I love what I do! I am very passionate about what I do! Working with people and organizations to help them be the best they can be through the “power of mentoring” is very rewarding to say the least. You will recall my saying that with any trusted mentoring relationship the learning is twofold. The person that you are mentoring gets to learn, but just as importantly so does the mentor.

Discovering that you could have handled a situation better or that you should have communicated better is something that we as mentors have to deal with. I know that I am not perfect and I am always open to learning something from every situation that I am dealing with. If we could shed the emotions from situations that we are dealing with the path to success would be a whole lot easier. Such is not the case! So how do we deal with those situations where our emotions take over and our common sense goes out the window? In the majority of these situations, communication is usually the culprit that has made a “mountain out of a mole hill”! There can be a lack of communication – so rather than sharing our feelings or issues we internalize them. That creates that boiling pot of emotion that never makes things better – it always seems to make it worse. There is also the inability to communicate effectively which results in things going from bad to worse in a very short order. We truly do need to work on our communication skills on an ongoing basis – it needs to become a way of life. Mentoring is a way of life and communication skills are another part of that life changing experience.

I was fortunate this week to have been the recipient of a learning experience from someone whose opinion I value immensely! It was a very life enriching experience as I learned that as the “teacher” you do have a significant impact on the lives of others. I learned that we have to work twice as hard at what we do as people are always watching and listening to how you deal with situations. With mentoring – as a role model we need to make sure the we are emulating the correct behaviors all the time – and we also need to remember that we are human and can and will make mistakes. It is through these mistakes that we grow stronger.

Trusted relationships are important for us to be successful as mentors. Excellent communication skills and active listening are essential as well. Embracing that you are human and you will make a mistake and learn from that is part of your growth. I learned something this week and I am a better person for it. It could not have been done without a trusted relationship and the “power of mentoring!”

There are a number of different types of relationships that we can have. The definition of a “relationship” is: 1) the state of being connected or related, 2) association by blood or marriage, 3) the mutual dealings, connections or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc. Are you in a relationship today with someone? What have you done that has made this relationship successful? Perhaps a better question to ask is whether or not the relationship that you have is a solid one with both parties contributing to the success.

You are perhaps wondering where this idea to write about relationships came from. I was recently asked to prepare a presentation on relationships but with a focus on sports. An example of this would be to determine what sort of relationship exists between a coach and an assistant coach, or between the athlete and the coach, or the coach and the parent. Each of these interaction points can and should be deemed a relationship. How successful they are is another story. As with any relationship communication is the key to how successful the relationship is going to be.

Take a look at the relationship you have with someone that you are very close to. Are you able to communicate effectively with this person at any given time? Do you find that you have to internalize a lot of your thoughts and feelings rather than putting them on the table to be discussed. How does that make you feel when you have to keep all those negative feelings inside? How is that impacting your relationship overall? Now in the case of the sports relationship can the same questions be posed? Communication is the key to the success of a relationship no matter what type of a relationship it is or who you have that relationship with! If you have not developed a trusted relationship and one that is based on openness and honesty then you will not be successful in this relationship.

When I think of some of the relationships that I have had both on a personal and professional basis it was evident that the success or failure rested on our ability to be able to develop trust and the ability to openly communicate with each other. There are times I am sure that you need to decide “is that the hill I want to die on” versus looking for a compromise! I know from experience that I sometimes need to take a step back and attempt to see my partner’s view point from a different perspective. That is actually a very refreshing thing to do. Believe it or not, we are not always right! I found this quote and it is actually so true with the added touch of humor, “A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark” – Woody Allen.

When I look around and see various people that seem to be struggling with a relationship that they have I always seem to be able to tie it back to the lack or perhaps the inability to communicate effectively. It is really sad to see that taking place as it does have a traumatic effect on people. A trusted relationship that is founded on open and honest communication, wrapped in positivity and garnished with mutual respect with a dash of sincerity is most definitely on the path of success. Now that sounds like a recipe for success!

