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Making Sense of Self Isolation Mandates and Sudden Mass Lay-Offs
We live during an unprecedented global pandemic. Many employees of organization big and small are in flux, feeling the impact of uncertainty, anxiety, and a sense of loss of control. Disruption and doubt are their new routine.
The employees in my mentoring circles are experiencing stress at a level they have never been subjected to before. For others unable to cope with mounting stress and uncertainty, if left unchecked, have the potential to develop symptoms far more serious than ever before, and without resources required to support them.
We also understand that Employers, HR, and C-Suite are under similar stressors for different reasons. It is not just the ones who are at the working level who are under pressure, but also the senior executives of a company too might have to undergo a lot of stress during these trying times, which have led to physical and mental ailments. These problems could potentially lead to bigger consequences, leading to the disruption of business as well. For cases such as this, business owners could opt to get key person insurance for the employees who they deem to be essential for the company.
To be fair, organizations have no policy or process to counter the COVID-19 and no lead time to address it at the expense of their employees because nobody saw this pandemic coming. No one had the support structure in place to deal with post-traumatic stress caused by the mass employee layoffs and the sudden skeleton crews.
Perhaps, if the wellness and healthy lifestyle of the employees were kept in check with group health insurance jacksonville fl or similar other health insurance, the companies could have tackled the times better. This could have also helped in improving employee morale and decreasing employee absenteeism.
Employee Compared to Organization Perspective:
Currently, employees are experiencing high anxiety and stress with the uncertainty.
In just a few weeks, concern replaces confidence that their employment will resume when the threat is over. They have no assurances their job will be waiting for them once the situation normalizes. Many employees are not eligible for short-term employment, but they still must feed their families. There is still no end-date on the duration for self-isolation and social distancing. Employees are beginning to lose hope, affecting not only their physical health, but their mental health as well. Many already:
The reality is employee health is declining from mass stress and anxiety.
The question is, what resources can organizations put in place to assure employees?
Currently, organizations are in a state of flux.
Organizations want to continue providing services, products, and programs to their customers. They want to continue providing for their employees. However, organizations struggle to provide either with the constantly changing landscape. Organizations are severely limited by the bottom line. To keep their doors open and the lights on, is sometimes at the cost of employee's financial, physical, and mental well-being.
Expectation over the next One to Three (1 to 3) Months:
Well into the pandemic (one to three months in) employee stress levels mount with continuing unemployment and the funds to support their families running out. Employees scramble to figure out when their funds will run out. They hope that the supply chains continue to provide the necessities.
Most organizations may have viewed the global pandemic as being something short lived. As a result, organization may fall short continuing to provide services, products, and programs to clients and their employees. Some organizations especially the small to medium sized will struggle most and face the tough decision whether to finally fold or continue to struggle to remain solvent.
Contemplating the future does not appear bright.
However, there will be an end to the pandemic. There will be a new norm and a sudden swarm of available jobs.
This unprecedented situation does provide a unique opportunity for organizations to pause and consider, evaluate, and prioritize their challenges. They can use this downtime to revise old systems and integrate new solutions for the future.
Including effective mentoring at this stage will assist organizations by providing the support and the resources employees desperately need.
A program that trains mentors on the process of working with struggling employees will yield better physical and mental stability to addressing feelings of anxiety, periods of stress, and get them past dark or negative thoughts.
Several recruiters also seem to be seeking graduates in Clinical Exercise Prescription. This can be because these graduates would be able to prescribe exercise as a part of the healthcare treatment regime for their employees. Moreover, the exercises recommended by experts might be helpful for the employees in overcoming stress and anxiety.
Therefore, it is never too late to bring in a qualified mentor (or other experts) to start the healing process. Now is the time to put effective mentoring to work to create that workplace (however virtual) to focus on the work community and ensuring employees' well-being.
If you want more information of how your organization can get support through effective mentoring, don't hesitate to book an appointment >> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
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Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC and Co-founder of the International Mentor Community.
Doug leads organizations to experience the benefits how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug's Practice of Mentoring has resulted in his accumulation of 2,000 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 197 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor.
Doug is a volunteer mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life. Doug is currently working with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD.
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published "The Gift of Mentoring" in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020.
Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.
Contact Doug directly to discover how mentoring can improve your organization.
>> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here is a question I received recently and my response.
What is the difference between Coaching, Mentoring, and Reverse Mentoring?
Mentoring: Ongoing relationship that can last for a long period of time
Coaching: Relationship generally has a set duration
Mentoring: Can be more informal and meetings can take place as and when the mentee needs some advice, guidance or support
Coaching: Generally more structured in nature and meetings are scheduled on a regular basis
Mentoring: More long-term and takes a broader view of the person
Coaching: Short-term (sometimes time-bounded) and focused on specific development areas/issues
Mentoring: Mentor may be more experienced and qualified than the ‘mentee’ but does not have to be. It is a two way trusted relationship. May be a senior person in the organization who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities. Mentoring is about guiding the mentee to the answers not telling. Industry experience is a nice to have not a need to have.
