Simple Subscribe
I wanted to thank all of the folks that I have developed mentoring relationships with that responded to a client survey for the HR.com 2014 Leadership 500 Excellence Awards! Your kind responses resulted in TalentC® being selected 4th in the Leadership Partners and Providers – International category. We will continue to provide innovative mentoring solutions that share the “gift of mentoring”.
Each time that someone reaches out and asks for guidance in making changes in their organization I feel as though we should celebrate their success. Those changes could be the enhancement of an existing culture, leadership development program or succession development processes. It is a big step for some organizations to peel back the onion skin and see what is beneath the surface. It is an even bigger step to allow someone from outside to look inside and see what is going on. Chances are that the cancer sores are there they just don’t want to share that with anyone else. I have found that even some of the “best employers” have their culture challenges and ironically the challenges usually stem from the leadership table in the organization. Organizations that do take that first step and reach out for that guidance should be commended. They have realized that sometimes they do not have the capacity to assess the challenges internally.
How does mentoring help in these situations. I think we need to reflect on some points that we have made in earlier articles – the difference between mentoring and effective/modern mentoring. The traditional style of mentoring would not be a good fit for the process of an organizational culture assessment and then the enhancement of that culture. Effective mentoring and the techniques that we use in that process create a safe environment for employees to feel a level of trust that they can say what they want and have their opinions respected. This begins the journey towards a trusted relationship which is crucial to the mentoring process. Some of the best workplaces in Canada as defined by The Great Place to Work Institute are selected because they have a high trust workplace. Part of the elements of trust is the need for confidentiality that we must have in a trusted mentoring relationship. With the trust and the confidentiality we can rebuild or enhance an existing culture through the mentoring process. You can build that high trust workplace if you embrace the “power of mentoring” – ask yourself, “Can you afford not to?”
References:
1. http://www.greatplacetowork.ca/
