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The inquiries we are receiving are a strong indication that more and more leaders are focusing their attention on creating mentoring sustainability and looking for high leverage success strategies.
Like our callers, you may also be wondering what you can do to support mentoring in your organization. Here are six high leverage strategies to consider.
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Six High Leverage Strategies
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Think systemically and strategically about mentoring. Mentoring is a way of thinking and acting that enhances performance, increases productivity, builds relationships and promotes personal and professional development . . . and the list goes on. Mentoring happens in all organizations, regardless of whether is formalized or not. Consider for a moment how much better your efforts would be if you developed a strategy to enhance the quality of the mentoring and a system to maximize your mentoring resources in your organization.
What steps can you take right now to enhance the quality of mentoring in your organization?
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 Lead the charge. Demonstrating personal and organizational commitment to mentoring is aspirational. It inspires a shared vision about the future for your organization and its people. Benjamin Zander, (author of The Art of the Possibility) asks, "What is our story of possibility? What do we want to have happen here? What is the best for US - all of each of us, and all of all of us?" Identify opportunities to showcase mentoring. Talk about your personal mentoring experience and how it has created value for you.
What are five things you can do immediately to demonstrate your commitment to mentoring?
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Keep pushing forward. Reinforce the value of mentoring by keeping up to date on the mentoring progress and outcomes of current mentoring programs. Hold periodic briefings to bring other leaders up to speed. Engage in conversations about the value of mentoring. Keep in mind that creating value for mentoring is a work in progress.
What are you doing right now to inspire and energize others' commitment to mentoring?
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Build a solid infrastructure to support all your mentoring efforts. A mentoring infrastructure includes commitment of financial, technological, human and knowledge resources as well as leadership and time. The infrastructure you build is your investment in mentoring continuity and success. Make sure your infrastructure is flexible enough to optimize use and deployment of your best organizational resources.
What elements of your infrastructure need to be strengthened?
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Cultivate broad and deep ownership. Ownership for accountability promotes productivity and energizes sustainability. Without embedded ownership, sustainability is problematic. Those individuals outside the immediate implementation circle need to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility as well.
Who "owns" mentoring in your organization? What can you do to broaden and deepen the circle of ownership?
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 Make mentoring a leadership requirement and competency. When mentoring is felt, experienced and perceived as a vested interest and commitment of leadership, that spirit of ownership permeates every level of an organization. Build your bench by preparing your leaders to steward mentoring efforts. Ensuring leadership continuity requires nurturing other leaders so that they, too, can grow and develop in their respective roles.
What is your mentoring leadership succession plan?
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