Coaching: Coaching is generally not performed on the basis that the coach needs to have direct experience of their client’s formal occupational role, unless the coaching is specific and skills-focused
Mentoring: Focus is on career and personal development
Coaching: Focus is generally on development/issues at work
Mentoring: Agenda is set by the mentee, with the mentor providing support and guidance to prepare them for future roles
Coaching: The agenda is focused on achieving specific, immediate goals
Mentoring: Mentoring resolves more around developing the mentee professionally and personally. Focus initially should be on the personal development.
Coaching: Coaching revolves more around specific development areas/issues
Reverse Mentoring: Has been a term used to describe a younger person mentoring a much older person. (Mentoring in the use of technology when the mentor is a much older and technology challenged). This is an outdated terminology as mentoring is described now as a two way trusted relationship where the mentor and mentee will learn and grow together on a personal and professional basis.
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| Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC® and the co-founder of the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug Lawrence leads organizations to experience how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations). Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC). Doug’s Practice of Mentoring has resulted in his accumulation of 1,970 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 197 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor. Doug is a volunteer mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life. Doug is currently working with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD. Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published “The Gift of Mentoring” in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020. Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally. Contact Doug directly to discover how mentoring can improve your organization.
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I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here is a question I received recently and my response.
What are the four main stages of mentoring?
There are a number of different viewpoints on this topic with responses ranging from 3 to as many as 10 stages in the mentoring relationship.
I have broken it down into three.
Trusting phase: This is during the very early stages of the mentoring relationship where expectations of each participant are discussed and defined. This is where it is very important that trust be developed between the two participants. Building a trusted relationship will provide the foundation to move forward with your mentoring relationship. It is important for the mentor to be whole as a person. This may take only a few sessions or it may take a while to develop the level of trust needed to move forward.
Learning and Development phase: This is where you will spend a large part of your time as a mentor/mentee. This is where the “heavy lifting” takes place in the mentoring relationship. You will explore personal growth challenges as well as professional (career related) challenges. You may encounter challenges such as self-esteem, self-worth and self-confidence. I call these the “self-challenges”. This phase can go on for a long period of time.
Maintenance phase: You may reach a time where the mentor and mentee decide that you have addressed the majority of the challenges and that you feel you no longer need to meet on a regular basis. With the Maintenance phase you can agree to meet less frequently or not at all. What I do recommend is for mentors to check in every so often to see how things are going. I periodically check in either via email or in person depending on the location of my mentee. If things are going well we can stay in the Maintenance phase and if they are not then we can transition back to the Learning and Development phase.
Looking at the stages/phases in this manner keeps the mentoring process less complicated.
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Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC® and co-founder of the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug leads organizations to experience the benefits how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug’s Practice of Mentoring has resulted in his accumulation of 1,950 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 200 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor.
Doug is recognized as a “Most viewed writer in the Business Mentoring and Mentors and Mentoring categories on the Quora website (www.quora.com).
Doug is a volunteer mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life.
Doug is currently working with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD.
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published “The Gift of Mentoring” in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020.
Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.
Contact Doug directly to discover how mentoring can improve your organization.
>> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
Mentoring has reached a paradigm shift that comes from mentoring being recognized as a solution to business challenges. However, some confusion exists as to “what is mentoring” and “what is the best way to apply the mentoring” concepts? Countless myths exist about mentoring and the mentoring process. Mentoring is still sometimes seen from the Traditional mentoring perspective rather than Effective mentoring.
The Traditional view sees the mentor to be older than the mentee, to share their wisdom and knowledge more from “telling” rather than “asking a series of questions” to guide.
The paradigm shift taking place is premised on the following definition:
Mentoring is a two-way trusted relationship where both the mentor and mentee will learn and grow personally and professionally together.
There are two foundational pieces to consider if we want to have meaningful mentoring experiences.
First is a two way trusted relationship.
We are unable to build that two-way trust then we cannot have a successful mentoring experience. Building trust requires that we share something personal with our mentee. This trust may not happen in the first meeting, but the more comfortable you are with sharing, the easier trust is to build.
While we sometimes talk about mentoring from the “Traditional” style, we also talk about “Reverse Mentoring”, a style the younger person mentors an older person. They will typically guide them in exploring technology and how to use it. I am not a fan of this term as “reverse” means going backwards. We at the International Mentoring Community (IMC), prefer to substitute “reverse mentoring” with the term “effective mentoring.”
The second foundational piece to consider is effective communication. If we do not understand how to communicate effectively then we will struggle with building a mentoring relationship. There are 7 Effective Communication Tools:
Each Effective Communication Tool addresses the definition of effective mentoring which is always a two-way trusted relationship, where both the mentor and mentee will learn and grow personally and professionally together.
The paradigm shift of effective mentoring occurs in the present and future needs of the workforce and in organizations.
