Having a Good Mentor can Change your Life in Surprising Ways!

Coaching and mentorship is the game changer in an organization. Even if you have the best teams you don’t achieve till you coach them well.

A leader’s role is not to control people or to stay on top of things, but he or she must be there with the team to guide, energise and create enthusiasm in it.

I was in a class with my students after completing the ongoing chapter; I thought of taking them through one of my favourite modules called, ‘Moving from good to great’. In the training module they understand the effectiveness of positive psychology, they learn about signature strengths and take a survey to find out theirs. Post that they get into goal setting techniques. Then each one is made to set a goal for himself or herself; writing it down and keeping it for reference.

After the session, I received a message from one of the students that it was an excellent learning for them and that it proved to be an eye opener. I was delighted to hear the feedback; after all if the learnings are adopted in their lives the purpose of training is fulfilled. The sooner we learn these rock-solid techniques or practices the better humans and professionals we become. It also made me realise that as mentors, managers or leaders we have much bigger responsibilities than just discharging our duties.

‘When you become a leader you give up to solely think about yourself’; holds so true. The leader should strive to tackle obstacles that may be coming in the way of the subordinates doing their jobs; creating hindrance in delivering exceptional product or service. At the same time they must make available every resource possible to the team members so that every job can be completed in the best way possible. A leader’s role is not to control people or to stay on top of things, but he or she must be there with the team to guide, energise and create enthusiasm in it.

It is the leadership based on trust that goes a long way

The leader is also required to be above any personal insecurity owing to talented subordinates or threats that come by with not being updated. One must remember that exceptional intelligence and personal competency can never compensate for the insecurity that the boss possesses. He or she loses trust and team doesn’t perform to its calibre making the organisation suffer the brunt. The leader has to take the onus of his team and continue to guide it through every phase of business – good, bad or ugly.

Coaching and mentorship is the game changer in an organisation. Even if you have the best teams you don’t achieve till you coach them well. A leader leads by example and that helps build trust as well as strong professional relationships. It is this trust and relationship that makes mentoring possible. People somehow connect on an emotional level and that’s why EQ is valued as much as a person’s intelligence or analytical skills. Team building and eventful conflict handling become very much a part of such organisations, making them truly progressive.

A leader, manager or a coach must build his or her competencies to effectively mentor the team that he or she is managing. Here are the qualities that can be imbibed and skillsets that can be developed by anyone who leads a team:

Competency makes you unique

Knowledge is power and skills make you truly powerful. Learn all aspects of your job and master them. Your competency makes you stand out from the rest of the employees and they in turn respect you for your knowledge. Work is carried out smoothly as everyone knows that the leader knows the best!

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Demonstrate the behaviour you expect from your team

A leader is being watched constantly by his team members. They learn or unlearn things by observing him. Do the right things and let your team follow suit. This helps in building a positive organisational culture.

Create a roadmap help your team follow it

People do not learn perfection by observation. They need to be guided and mentored at every stage. Help them create their roadmap, assist them in setting their goals correctly and make them work towards achieving them.

Empower your team

Leaders must never micro manage. Once the team members are trained and coached; let them work independently. It gives them a sense of achievement and the desire to deliver superlative results. This trust has the potential to take them far.

Make sure they are not dependent on you

The newly empowered team member who has learnt to deliver independently is all set to help a subordinate or another colleague to achieve the same level of competency. A new leader is ready who will in turn develop another one. One of your responsibilities is already delegated to an efficient team member.

Strategize and direct towards success

After going through the four stages by yourself and taking your team through it; you are now ready to look at the bigger picture. Focusing on the organisation’s vision and building strategies to realise organisational mission or goals.

Image Source: Pexels

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About the Author

Dr. Laxmi Todiwan

Dr. Laxmi Todiwan - Founder Indian Women in Hospitality. She is a Professor, Corporate Trainer, Motivational Speaker and a Blogger. An award winning hospitality professional with a career spanning over two decades; people engagement, training and read more...

20 Posts | 29,055 Views

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