When I look at how this all applies to the exciting world of mentoring – it is the recipe for success for any mentoring program or mentoring culture. We need to remember however that another main ingredient to a successful mentoring program is the right culture to support the implementation and maintenance of that program. Supporting that culture are trusted relationships which typically are not something that you can build overnight. Trained mentors are able to reach out and develop those trusted relationships in a shorter period of time. Their life is typically surrounded by relationships of all kinds and they are constantly working at developing new relationships and providing the care and feeding of existing ones. They understand and recognize the value in trusted relationships! They are indeed the recipe for success in any mentoring solution that you want to implement.

Relationships no matter the type play a very strong role in our lives today. Work on those relationships and reach out to a trained mentor for assistance. It may be your turn to experience the “power of mentoring”!

References:

1. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/relationship

I got to meet an Aboriginal young professional the other day and needless to say I was very impressed with her focus and thinking outside the box. Critical thinking skills are a skill set that we seemed to have lost over the years so it is refreshing when you speak to someone that exhibits those skill sets.

We had a great conversation around the current hiring trends that a lot of companies have. We both agreed that we have a talent source right in front of us and it is untapped. It is estimated that in the Province of Saskatchewan, the Aboriginal population will reach 32.5% of the population by 2045. “The statistics show that Aboriginal people are vastly underrepresented in the workforce.  For example, Aboriginal people make up about 12.5 percent of the Saskatchewan population but only 2 percent of the workforce. In workplaces with an employment equity plan, the representation of Aboriginal workers has grown from 3 to 7.6 percent over the past nine years.”

We discussed a number of different approaches that need to be put in place to assist in the realization that we do have a talent source right in front of us. We also discussed different approaches to assist in preparing Aboriginal people for the workforce. This is apparently echoed by other sources as well, “Employment equity plans are important but we need to develop additional strategies for Aboriginal workers so that their full employment potential can be reached. We need to support education and training opportunities and workplace preparation so that Aboriginal people can prepare for jobs.”

A lot of organizations today are tapping into talent sources from other countries. When those workers arrive in Canada they usually require some assistance to assimilate into existing cultures already in place in organizations that they are going to be working with. They also have to assimilate into society in their new home. All of these are challenges that a lot of organizations do not properly address. In our conversations, we agreed that this is really no different for the Aboriginal people. They have to assimilate into the corporate culture and they have to assimilate into society as well. Their culture needs to be factored in to the equation as it does for workers that are coming from another country.

I know that some organizations are looking at this talent source as the workforce for tomorrow and are doing some good things to make sure they can help prepare them for the challenges to come. In our conversations we identified the need to create a mentoring solution that would be part of preparing the Aboriginal people for the challenges that lie ahead. We looked at this as creating a culture where mentoring would be the foundation. The solution would start with Aboriginal high school students being mentored while they are still going to school. When they graduate and take their education to the next level they would then be mentored by young professionals already in the workforce. They would begin to give back by mentoring high school students. Senior people would then mentor the young professionals. All participants will have seen the “power of mentoring” and can now give back and yet still continue to grow with their own mentor. In essence it becomes a way of life – helping each other grow personally and professionally from an early age.

We need to take the time and the effort to invest in this untapped source of talent. Through the “power of mentoring” we can prepare the Aboriginal people for the challenges that lie ahead. It does require work, but let’s face it – all good things today require work!

References:

1. http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/commercial/aboriginal/rr-chall.html#3
2. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/71-588-x/71-588-x2011003-eng.pdf
3. http://cupe.ca/EqualityAboriginal/debunkingthemyths

I have had some awesome conversations this past week around the idea of “leadership and mentoring”. What has been interesting is that I am seeing that mentoring is the wave of the future – it is becoming more topical in a lot of conversations that I am having. Even more important is that some business leaders are beginning to see the business value of mentoring in their organization. These are definitely forward thinking leaders. Unfortunately the forward thinking leaders are still in a minority.