With the diminishing use of Traditional style mentoring, we need to create a more modern and business focused mentoring approach.
The mentoring paradigm shift also addresses focusing on the personal growth or psychosocial needs mentees have before addressing professional growth. In future articles we will explore the aspect of personal and professional growth as part of the effective mentoring process.
Effective mentoring is the future; creating a learning and development environment benefits all.
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To discuss how the Mentoring Paradigm Shift will affect your workplace or organization, book an appointment with Doug.
>> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
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Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC®.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published “The Gift of Mentoring” in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2020.
Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.
To contact Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here are some of those questions and my responses.
Q: How does one find a farming mentor?
A: I just did a search via Google and used the words “farming mentor”. There over 9M hits and some that are really good points of reference.
Take a look at some of the organizations that offer farming mentors and see if any of them meet your needs.
Industry experience is a nice to have - not a need to have. An extraordinary mentor would prepare themselves to work with you by researching the industry and to be familiar with some of the trends. Lack of industry knowledge just means that they will be asking lots of questions which stimulates your critical thinking, demonstrates their interest in you, your industry and helps to build a trusting relationship.
Q: If you were given an opportunity to help someone with communication skills, what would be the greatest words that you’d speak?
A:
Q: How would a 17 year old find a mentor in real-estate investing? How can I go find people to get help from in LA?
A: I would suggest finding someone in the industry and asking them for their advice and guidance. You could say, “I am interested in working in your industry once I have completed my education. What would you recommend that I do?”
As with anything in life there are no quick wins financially so be prepared to work hard for what you will achieve. It is refreshing to see that you have a vision and are seeking guidance early.
Q: As a team leader, how do you deal with individuals who struggle with cooperation and interaction with other group members?
A: I will respond to this from the role of a mentor and a team leader could take a similar approach.
Remember that relationships are two way so the other group members may be part of the challenge.
Using mentoring techniques and concepts I would engage with each of the team members to build a trusting relationship. I would focus on their individual challenges on a personal and then a professional level. By approaching it that way we will identify any barriers or obstacles that are impeding their ability to cooperate and interact with fellow team members.
From there it is a matter of providing them with communication tools as well as relationship building skills.
One thing that works well for me when it comes to group challenges such as this is to facilitate group mentoring to get them working together to critically think their way through a problem that they have been trying to solve.
A team leader that has been provided with proper leadership training supplemented by working with a mentor will be able to work through this challenge with a high degree of success.
Q: What advice do you have for people who interview badly?
A: I work with a number of people as their mentor while they are job hunting. Preparing for the interview is one of those steps. Your resume and cover letter can be rock solid but if you are not good at the interview process then you won’t be successful.
Dee has referenced using the technique of mental imagery/visualization which I fully support. I worked with a person who hadn’t been interviewed in over 19 years and we prepared for two interviews using this technique. She crushed both interviews and was successful in being hired by one of the employers.
Wayne’s recommendation to get a mentor is another great recommendation. Mentor’s will guide you and support you but they will not do the heavy lifting - that is your responsibility. I don’t write your resume - you do that but I will make suggestions. At the end of the day you own the resume and have to defend it so having me write it isn’t the path we want to take.
Q: Is leadership quality in every employee of an organization important?
A: I think it is a most definite nice to have - but I don’t think realistically that it would be a need to have. The leadership talent shortage that we are experiencing globally tells us that it is important but we are still trying to figure out how to address it.
I am a firm believe that we can prepare future leaders for tomorrow through the mentoring process. I have worked with potential leaders and current leaders to gain/enhance leadership skills using the mentoring process. There has been behavioral changes that has resulted in their leadership skills rising to the top. It becomes infectious in that other employees want to emulate the same behavior.
We have work to do but without strong leadership there is untapped potential that alludes us and lost productivity resulting in a huge impact on organization’s bottom line.
Q: How do you demonstrate the pros to someone focused on the cons?
A: I have worked with someone that was just like that.
What we did was to focus on the positive and we used reflection as a means to see both the pro and the con of something. We were able to look at what we might do differently the next time to make it a more positive outcome.
What I have also done is to use the Socratic Method to ask questions that helped us focus on the positive. Example, “What could we have said differently that would change the outcome”. Another approach is to provide two or three alternatives and have them think which would be the better approach.
If they are focused on the cons - they likely have low self-esteem so you may want to start there.
Q: Why would a mentor teach someone specifically how to succeed?
A: We need to look at the definition of mentoring in order to answer your question. Mentoring is a two way trusted relationship where the mentor and mentee learn and grow together - personally and professionally.
As the mentor shares their lived experiences with the mentee they are also learning something along the journey. It may be about the mentee, their organization, the challenges they have or had but just as importantly about themselves as a person and mentor.
It is about giving back but there is also the element that I as a mentor am going to learn and grow as well.
Q: How does a mentor choose his mentees?
