Don't we need more mentors than leaders?

5th September is here. Isn't it the right time to think and explore the idea of Mentoring?

We hear about these words - ‘mentoring’ ‘mentorship’ ‘mentor’, ‘mentee’ etc. in our daily corporate lives. We get to hear words like ‘succession planning’ in big business houses and how someone usually mentors the candidates for the top job.

But, should ‘mentoring’ be reserved for ‘the select few’?? Can this approach be not deployed for a larger section of employees? For the growth of the individual and thereby businesses? Is it something that has been invented only in recent years by management institutes? On this note, let us set aside a few moments to reflect upon our lives and our journey.?

We start our journey as a baby and over time we grow up and become what we become. Was this journey without mentors??

A mentor is someone whose life and work, achievements and journey, knowledge and values are something that we admire. That someone may not be senior to us, may not belong to the same industry and surely may possess a different set of interests.?

To look at it our mentors are those who helped shape our personalities and helped carve our way through life to happiness.

We have mentors right in our home - our parents, our grandparents, our siblings, our neighbors, our school and our teachers.?

We see this even in the animal kingdom.

A beautiful mentor-mentee relationship is like that of a parent-child (Please do not confuse this with the ‘parent-child’ ego states of the transactional analysis). The former doesn’t impose rules but only interferes with the ability of the latter?to cope with the problem / situation in a way that is constructive to him / her.?

While it may seem so, there is no management theory defining the mentor-mentee relationship. In fact, this relationship dates back to ancient times - since those times, one generation mentored the next generation. This is something built in our tradition, our culture and perhaps in our genes.?

In modern English, we see an increased prominence of the word ‘GURU!’ If we set aside the ‘religious’ connotations) who were they?? Were they simple teachers? Were they only spiritual leaders? No! They were those with whom the ‘disciples’ spent considerable time (in multiple of years)?during their formative times to ensure proper guidance, sharing of wisdom, knowledge and ultimately personal development. And this included everything right from academics, physical wellbeing, and emotional well-being to spiritual well-being.

This means that we all had mentors in our lives (since ancient times), some we acknowledge, and some we don’t. That is how we grow up.

Any organization, if it is to ensure that their ‘human resources’ are able to achieve their full potential, -? apart from providing only ‘opportunities’, it must also invest to imbibe a culture which embodies ‘mentorship’ as a way of life for the organization. This cannot be something reserved only for the ‘lucky’ few who get nominated for a mentorship programme. This should be the overarching philosophy.?

Every employee should have the perspective of helping / supporting others, the feeling of ‘gratitude’ that they are where they are only because someone mentored them. There is no concept of ‘lone-wolf’ in a human society or in a human organization.

And it is exactly at this point that the Human Resources Department in any organization should play a strategic role by defining the cultural ecosystem where ‘mentoring’ becomes an ongoing process. There must not be a start or an end point.

We need more mentors than we need leaders. The sooner organizations understand this, better it will be.

Leaders are focused on performance, achieving organizational goals and objectives whereas mentors are focused on creating the ecosystem where the mentee applies the right knowledge, which automatically will deliver performance.

And it also will deliver a more matured personality. While one may be short -term the other is a ‘long term’ perspective - creating sustainability for continuous success.

The mentor-mentee bond may extend beyond boundaries of ‘official’ relationships. It connects the two at a much deeper level over a longer period of time. And it is a two-way process. As much as a mentor accepts a mentee, the mentee must as well accept the mentor.

As Oprah Winfrey said; “A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”?

I am sure, each one of us have had one or several mentors who helped shape our careers and we’re indebted to them. We have people who are more or less experienced than us, people who have energized us at some point in our life, and people who have engaged and influenced us.?

While there is no designated day or time to express gratitude to our mentors, 5th Sept. by the definition of it, gives us the opportunity to pause and express.

Express gratitude. Express your joy.?

• You can do this by writing a special message for your mentor.
• You can video record a message and post on your social handles or do a one-to-one.
• You may custom-create a token of appreciation like handmade greetings, painting, and souvenir with a message or just rekindle an old memory and spark a smile.???
• Or simply leave a surprise at their desk.??

But, do spare a few moments to acknowledge and express gratitude towards your mentors. ?

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