“Mentoring 101”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
Sometimes, with the mantle of management comes unanticipated but essential duties. One of these is especially for managers who are supervising younger subordinates.
One reality of leadership, so subtle that it is often lost on both manager and employee, is that, as leaders, we are always teaching something, intentionally or unintentionally, for better or for worse.
The supervisor who makes an intentional effort to “catch” employees doing something right is not only motivating the team, but is also coincidentally “teaching” the team that leadership doesn’t only entail giving orders and enforcing discipline, but also engendering enthusiasm and camaraderie among the team.
In conjunction with this continual, coincidental teaching, comes the obligation of the team leader to mentor younger teammates. Mentoring is not to be taken lightly. Mentoring means giving of yourself, with little hope to see a return on your investment. But it is important nonetheless. The future of your organization resides in the quality of your future leaders; none of us will live forever, and we should plan to work ourselves out of our job. By the end of your career, your hope should be that you’ve intentionally and effectively prepared a young mentee to step into your shoes, and your chair.
No one can do this job for you; only an effective leader can teach leadership. Leaders do lead by example, but they also must communicate clearly, intentionally, and effectively. In the absence of a clear message communicated by the team leader, the team will create their own message—be it right or wrong. This is true in day-to-day operation of the organization, but also in the process of mentoring young, future leaders. The intentional mentor will continually look for teachable moments to pass along leadership lessons to the mentee.
There’s a reason someone once said “It’s lonely at the top.” Leadership will be costly, and taxing. The incidental leader will focus only on the daily, quarterly, or annual production goals and the challenges that erupt along the way. But the complete leader, who sees not only the immediate goals and challenges but also sees clearly the future of the organization including future hurdles and challenges and opportunities, will eagerly seek out young future leaders and take on the mantle of mentorship. This is accepted not because it’s some technique that was gleaned from a management guide, but because they can clearly see that proper training of future team leaders is just as essential for operational success as meeting immediate production targets.
Seek out your future leaders! Every good organization holds its future in its own hands in the form of its future leaders, to be raised up from within.