A: Sometimes it is the mentee that selects the mentor as a result of a referral. The mentor needs to make sure that they have the capacity to take on the mentee.
When I am deciding whether or not I am going to work with a certain mentee it is usually due to the chemistry and whether or not the person appears committed to the journey. I need to be able to build a trusted relationship and that requires two people to make it happen.
The mentee would need to understand the difference between coaching and mentoring and what the outcomes of a mentoring relationship could be. I always recommend that the mentee take a day or two to reflect on our first meeting and if they feel there is chemistry and want to proceed then we can set up another time to meet. This ensures that we are starting the relationship/arrangement with both eyes open.
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Doug Lawrence is an extraordinary mentor and mentor certification trainer with TalentC and is the International Mentoring Community Director of Education.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring programs will influence a happy workforce culture (mentors), improve employee productivity (mentees), reducing costly employee high turnover (onboarding), improves the bottom line (organizations), which saves 150% to 200% of the annual salary of each departing employee. He provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals and groups, all backgrounds and industries locally and internationally.
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is recognized as a “Most viewed writer in the Business Mentoring and Mentors and Mentoring categories on the Quora website (www.quora.com).
An international speaker and author of The Gift of Mentoring (2014), Doug’s second book is set to publish in late 2019.
Do you have a workplace crisis or issue to resolve? Schedule a time to meet with Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here are some of those questions and my responses.
Q: What are some good ways for a small business entrepreneur to find a mentor? I am currently in the process of expanding my handmade business into wholesale.
A: Check to see if there are any incubators that work with small business entrepreneurs and if they provide mentoring as part of their service. Some include mentoring in their fee structure and some have it as an add on. I have also seen some cases where it is mandatory that mentoring be used.
You can also do some searches via Google to see if there are any associations that provide mentoring. I have seen some of the mentor software programs that have created a mentoring community and a data base of people wanting to mentor.
Make sure that you choose wisely when selecting a mentor. Ideally your mentor should have some form of training in order for you to get the biggest ROI for mentoring.
They don’t have to be from your industry - it is a nice to have but not a need to have. I am mentoring a number of different people and they are from industries that I do not have any experience in.
Q: If one of the top career mistakes is staying in a job too long, how do you know when it's best to find a new job?
A: One tell-tale sign is that it becomes a chore to get out of bed in the morning and go to work. You have become very negative about all thins - including your personal life. You bring home the negativity to an environment that is typically very positive. I have also seen where your productivity and quality of your work begins to decline to the point of you becoming toxic. When I am working with people in a mentoring relationship we touch on these elements and more especially when I sense that we have reached that crossroads. If the culture of the organization is not in alignment with your values it may well be time to move on.
Q: What can women do to have better representation within management and board level positions?
A: An interesting question and timely as I am doing research on this very topic and also exploring male vs female mentors - is there a difference, etc?
What I have seen is that mentoring can assist in providing tools that women need to move forward and assume roles in management or at the board table. Typically a women that is in that position has a male mentor or attempts to acquire a male mentor. There are some male mentors that are reluctant to mentor a women. Research is using the #metoo movement as a reason.
What I have done with one of my female mentees is to recommend having a male mentor and a female mentor - especially someone that has been on the journey to advance in leadership roles and acquire a board table seat.
Bottom line is that mentoring does help - you can leverage the full power of mentoring with a male and female mentoring team.
Q: Who is more effective, a Positive Leader or a Negative Leader?
A: A positive leader would be more effective. Ask yourself who you would rather work with - someone that is positive or someone that is negative. Think of the impact that a leader has on the culture of the organization. Would you want that to be positive or would you want that to be negative.
One thing to remember is that if you are working with a negative leader you need to observe the characteristics that you do not want. It was suggested to me a long time ago that, “you will work with many bosses over the course of your career. Learn to pick the good characteristics - characteristics that you want to emulate and keep those. Learn to recognize the characteristics that you do not want and cast them aside.”
Whether the situation is driven by positivity or negativity there is always something to learn.
Q: Are all 'soft skills' just interpersonal skills? If so, why don't people just call them that?
A: I think the term “soft skills” is one that is over used and with us not fully understanding what it means.
I am more inclined to use the term “essential skills”. I work with leaders and managers at all levels of organizations and what typically needs addressing are their essential skills. Technically they may be very strong but when it comes to working with others, communicating effectively, motivating and inspiring there is always room for improvement.
One thing I have noticed is that we have lost the art of communicating effectively. As a result there is more organizational turmoil and it is typically attributed to the lack of communicating effectively.
Q: If so much material is written about leadership, why are there so few real leaders in companies?
A: There is a global leadership talent shortage today. Check out the article on this site for more information: Are You Ready for the Leadership Shortage?
61% of the companies surveyed do not offer any leadership training - so we are setting people up to fail. What is also critical is to provide mentoring as part of the leadership development program. Sadly this is a process that can and will make a difference but it has to be implemented. Mentors need to be training. The organization from the top down has to recognize that leadership development is a priority.