We need to look at who our future leaders of tomorrow are and what is important to them. Today the majority of Generation “Y” young professionals  look for organizations that have a mentoring culture or mentor programs in place as part of the criterion they use in selecting a place of employment. They have recognized the value and more importantly the business value of mentoring and how it can increase productivity and help them with the development of their critical thinking skills.

As a current leader in your organization do you understand how mentoring can play a key role in the development of your personnel and just as importantly how a mentoring culture can shape the beginning of a continuous learning environment.

Is part of your struggle though not truly understanding what mentoring is? Do you also struggle with the connection between leadership skills and mentoring? I assume that you have likely heard about the role of a business coach or executive coaching. You may be wondering if it’s not the same thing and someone has just gone and put another name on it! Let me shed some light on what mentoring is for you!

“Coaching is not the same as mentoring. Mentoring is concerned with the development of the whole person and is driven by the person’s own work/life goals. It is usually unstructured and informal. Mentors focus on the person (the mentee), that person’s career, and support for individual growth and maturity.

Coaching is much more about achieving specific objectives in a particular way. Coaching also is more formal and more structured, usually around a coaching process or methodology. Typically, coaching is job focused and performance oriented.”

There is a role for both in any organization. I recommend that a trained mentor can hand off to a trained coach and that will benefit the person and the organization. Helping each be successful is the most important thing.

Good leaders are people that are constantly and consistently helping their team be the best that they can be. They have exceptional interpersonal skills and they use the Socratic style of teaching in order to develop strong critical thinking skills within their team. They have that open door policy and are great at building trusted relationships with their team. They respect each person on their team as the individual that they are. In a recent blog article that I had posted I made reference to the skill sets of a leader and of a manager. I have attached the link to that article again for you. When you read through this list of skills it is evident that a good leader needs to have strong mentoring skills. “Telling” people what to do is a leadership skill of years gone past. We have to inspire people and we do that through not “telling” them but mentoring them through the problem solving – hence the focus on critical thinking skills. Why most don’t take this approach is that it does require some work – but the results are well worth the journey.

There is definitely a strong correlation between successful leaders and mentoring. Organizations today need to look at the next wave – and see mentoring as a means to propel their organization to the next level. Trained mentors are value add to any organization. A mentoring culture can help create the continuous learning environment. Take the time to evaluate your organization and where mentoring can play a role. Embrace the “power of mentoring” and be part of the future!

References:

1. http://blogs.reliableplant.com/1211/developing-leadership-skills-mentoring/
2. http://talentc.ca/index.php/2012/the-disengaged-leader-in-a-mentoring-culture/
3. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/articles/manager_leader.htm

I have been having discussions with a lot of people lately around the topic of succession planning. What is very interesting to me is that there does not appear to be a lot of attention being focused on the development of successors. Most organizations appear to be satisfied with having created a succession plan but have not thought about what it takes to develop the successors they identified in the plan. Picture a carefully crafted succession plan with people identified as possible successors to key roles in the organization sitting on a shelf or in a book case in someone’s office collecting dust. In a year’s time when a senior resource in the organization decides it is time to review the plan, they blow the dust off and ask the question “Is everyone still here that we identified” and if so, the plan is placed back on the shelf or in the book case for another year. Does that sound familiar to your organization? Now I suppose I should be happy that they at least have the plan in place, but for some reason I am not!

When I think of the succession planning process there are a number of variables that we need to consider. One of the key elements that very seldom get the attention that it should is the development of the successor. In essence we are setting up the potential successors for failure as we are not devoting the time to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. So what is missing?

Most successors that have been identified for key roles or perhaps as the new owner of the company need the business knowledge that the incumbent holds today. This information must transfer to the potential successor. Typically we would want to capture all that knowledge, make sure it is documented, and then map out how and when it is going to transfer. You would also want to validate that the information had transferred and that it is in a context that is of value to the successor.

