Leadership mentoring: The key to developing and cultivating effective leaders

Unlocking Potential and Building Strong Leaders

Creating a robust pipeline of capable leaders, or succession planning, is a fundamental responsibility for executives and HR professionals alike. It’s not just about ensuring success today but setting the stage for future success. This requires organizations to keep one eye on the future and the people who will lead them there.

Mentoring offers prospective leaders a platform to set, discuss, and dissect their path to leadership with someone who has walked that path before.

Leadership mentoring is a proven method for cultivating tomorrow’s best leaders.

Mentoring involves providing advice, information, and guidance from experienced individuals (mentors) to support the personal and professional development of others (mentees).

Many of today’s successful leaders have participated in mentoring programs that empowered them, and they are often eager to mentor up-and-coming leaders as well.

There was a time when companies were content with mentors who could enhance leadership skills but lacked the ability to change attitudes and behaviors.

However, as the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership became apparent, companies began seeking coaches who could develop executives’ emotional intelligence and drive behavioral change. Coaches took on the task of shifting behaviors in individuals and organizations.

In recent years, companies have realized the value of coaches who can also mentor. They recognize that coaches need to have executive leadership experience to address real-life problems effectively.

The purpose of a mentoring program is to establish a relationship with a mentee and exemplify the ideal model expected of the mentee in terms of workplace behaviors, attitudes, and skills. Here are some examples of the benefits of mentoring for both mentors and mentees.

Why Choose Mentoring: The Stats Speak for Themselves

We witness the transformative power of mentoring in engaging and developing future and current leaders every day. The statistics paint a clear picture:

* 71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs, as investing in leadership capability pays off in performance, productivity, and innovation (Centre for Workplace Leadership, 2016).

In a five-year study of 1000 employees (Gartner, 2006):

* 25% of employees who enrolled in a mentoring program had a salary-grade change, compared to only 5% of workers who did not participate.

* Mentees are promoted five times more often than those not in a mentoring program.

* Retention rates were higher for both mentees (22% more) and mentors (20% more) than for employees who did not participate in a mentoring program.

Research also shows:

* Millennials intending to stay with their organization for more than five years are twice as likely to have a mentor (68%) than not (32%).

* 89% of those mentored go on to mentor others, contributing to a culture of learning and mentoring.

How Mentoring Develops Future Leaders

Mentors provide mentees seeking improved leadership with development tools, activities, and practical suggestions for transitioning to becoming better leaders.

Mentoring goes beyond mere conversation. Great mentors inspire proactivity in mentees and encourage them to participate in activities, tasks, and events that better prepare them to achieve their goals.

A good mentor knows how to challenge a mentee and discuss how they can address certain scenarios they are encountering in real life, putting leadership skills into real-life context and practice.

How Leadership Mentoring Levels the Playing Field

One reason for the underrepresentation of certain groups at the leadership level is the lack of mentoring, sponsorship, or support networks required to get there.

Leadership mentoring levels the playing field for all people, providing underrepresented groups with the support they need to break through barriers and reach leadership positions.

When female leaders mentor prospective female leaders, they can speak to what it took to break through the glass ceiling.

Leadership mentoring empowers underrepresented groups to overcome obstacles and make it into leadership positions, where they can mentor others and challenge outdated leadership paradigms.

Ready to Harness the Power of Leadership Mentoring?

If your organization is serious about reaping the benefits of a gender-diverse leadership team, mentoring could be the key to unlocking your diversity potential.

Would you like to implement a leadership mentoring program at your organization and build a robust leadership pipeline and succession plan? Let’s start the conversation.

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“I found Isabel during a challenging time in my career, when I suddenly became the interim head of product and had to lead our team through a difficult organisational change. My initial coaching goals were practical, mainly centering around how to do a job I felt completely unprepared for and not messing up the next 6 months. Isabel helped guide me through this period and I emerged more confident in my abilities. What I am most grateful for however, are the new ways to understand myself, others and the world. All of which has manifested in better habits, a greater sense of empowerment and agency, and feeling more content in life. Isabel is astute in her observations and has an uncanny ability to help you connect the dots and have those ‘aha moments’ where your perspective shifts. She does this with humour, compassion, and infectious energy. I would highly recommend her for anyone looking for a holistic way to become a better leader at work and in life. “