Provide people with the tools to be successful - don’t set them up for failure. Don’t miss out on opportunities because you have not provided the training and mentoring for your leaders.
Q: Is it normal to only want mentors as my only circle of friends?
A: What this signals to me is that you have challenges with trust. A great mentor focuses on building a trusted relationship which explains you only wanting mentors in your inner circle/circle of friends. Your mentor(s) are filling a void.
Talk with your current mentor(s) to have them work with you to step outside that comfort zone and to build more relationships outside of your mentor(s). Focus on how to build trust and how to receive it from someone else.
The lack of trust will also have an impact on your professional life if it has not already done so. We need to address these personal growth challenges so that they do not become an obstacle to moving forward professionally.
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Doug Lawrence is an extraordinary mentor and mentor certification trainer with TalentC and is the International Mentoring Community Director of Education.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring programs will influence a happy workforce culture (mentors), improve employee productivity (mentees), reducing costly employee high turnover (on-boarding), improves the bottom line (organizations), which saves 150% to 200% of the annual salary of each departing employee. He provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals and groups, all backgrounds and industries locally and internationally.
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is recognized as a “Most viewed writer in the Business Mentoring and Mentors and Mentoring categories on the Quora website (www.quora.com).
An international speaker and author of The Gift of Mentoring (2014), Doug’s second book is set to publish in late 2019.
Do you have a workplace crisis or issue to resolve? Schedule a time to meet with Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here are some of those questions and my responses.
Q: What kind of strategy should I look for in a mentor?
A: While each mentor is different they should all approach the mentoring arrangement/relationship using strong mentoring concepts and techniques.
Remember that mentoring is a two way trusted relationship where both the mentor and mentee learn and grow together. A good mentor will, 1) build a trusted relationship with you, 2) be willing to share something personal about themselves in order to build trust, 3) create a safe environment for your conversation, 4) communicate effectively with you and share that technique to help you grow, 5) ask for your feedback - “what value did you get from our time together today?”, 6) Ask a series of questions to guide you to the answers - DO NOT TELL you what to do, 7) help facilitate the growth of your critical thinking skills and ideally have a calming presence.
Q: How is 'effective management' possible through the delegation of authority?
A: Delegation of authority is part of “effective management”. You should be striving for a work force that is engaged, empowered and accountable and a step towards that direction is delegation of authority.
There will be an element of trust that comes into place with delegation of authority. It will also create an environment of learning opportunities.
There are not many organizations that can demonstrate today that they are practicing “effective management”. Effective communication is always what holds them back.
Q: How do you manage a team of employees if you are not as smart as they are?
A: I would look at this from a different perspective. I would suggest that your team of employees possess certain skill sets that you may not have and you in turn possess skill sets that they don’t have. You have created the beginning of your learning and development environment.
As a leader or manager it should never come down to who is smarter than the other. What matters is that you complement each other based on the skills that you bring to the table.
As the manager or leader you need to engage and empower your team and lead them to success. If they are successful then so will you be.
As a trained mentor when I hear a statement like this I immediately begin to think of self-esteem challenges and I know that is not the case here.
Value your employees for what each brings to the table. Provide them with your guidance and show them the path that lies ahead to success for all.
Q: How can you tell if a business coach/mentor is good? Are there red flags to look out for?
A: Define your expectations up front. What do you hope to get from the relationship? One of the things that I always do with people that I am working with is to ask the question, “what was the value that we got from the time we spent together today?” A mentoring relationship is all about value. What value can the participants bring to the relationship?
Some things to consider:
Q: What are the most important leadership skills for the future?
A: Effective communication is at the top of my list for leadership skills for the future. I work inside organizations from a mentoring capacity and I see the lack of being able to communicate effectively as the root cause for a lot of the challenges that they have. When we have provided employees with the tools they need to communicate effectively the difference is like night and day. Better communicators become better problem solvers. There are a lot of segments to consider when we talk about communicating effectively. Each is key to becoming that effective communicator.
Another skill set that is definitely needed for the future is the ability to build trusted relationships. Most managers, supervisors and leaders do not take the time to build those relationships. This can and will create a culture of disengagement.
It is okay to make a mistake. If we “FAIL” at something that is alright. FAIL is short for “first attempt in learning.” As supervisors, managers and leaders we need to encourage our employees to go beyond and that it is okay to make a mistake. Let’s determine the cause of the mistake, address it and move on.
Q: What are some tips to establish a solid foundation for good corporate culture in a young company?
A: There have been some very good responses to this question already.
I would offer some points from my lived experiences working as an external mentor in some organizations.
These are just a few things that I have observed that would assist in building a good work place culture. It can be a daunting task but the rewards are well worth the journey.
Q: How important is it to have a mentor for starting a start-up for the first time?