The second key element is the soft skills that are so essential when dealing with people. We would want to determine where the successor is in relation to having some or all of these skills and what we would need to do to take them to the next level. Having the support of someone that the successor can bounce ideas off of is crucial in preparing them for the future and the challenges that they will undoubtedly face.

In each of these situations, the knowledge transfer and the soft skills mentoring can play a huge role. Working with the incumbent to transfer the knowledge to the successor will require some form of mentoring. How that information is transferred is crucial to the success of this whole process. Having a person that is hanging on to the knowledge as we all know that “knowledge is power” will not help us in the succession planning process. A qualified mentor can work with both parties to make sure that the knowledge transfer goes smoothly. Drawing on the expertise of a qualified/certified mentor for the soft skills piece of the equation is the recommended approach to addressing this part of the development process. This trusted relationship can extend beyond the succession planning process and can become a long term trusted relationship that will benefit the successor and the organization.

Mentoring does have a key role in the success of any succession planning process. Key to the planning process is the creation of a succession development strategy and that is where mentoring brings the greatest business value. Make sure that you have a succession development strategy and mentoring as part of your succession plan – embrace the “power of mentoring!”

The title by itself spells disaster from all sorts of angles. I can envision an organization spiraling downwards with a leader at the helm that has become or was disengaged. So you are probably asking disengaged from what? This leader would be disengaged from the employees in the organization, knowing what the internal issues/problems/challenges are, emulate little respect for most people in the organization and likely even have that spill over into the client base as well. I could likely continue on with a lot more descriptors but you likely get the picture of what this person is like. They are the phantom leader – there in position only.

How does this impact an organization that wishes to establish a mentoring culture? It has a huge impact on the success of the culture. Without the leadership buy in at the beginning of the journey and without the leadership skills to lead the organizational change that must take place the journey with be a tragic one.

Let’s take a look at some of the skills we would want to see in an effective leader:

When you go through this list you see a lot of the qualities that we are looking for in someone who is a good mentor. Conversely we feel very strongly that a good leader is one who emulates mentoring skills. So the two go hand in hand! With a disengaged leader we are more than likely looking at someone that has been placed in a leadership role and the organization has never spent the time to develop that person in their new leadership role. I have seen this in a lot of organizations and it causes all kinds of problems for us. We see the new leader becoming disengaged as they do not have the skills required to effectively lead – we have set them up for failure, we see the lack of trust from the employees which results in disengaged employees, we see negativity increasing throughout the organization as there is no one really setting the vision and there is no accountability anywhere in the organization. With this taking place productivity begins to drop off impacting service to the client. Without clients we have an organization spiraling downwards to self-destruction.

If your organization is looking at establishing a mentoring culture and you have leaders who have become disengaged you need to look at the steps that you are going to take to take this exciting organizational change journey. Implementing a mentoring program is likely not the answer – a usual alternate step some organizations will take in place of the mentor culture. My research has shown that we need the culture in place to support the program so that the program doesn’t add to the list of programs that have failed. There are a number of things that we can do to make this a successful organizational change journey – but you will need to be prepared to make the hard decisions. After all “one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel”.

To make this journey a success, let’s embrace the “power of mentoring” and establish a mentoring culture that is complete with an engaged, empowered and accountable workforce – which includes the leadership team!

References:

1. Leadership versus Management Chart – http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/articles/manager_leader.htm

WOW!!!!!!! What an exciting and very positive energy week I just experienced. I was able to validate that positive energy will prevail – it sometimes takes a while for it to capture those that are negative but it definitely will do just that. It also caused me to be sympathetic for those that are so wrapped up in negative energy that their circle of friends and work colleagues are starting to push them away. Let me share some of the excitement and positive energy that I experienced.

