Mentoring plays a key role in developng the next generation of leaders in your company. Mentoring allows future leaders to learn from the real-life experiences from those who have gone before them. Having someone encourage and challenge you is core to what our CEO Peer Groups offer.
The challenge seems to be finding leaders who are willing to invest the time and attention to be a mentor. I’ve been a part of mentoring programs here in DFW and we always have a lot more people wanting to be a protégé than we have mentors to partner with them.
Millennials seem to be the most comfortable asking for a mentor, but we all can benefit from the wisdom and encouragement of a leader who has gone before us. If you are humble enough, you can learn something from everyone.
Steve Jobs of Apple, Larry Page of Google, and Richard Branson of Virgin have all had Mentors that made a huge impact in their lives, and the same is true for the new leaders of tomorrow.
Zig Ziglar said, “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.”
One of the best reasons to become a mentor is to start building a team that is ready to step up and take over the leadership someday. This takes time and in order to do it well, you need to start ling before you get ready to step aside.
“At what point in the life of your company will you start thinking about succession planning?”
Handing Over The Keys Starts Now
You’ve worked so hard to build your business, the goal is to slowly transition you from being the critical center of your business success, and bring up leaders who are ready to lead with excellence.
I’m not saying you have to sell it or stop working at your company, but you do need to have people leading so you can enjoy your life now, and assure a safe transition of leadership and the continued success of your company.
Most of our members are just as concerned about the health and growth of their business, as they are about the health and enjoyment of their personal lives, and they want to enjoy BOTH now.
You will eventually hand over the leadership of your company to someone else. How well that goes is up to you but if you are not intentional, your results are likely to be less than you desire. This is a challenge if you are the center of your company, and most everything has to have your approval or touch (or even worse be done) by you.
Understand The 8 Drivers of Value
In the new Value Builder System assessment, we call this the “Hub and Spoke.” (see note at the bottom of this article) When the day comes and you are no longer able to fulfill this function, someone will step in by default and take over. Will they be equipped to carry on your vision and passion of the company you led for so long?
Make plans today for leaders in your team to slowly take over more and more responsibility, in order for them to be prepared for their future role as the leader. Unless you have a formal training and mentoring program, this will be a challenging task. Ask me how the REF Key Executive Program can help with this.
CEO Peer Groups – Mentoring Each Other.
We feel the best way to learn is from the experiences of others. Our members share their experiences rather than opinions. We learn from the success and failures of other great leaders, and help us shorten the learning curve, find proven resources and be accountable to the goals we set.
Join us!
Need more info? Call or email me at (469) 269- 5148 and RobertH@REFDallas.com
Value Builder System
If you are interested in knowing the value of your company today, I can take you through the Value Builder System assessment and give you great insights into eight key areas you should consider when investing your valuable resources.
It is a simple process (takes 15 minutes) and is designed for companies over $5 M in annual sales that have been in business three or more years. Contact me at RobertH@REFDallas if you are interested in learning more.
Other Great Articles you Should Read
Richard Branson on the Value of having a Mentor.