A: It is very important. A must have. There are number of incubators that have built in mentoring as a service that start-ups can obtain. Some offer it as part of their fee structure while others charge extra for that service and may make it mandatory.
I had an advisory board of mentors when I first started my company and it was something I could not imagine being without. Each of my mentors brought something different from their forte and lived experiences.
Q: How do I go about finding a mentor and how do you approach someone for mentorship (especially in places like NYC)?
A: I would ideally like a little more information in order to properly answer your question.
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Doug Lawrence is an extraordinary mentor and mentor certification trainer with TalentC and is the International Mentoring Community Director of Education.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring programs will influence a happy workforce culture (mentors), improve employee productivity (mentees), reducing costly employee high turnover (onboarding), improves the bottom line (organizations), which saves 150% to 200% of the annual salary of each departing employee. He provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals and groups, all backgrounds and industries locally and internationally.
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is recognized as a “Most viewed writer in the Business Mentoring and Mentors and Mentoring categories on the Quora website (www.quora.com).
An international speaker and author of The Gift of Mentoring (2014), Doug’s second book is set to publish in late 2019.
Do you have a workplace crisis or issue to resolve? Schedule a time to meet with Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here are some of those questions and my responses.
Q: Who are the best mentors for somebody who would like to lead a business managing money for investors?
A: A good mentor would be someone that has the knowledge and experience to actually be a good mentor. They would undoubtedly have had some form of training to better understand mentoring processes and concepts.
I am a firm believe that industry specific experience is a nice to have not a need to have. I mentor people in a number of different industries of which I do not have any specific experience. I do however know the questions to ask to get people thinking from a critical thinking perspective.
In this case, I would be searching for a great/extraordinary mentor who can call on industry specific colleagues to assist in the mentoring process.
Q: Why do you find it difficult to manage millennials?
A: I don’t find it difficult to manage millennials.
I caution against stereotyping based on “generations”.
All the people that I have worked with that you would refer to as “millennials” I have never had a difficult time in managing them. Perhaps that is why - I didn’t manage them. I mentored them and challenged them to critically think and observed their willingness to want to learn and grow. I respected what they brought to the table and I was able to learn from that.
Q: Are business mentors useless?
A: Some good advice has already been provided for you.
I can’t imagine the journey that I have been on without the guidance of a mentor(s). I am currently mentoring a number of people who have launched their own business. They have all stated very clearly that it is a journey that they would not want to take on their own.
If the notion that you have is that business mentors are useless then that would be the outcome that you will realize. Mentoring is a two way trusted relationship and requires commitment on the part of the mentor and mentee. All my research supports the value of having a mentor no matter what you want to do.
Q: Why should I spend money on acquiring a mentor's knowledge, when I could acquire that knowledge on my own?
A: There is a paradigm shift that has taken place where people are now paying for a good mentor. In my situation I provide a combination of free and paid. In my research I have found that paying for an extraordinary mentor is becoming a readily accepted business practice.
I believe that you have a decision to make on whether or not you feel that you will get value from mentoring. It sounds as though you have already decided that you have the knowledge or know where you can get it with the benefit of a mentor. A trained mentor will get you to explore different approaches based on their lived experiences and will present them to you via story-telling. Sometimes we don’t realize that we have the knowledge and it is through a mentor that we unlock the door to that knowledge and then together explore what we might do with that.
Q: Supervisors, managers, or people of in charge. What advice do you have for new supervisors?
A: On a personal note: For the new supervisor watch what other supervisors and managers are doing. You need to see what some of their best practices are and make that part of your tool kit. The behaviors that you observe that do not sit well with you should be cast aside.
On an Organization note: As part of the organization’s leadership development program a mentor should be assigned to any new supervisor or manager. I have seen where that has been done internally and externally and I have seen some better results when it has been an external mentor. It is sometimes easier to discuss things with someone that does not have any of your organization’s baggage. Assigning a mentor helps to set the new supervisor up for success versus failure.
Q: How does having a mentor help you?
A: I have had mentors for the majority of my personal and professional lives and would not be where I am today without my mentors.
Mentoring is a two way trusted relationship where both the mentor and mentee will learn and grow on a personal and professional basis.
Define the expectations of the relationship at the very beginning. Build a trusted relationship as that is the foundation to success for any mentoring relationship/arrangement.
You will need to determine where you want to grow personally and professionally and then be open and flexible to the journey that lies ahead.
Q: My mom and I have never had a good relationship. She was absent and abusive during my childhood. As I got older I began craving "motherly love." What can I do to fix this? Do I need a mentor?
A: Interesting question. Some of the mentor programs that I have been involved in as an advisor to the program manager we have seen similar requests. The mentor fills a void that has been in existence from the mentee’s early childhood years. Whether it be a mother figure or a father figure the mentor is being leaned on to fill that void.