One of the successes we had this week involved my work with one of my clients where we turned a corner and the entire team embraced a mentoring culture. It did take one person to step to the plate as a leader and say enough talk, let’s move forward and embrace our new culture! I stopped in for one last set of sessions with all the employees and I could feel the positive energy as I entered the building. Perhaps the sugar rush from having finished a number of chocolate eggs as part of an early morning office function was part of that – but the positive energy and respect for each other was bubbling throughout the office. My one on one session with each employee were very positive and upbeat and it was clear that the new culture was now a way of life for each and every employee. I made it clear that they now owned the new culture and would have to support and maintain it and they were more than willing to accept my challenge. I will check in on them periodically to make sure they are still moving forward, but I am very proud of their work and accomplishments.

I was very fortunate to present to the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association (SHCA) Annual General Meeting on the 4^th of April, 2012. It was an energizing experience for me to speak to an association that is supportive of mentoring! We spoke about succession planning/development and mentoring and how it was relevant to the SHCA membership. . The aspect of the disengaged employee and negative energy was a topic that we touched on during the presentation. The disengaged employee and negative energy is a good segue into the next positive energy experience that I had!

You sometimes wonder if people are actually listening and hearing what you are saying. You just have to love those that practice active listening! I got to watch – didn’t engage this time, a rewarding experience for me unfold right in front of me. Organizations today are successful because of their people. Those that struggle do so because of their people. A lot of the struggle comes from having a work force that is not engaged, empowered or held accountable. We all understand that with engagement comes empowerment and with those two in place accountability follows. This week I watched a group of employees gather for a quick conversation – perhaps a short break to catch their breath. I overheard a conversation where one employee was most definitely very negative about what was taking place and the lack of direction clearly demonstrating disengagement. What I then witnessed which made me very happy was that a few of the others listed off some things that needed to be done and proceeded to go and get them done. Our disengaged and negative energy source was left standing with no one else for him to draw into his personal negative vortex. Chances are I was the only one that saw or understood what took place – but rest assured it will be a topic of conversation in the not too distant future. So there is a light shining at the end of the tunnel – but the journey is still ongoing and has a ways to go yet. The employees that took the initiative and demonstrated the positive energy are to be commended for they are helping this organization move forward and develop their mentoring culture.

As I reflect back on the past week I can’t help but be energized with what has taken place. I only hope that more organizations will realize the benefits of creating an engaged, empowered and accountable workforce enabled through a mentoring culture. Do not underestimate the “power of mentoring.”

References:

1.       http://saskheavy.ca/

When I posted my last article one of my colleagues and avid followers commented on how my articles seem to have a negative slant to them. I looked back through the most recent ones and could see how he came to that conclusion. What is interesting though is that I actually painted an accurate picture of what I am seeing and what I am being told by others. Recent feedback from the webinar that I did on HR.com supports this. I am staying positive that organizations will take that all important look within and decide to deal with the negativity in the work place. I am truly blessed with the clients that I have as they have looked within and are taking the steps to make changes. They have embraced a mentoring culture as the future for their organization. They have recognized that there are productivity issues that have resulted from the negativity and want to change that. They have also seen that retention is becoming a problem as most employees don’t want to work in a toxic work environment. I always like to mention the fact that the good employees will leave – because they can!

We have implemented a mentoring culture in the one organization already and the change in the environment is absolutely awesome. You can feel the positive energy when you walk into the office. The others will follow as they have embarked on the journey. In one of those remaining organizations we actually did some calculations on what the negativity is costing the organization. That was an eye opener for the employees to see what that was actually costing the organization and the people they serve. We were very conservative with our numbers so the productivity loss will definitely be a lot greater than what we had proposed – the equivalent of 1.0 Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE).

A recent article in the Regina Leader-Post entitled, “Accentuate the positive for a productive workplace” supports the need for organizations to focus on creating a positive work environment. Shawn Achor, founder of corporate strategy firm Good Think Inc., states that “Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level, productivity, creativity, engagement – improves”.

