Where Have All The Leaders Gone?
Herein we explore
the growing need
for mentoring
senior executives.
The first of a
two-part series.
by Ira S. Miller
Chemark Consulting
Employee Loyalty Declines Worldwide: “… the global top five non-financial factors— respect, work-life balance, type of work,
quality of co-workers and quality of leadership.” 1
• Penn State sex scandal
• Special task force on debt reduction
• Corporate governance: Enron, Arthur
Andersen, WorldCom
“…executives need greater flexibility to cre-
ate strategic and tactical options they can use
defensively and offensively as conditions change.
They need a sharper awareness of their own and
their competitors’ positions. And they need to
make their organizations more resilient.” 2
only real benefit is in comparison to successful leaders. Make sure your outside mentor can make this comparison or you could
be misguided in your improvement efforts.
• Has a proven approach to leadership. There
should be both philosophical and practical
elements. A mentor that is not sharing successful approaches to leadership is merely
helping the mentee mine their own ideas.
They are not adding to the sum of total
knowledge within the mentee.
• Provides proven, successful management
tools. Leaders are managers too. A strong
managerial tool kit allows the mentee to delegate more effectively, leaving more time to
invest in their leadership responsibilities.
• Will be available when you need him/her.
This has three elements. First, there should
be no limit on the amount of time the mentor will spend with the mentee. Second, the
mentor should be willing to discuss any
topic that the mentee brings up. Finally, the
mentor must take responsibility for the
mentee’s growth. Clearly, the mentor cannot guarantee the mentee’s success at grasping the shared leadership concepts. But, like
a parent, the mentor must be willing to go
to extraordinary lengths to keep the mentee
on track.
And one more thing, check their references.
Mentees should have demonstrable improvements
in business results as a result of coaching efforts.
Case Stories From Our Files
Division president, Midwest chemical company
(in his own words):
I have “graduated”, if one can ever truly
graduate, from two years of mentoring and I
have been immeasurably changed in my views
and approach to business. Just as when starting
a business, the change goes relatively unnoticed
until you adeptly handle a crisis or business opportunity that makes you realize how much you
have changed your skill set.
Mentoring and coaching mean the same to
most people, but in reality mentoring implies a
closer relationship and more involvement than
should be expected in coaching. My division ben-