In a situation like this a mentor can become that mother figure that you are looking for. In the training that I provide to mentors I caution them on becoming too emotionally attached to their mentee. They need to define the terms of the relationship at the very beginning. My fear in some of these situations is that accountability for decisions can easily swing back to the mentor and that is not what we want to see take place. The biggest role that they can play is to listen. Sometimes we just need someone to talk to - someone that will listen and not pass judgement. A person that will guide us but not tell us what to do. They will help us develop our critical thinking skills.
Q: How can I earn money by online mentoring?
A: There is a difference between mentoring virtually and mentoring in person or face to face. Both require that you have a strong understanding of mentoring concepts and processes. You would also benefit from some form of mentor training. To go into this without that training would be a recipe for failure - both for you and the person that you are mentoring.
You would want to develop a level of credibility for the mentor services that you are going to offer. This comes with doing some mentoring at no cost.
When I first started my journey there was a lot of mentoring that was done at no cost. Once I had gained momentum I was then able to structure fees for my services. My fees have grown over the years but so has my investment in learning and in being certified competent as a mentor. I am working with a couple of organizations where I was asked if I had any formal training and certifications in order to secure their business.
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Doug Lawrence is an extraordinary mentor and mentor certification trainer with TalentC and is the International Mentoring Community Director of Education. Doug shows organizations how mentoring programs will influence a happy workforce culture (mentors), improve employee productivity (mentees), reducing costly employee high turnover (onboarding), improves the bottom line (organizations), which saves 150% to 200% of the annual salary of each departing employee. He provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals and groups, all backgrounds and industries locally and internationally.
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is recognized as a “Most viewed writer in the Business Mentoring and Mentors and Mentoring categories on the Quora website (www.quora.com).
An international speaker and author of The Gift of Mentoring (2014), Doug’s second book is set to publish in late 2019.
Do you have a workplace crisis or issue to resolve? Schedule a time to meet with Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
I am asked on numerous occasions to respond to questions regarding mentoring, mentoring process and how mentoring can bring value to individuals and/or organizations. Here are some of those questions and my responses.
Q: Is a mentor crucial to success?
A: Mentoring focuses on personal and professional growth and we can have success in both of those areas. Anytime that you can have someone walk beside you as you continue your growth personally and professionally it is a good idea - in fact highly recommended.
When I look back over my career and where I am today I would not have achieved the success that I have had without the benefit of numerous mentors. These mentors have helped me grow on a personal and professional basis.
The short answer to your question is, “can you afford not to?”
Q: Who is an unlikely mentor and why?
A: Mentoring is a two way trusted relationship where the mentor and mentee will learn and grow together personally and professionally. It is all about building a trusted relationship and for the mentor to be able to create that safe environment for the relationship to nurture and grow.
To specifically answer your question an unlikely mentor for me would be someone that I could not make a connection with - that there was no chemistry with. I may realize part way into the mentoring relationship that this person cannot provide me with what I am looking for. It would be time to end that relationship and look for someone that can provide me with what I want.
What I am finding with all the mentoring that I am doing - paid and free is that the ability to listen is crucial. Someone that is not a good listener would not be a good mentor for me. Sometimes all we need is to talk our way through the problems that we are dealing with.
Q: If you were to pay someone for business coaching and mentorship, what would you look for?
A: I would be wanting to make sure that there was some form of chemistry between us. I would want them to be comfortable with addressing personal and professional growth. There are some business mentors that are not comfortable with the personal growth challenges. I have good examples of where the relationship went sour because they were not able to build a trusting relationship and unable to connect with the soft skills.
Ideally I would want someone that had some form of training. I recently was certified competent as a mentor and I see the value in that for me and how I mentor and it also has an impact for my mentees.
I would want my mentor to validate regularly that they are bringing value especially when I am paying for the service.
There are lot more variables that can come into play when selecting a mentor based on your criteria. These are some that I get most perspective mentees to consider before entering into an agreement for services.
Q: Can mentoring be a hindrance rather than a help to staff progression?
A: Mentoring if done correctly with a person who is committed to the journey would be more of a help rather than a hindrance.
What gets missed in the professional development via mentoring is the personal aspect. I always focus on the personal growth first in order to remove any obstacles or barriers that may be a hindrance to professional development.
Proper training for mentors in the mentoring process is key to all of this.
Q: What do the best Mentors do?
A: Best Mentors or extraordinary mentors want to be of service. They work with people to guide them on their journey to personal and professional growth. Extraordinary Mentors learn and grow along with the people they serve. There isn’t a time when I haven’t learned something from a mentoring session. Extraordinary Mentors are caring, humble and always put the people they serve first.
A great leader is a great mentor and a great mentor is a great leader.
Q: Do you have any mentors? Who are they?
A: I have a number of mentors. I have a mentor that provides me with business advice and guidance, someone that fulfills my need for relationships, someone who can advise me on technology but is also a good friend, someone that can advise me on marketing. This is just a sample of the marvelous people that I have been able to surround myself with.
