There are numerous reasons why establishing a leadership mentoring program in your organisation may be one of the smartest things you can do, but here are seven good ones:

1. Attract and retain the best people. Some studies have shown that the presence (or absence) of a mentoring program means more than money to the decision to accept a job offer or remain with an organisation.

2. Modelling teaches more. Many of the core skills, attitudes, behaviours and ethics of leadership are best learnt by modelling rather than in a formal classroom. Mentoring allows your best people to model good leadership and offer practical guidance to your future leaders.

3. Mentoring encourages excellence. Mentoring is exceptional for its capacity to encourage excellence both in mentees and in those who mentor. While it might be expected that mentees might acquire insight and wisdom through working with a good mentor in a mentoring program, experience demonstrates that mentors also gain from the interaction. Mentors frequently explain that their role prompted them to review and reassess their assumptions and clarify their thoughts as they explain things to their mentee.

4. A well set-up leadership mentoring program enables you to recognise and reward your best people. By establishing an appropriate selection process for both mentors and mentees and providing the right framework to support this process you can ensure that participation in your mentoring program is sought by your best people, rather than perceived as a chore or a burden. Don’t take chances with this part of your program set-up as it is one of the critical requirements for its success. If you are not sure how to set things up to ensure best results call me on 03-9859 3924 and I am happy to advise you.

5. Build confidence and self-esteem through personal growth. Mentoring fosters not only professional growth but also personal growth, and can develop confidence in handling new situations, improve understanding of different approaches to a situation and enhance self-esteem for both mentors and mentees.

6. Improve cross-functional or interdepartmental communication and networks. Mentoring relationships are not usually set up between individuals with line management responsibilities. By establishing mentoring relationships between people from different areas of your organisation (or industry) greater understanding and improved cross-functional communication readily follow. Some organisations have found this benefit to be one of the most unanticipated yet valuable company-wide impacts of their whole mentoring program.

7. Foster a culture of contribution. Fundamentally the process of mentoring another always represents a generous gift by a busy person. It is a gift that can typically only ever truly be repaid in kind, over time, when the mentee in turn mentors someone else. As such, mentoring amplifies in its impact by embedding values such as respect, generosity and contribution in the corporate culture. This is arguably the ultimate and most powerful impact any intervention might have.

Check out Books on mentoring and setting up a leadership mentoring program below and in the Bookroom.

An effective leadership mentoring program can achieve all this and more.