As I have said before organizations that have a negative work environment can look to everyone within the organization as being part of the problem. Even those who choose to stand by and watch are also responsible for the environment being negative. To change this requires a concentrated effort on the part of everyone including management. The positive environment comes from positive leadership that can keep the management team engaged and focused on emulating the right behaviors. We would also want to have a few advocates from within the organization in addition to the management team to help create the new environment and support and maintain the new culture that will be an outcome from this process.

By working together to change the environment we will see the value in a positive work environment. Our organization will be more productive, reduced absenteeism, higher level of engagement, empowered and accountable workers. We will be able to recruit the brightest and best as they will want to work in our new positive work environment. I am proud of the organizations that I am working with as they see the business value in creating that positive workplace. Your organization can share in those rewards as well. Embrace the “power of mentoring” and create that positive mentoring culture!

References:

1. http://www.hr.com/stories/1329754481002

2. http://www.leaderpost.com/life/fashion-beauty/Accentuate+positive+productive+workplace/6352754/story.html – Kim Covert PostMedia News

TalentC is the delivery mechanism for a massive change that is absolutely necessary and timely in today’s world. The fine art of Mentorship is one in which every person has the ability to perform but few have the tools required to act. The Level One program covers all the basics and delves right into the heart of how our society functions and what is necessary for a thriving future. Knowledge transfer is more critical today than ever before in our world and this program is timely, effective and absolutely necessary. My experience with Level One has left me with a strong desire to continue and a resolution to help bring this message to as many as I can in the future. Doug has created an easy to understand functional training program that will allow certified facilitators an opportunity to help support the coming change.

Maybe I am somewhat paranoid, but I sense that a lot of organizations have work to do on their culture. I guess to some it would sound as though I am a broken record, but for some reason I can’t sit idly by and watch good people and great organizations not be successful because of a poisoned culture. Now as you are reading this you are likely thinking well this does not apply to me or the organization that I am working at. Everything is just fine where I work and I am “okay!”

Funny thing is that I hear that a lot and then when we start to do a discovery or exploration session we find that there is a lot of poison in the workplace and it has been there for quite a while. The sad part of all this is that in a lot of cases the leaders/managers knew this was going on and decided to just bury their heads in the sand and ignore it. If we do not acknowledge that it is there then it isn’t happening. I like to call this the “ostrich syndrome”! If we ignore, maybe it will go away. In actual fact what is taking place is that the good workers are going away as they recognize that there are likely better organizations to work for where the culture is more supportive. Why is it that the good ones always leave – well because they can! They are highly marketable and will never have a problem in getting a job elsewhere. What does that leave you with??? You still have a poisoned culture and now you are going to begin to feel, if you haven’t already the impact of disengaged employees and lost productivity. I get frustrated when I see good people leave an organization because of the culture – because the culture is something that we can fix. In today’s tight labour market this is a time bomb waiting to explode. Do you want it to explode in your organization?

Another thing that I find interesting is that most employees who have a lot of negative energy seem to find the time to complain about their co-workers or how things are being run in the company, or a number of other things. We are very good at identifying problems but none of these people every bring solutions to the problem. Do we realize how much time is being spent on being negative rather than focusing on the job – being productive – setting a positive example – supporting our co-workers – finding solutions to problems? It is easier to be negative than it is to be positive. For everything that you identify as a negative, I can find a positive in it for you. So if I can do that, why is it so hard for you to do that and help make your organization a positive place to work?

Organizations today need to take a hard look at their culture as they may well have that time bomb ticking away within. If you keep your head buried in the sand and choose to ignore what is going on that bomb is going to explode! You can take steps to diffuse the bomb and ensure that you retain your employees by having a mentoring culture – one that is focused on people! Your people are the heart and soul of your organization – focus on them and you will be successful. With a strong mentoring culture and supported by the people within your organization you will become an employer of choice, your customers loyal, and your bottom line impressive.

Take the step today before the time bomb explodes and cure that poisoned culture. Embrace the “power of mentoring” and a mentoring culture.

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