In the majority of the relationships it is mutual growth on a personal and professional basis. We set expectations for our mentoring relationship and then begin the journey together. We check in every so often to make sure that each of us is getting value from our time together.
We all need to embrace the “Gift of Mentoring” and experience a deeper, richer mentoring experience that will help us personally and professionally.
Q: How can we ask questions to our mentor?
A: To answer your question you need to think what am I searching an answer for? Is it something to do with your personal growth or something to do with your professional growth? I would be asking you what is it that you wish to accomplish that has now become a question that you do not have the answer for.
When you begin the mentoring relationship you need to outline the expectations of that relationship. One of the topics may be how do we communicate (ask questions) of each other in a respectful manner.
When I work with people there is lots of dialogue back and forth until we reach a point where I need to listen rather than talk. Sometimes that is to allow the person I am in a mentoring relationship with to ask questions and other times it is to just listen.
If you are unsure still please feel free to reach out to me and we can set up a time to discuss.
Q: What does a mentor want from you?
A: What I hope for is a person that is committed to the mentoring process. They are ready to grow personally and professionally and are willing to do the heavy lifting in the mentoring relationship. They will be accountable for the outcomes whatever they may be. They understand and accept that I am there to guide - not tell them what to do.
Q: Can you have a mentor that you have never met?
A: You most definitely can. When I look at the people I am working with in a mentor partnership the majority I had never met before. They were introduced to me through referral or via my website and then the scheduling of a time to chat. I have had some mentors that I had known before and they became my mentor as they were able to provide guidance in an area that I needed guidance.(technology, finance)
It is important to note that if you have not met before then take the time to build a solid mentoring partnership. I break a mentoring partnership down into three (3) categories. They are; trusting phase, learning and development phase and the maintenance phase. In this case I recommend some extra time in the “trusting phase” in order to get to know your mentor.
Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC®.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding improving the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published “The Gift of Mentoring” in 2014 with his second book set to publish in 2019.
Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.
To contact Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
TalentC is wholeheartedly involved in the International Mentoring Community, which sets the standards and verification system (Certification) to produce competent mentors.
Before jumping into what the International Mentoring Community is, we must first define what each term means separately. We do this because “mentoring” has been thrown around to mean different things when its true meaning is as follows:
Mentoring is defined as a two way trusted relationship where the mentor and mentee learn and grow together on a personal and professional basis as the mentee draws appropriate ideas and insights, and tools and techniques from the lived experience of the mentor.
Community is defined as a group of people having a particular characteristic in common. A community helps prepare people for challenges that lie ahead. There is a feeling of fellowship as a result of common attitudes, interests, and goals.
The International Mentoring Community is the premier mentor community to learn about the advantages and benefits of mentorship, mentoring, serving as a mentor, and becoming a mentee. It offers resources and tools to identify the ROI to support the implementation of a customized workplace mentoring program. Of particular importance in the fast paced work places of today, mentoring is a way to reduce employee turnover costs association with termination and resignation.
The International Mentoring Community offers certification about mentorship concepts, experiences, and the practices of serving as a mentor.
The Mentor Certification Process provides mentors and mentees with a deeper, richer experience.
The Mentor Certification Process is framed by “68 Action_Outcome Statements.” These statements highlight a series of actions and outcomes used to confirm competence of a mentor and/or implementation-evaluation of a workplace mentoring program.
These Action_Outcome Statements were written after an extensive review by the International Mentoring Community. This review was completed within the parameters of ISO Regulation 17001.
The 68 Action_Outcome Statements are split into 7 Mentor Certification Modules and identifies:
The International Mentoring Community guides:
The International Mentoring Community offers managers, leaders and employees access to the Mentor Certification Process, which creates a movement that follows the Mentoring Blueprint: Guides you to manage a mentoring platform, programs, and movement, inform Move-Forward actions for mentors and mentees, nurture collaborative conversations among those involved, improve application of organizational knowledge shared by mentors and mentees, strengthen organizational productivity through actions taken by mentors and mentees.
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To learn more about the International Mentoring Community and The Mentor Certification Process and how it will benefit you, your employees, and your organization, feel free to book a complimentary 20-minute Mentoring Consultation (via call or video) >> https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence
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Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC®.
Doug shows organizations how mentoring will encourage workforce culture to flow in harmony (mentors), improve productivity from employees (mentees), reducing costly employee onboarding impacting the bottom line (organizations).
Doug is an International Certified Mentor Practitioner (ICMP), an International Certified Mentor Facilitator (ICMF), and has obtained his Certificate of Achievement – Mentoring and his Certificate of Competence – Mentor from the International Mentoring Community (IMC).
Doug is an international speaker and author about all facets of Mentoring. He published “The Gift of Mentoring” in 2014 with his second book is set to publish in 2019.
Doug works with organizations to establish mentoring programs, influence mentoring as a culture, and provides one-on-one direct mentoring for individuals of all backgrounds and levels globally.
To contact Doug: https://calendly.com/doug-lawrence