Mentoring programs are common in many businesses because they accelerate the learning process by teaming staff members up with more experienced colleagues who can guide them through problems they may encounter.
This works well within organisations but I believe it can profitably be applied even to the CEO of the business. This is especially so when a start-up business grows to the extent that the founder, who may not have all that much experience in management, has to transition to the Chief Executive Officer role.
The thing is that CEOs are alone at the top of their organisations and perhaps only answerable to a board of directors. This can be a pretty lonely existence because there is generally no one within the organisation to act as a sounding board or confidant and they will certainly be encountering situations they have no experience.
It is a paradox that the CEO may be one of the most capable people in the organisation but still have little or no experience that will equip them to face the challenges they will encounter in the role.
The title of Marshall Goldsmith’s book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” puts this very neatly. The CEO’s skill and experience got him the job but won’t have fully equipped him to do it.
In my opinion, even CEOs can derive great benefits from having mentors who succeeded in similar positions in the past and can offer advice and encouragement based on their experience. Just having someone outside the organisation to confide in can be very beneficial.
There are organisations which can match those seeking mentors with suitable candidates but it is probably better if this happens naturally and the individual approaches someone in their circle or a mutual contact introduces them.
There are a number of considerations when choosing a mentor but the most important is probably the ‘fit’ or chemistry between mentee and mentor. They should get on well and be able to sustain a mutually beneficial and productive long-term relationship.
The mentor should have relevant management experience at a similar level and ideally come from a different industry to bring new insights and perspectives. They should come from outside the organisation because it could cause major problems if a staff member becomes the CEO’s confidant and privy to their innermost doubts and concerns.
Richard Skarzynski is the CEO of Coraggio – he chairs two of the advisory boards bringing together private and family business owners for scale, support and new ideas. Learn more here.
