member team makes the goal and 10 new sales calls are made for the team.
Goal accomplished. But was it the goal you wanted?
Your data shows the average number of calls it takes to get a close ratio of two clients per associate is a minimum of ten calls per associate. The person that had the data didn’t bring it up because they didn’t want conflict. The person that suggested the goal didn’t want to appear weak so he proposed an achievable goal.
Action: Promote intelligent conflict by having the requirement that team members must communicate team decisions to their staff within2 hours of the meeting. This request will often drive team members to bring up any concerns that have not been clarified.
In the early stages of team development, you may want to develop a creative way to signal when the “nice” member shows up. Did you take the initiative and stir things up?
To your success, Stephanie
“Nice” teams get mediocre results. Teams that know how to ’stir up’ healthy conflict get ‘great’ results. Controversial statement but let me clarify. “Nice” team members don’t show weakness because” you never let them see you sweat” or be wrong. Likewise “nice” teams don’t disagree openly. Here is an illustration: One of the “nice” team members suggests a low sales call goal. The suggestion is: only make two new sales calls a week. The team agrees. Each member of the five-member team makes the goal and 10 new sales calls are made for the team.
Goal accomplished. But was it the goal you wanted?
Your data shows the average number of calls it takes to get a close ratio of two clients per associate is a minimum of ten calls per associate. The person that had the data didn’t bring it up because they didn’t want conflict. The person that suggested the goal didn’t want to appear weak so he proposed an achievable goal.
Action: Promote intelligent conflict by having the requirement that team members must communicate team decisions to their staff within2 hours of the meeting. This request will often drive team members to bring up any concerns that have not been clarified.
In the early stages of team development, you may want to develop a creative way to signal when the “nice” member shows up. Did you take the initiative and stir things up?
To your success, Stephanie
When It Comes to A Team; Quantity Does Not Equal Success
When your organization has an issue, do you tend to “throw people at it” thinking that desired results will come with large numbers? Often teams are thrown together hoping that more is better and this guarantees the desired result.
One of the strategies I use when working with managers is the concept of RP2.
Do you have the right people in the right place? For example, if you are trying to increase sales you could benefit by equipping the team with product development people. Likewise, if the sales team knows what customers are buying, you could benefit by having their input on the product development team. Another mistake some teams make is to have a strategy session and only invite idea people and no implementers.
If we take people and put them together without reviewing what talent is available and what the needs are to reach the goals, the team will have a difficult time achieving high performance. They may get results, but they may not be “great” results. As the manager, team champion or team leader, you also have to have the courage to remove people from the team if they don’t “fit” the mission.
Action: Interview each potential team member, determine their strengths and weakness and make sure what they add lines up with what the team has to accomplish. What did you learn when you applied this strategy?
To your success, Stephanie
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In our last post we discussed the first 3 pillars for success as shoot for the stars. Let’s continue our discussion.
Pillar 4: Encourage “fresh thinking” with your staff.
Discuss where you want to take the organization and let staff create actions to achieve goal.
Pillar 5: Encourage self evaluation and personal goal setting
During the employee goal setting or employee development strategy session, make the requirement that one of the goals be related to personal effectiveness. Allow them to own the goal. The E-LifePlan system is the ideal tool to compliment performance planning and goal setting for superstars.
Pillar 6: Give staff the opportunity to make leadership decisions and support their leadership learning journey. Leaders are made, prepared and equipped. How do you become a leader without having experience to understand your style?As you set out on your journey to shoot for the stars, remember to get out of the light. Some leaders have difficulty in allowing their “stars” to shine. As a leader of purpose, power and passion, your mission is to create “stars” that shine brighter than you.
Until next time, Stephanie
A foundational element of the Ready, Set, Engage Path is creating an organization of people in the right place doing the right job. This doesn’t come by accident; it is premeditated. The first step is deciding to shoot for the stars. So what do you do after you have decided to create an organization of superstars that is envied by peers and clients? Create a plan to get there. In designing your superstar team, there are six pillars for success. Successfully implementing these strategies positions you for triumph on the Ready, Set, Engage Path. We will just look at three of them in this post.
Pillar 1: Develop a process for mentoring new members of your organization.
Even if people have been in the organization for years; establish a weekly schedule to meet with them. This allows one-on-one communication of the mission statement and your expectations.
Pillar 2: Utilize expertise acquired by staff members expertise acquired in previous positions. Have them be the mentor for that subject area both internal to your department and other departments. This strategy allows people to continue to use acquired skill and starts to create an organization of leaders.
Pillar 3: Find ways to creative positive exposure for staff.
As a leader part of your responsibility is to market your employees so they are seen as a valuable asset beyond your “four walls”.
Until next time, Stephanie
The Ready, Set, Engage Path™ as introduced in my book, Ready, Set, Engage™, is one of leadership mastery, organizational alignment, team engagement and customer connection. You cannot have a successful business without the interconnection of these elements. In this post, the focus is on customer connection. Peter Drucker, management consultant helped clarify the idea of a profit center when he said, “The only profit center is the customer.” I have to admit in my early days of customer partnerships, I could have been heard saying, “if only we could just manage the customer relationship.” As a customer on the other hand, I don’t want to be managed, I want an experience.
Customer relationship management SPEAKS - How can your company “work” the customer relationship to meet “your” internal organizational goals?
Customer experience management LISTENS: How can your company help the customer achieve their goals while creating positive customer experiences?
Positive customer experiences create engaged, connected, loyal customers. Loyal customers = Profit in the Profit Center.
Action: Create a “Make Their Day” journal and come up with ways to create positive, unique, customer experiences for your customers.