Executives are discovering that no matter how experienced or successful you are, you may still need guidance and support for career advancement. Gaining the advice from those with experience who have gone before you is prudent and improves the likelihood of career success and organizational success. Whether it is called mentoring, integration, alignment, assimilation, orientation, transitioning or on boarding, pairing of new talent with experienced talent is a time saver. No matter what it is called bringing your employees up to speed in new positions and helping them build confidence and attain the tools for success is wise.
Once you are in an upper management position, there is a tendency to think that you should already have the requisite experience or knowledge and that you shouldn’t need anyone’s help or advice. Otherwise why would you have been promoted? So now you feel uncomfortable asking for it, because it makes you look weak or not right for the position. On top of that, who would you ask for help? Not your underlings or your superiors. That might be embarrassing.
But there is a price to pay for not seeking advice. In an article titled “Why Do Newly Hired
Executives Fail Within 18 Months?” author Stacy Nathan quotes a study by the Center for Creative Leadership that found that about 40 percent of external hires fail in their new positions within 18 months. What’s more, the cost of a failed executive to a company is very expensive — sometimes as much as $1 million.
Nathan goes on to say there are numerous reasons why executives may fail. “Some suffer from a lack of self confidence, others from a lack of coaching or mentoring. They don’t have a friend or ally they can turn to in the early going to help explain how the company really works, as compared to the official company line. Many new executives are afraid to look vulnerable or ask ’embarrassing’ or ‘stupid’ questions that employees somehow expect high-level executives to just know from the start. Other times, newly hired executives suffer from culture shock. Intentionally or not, they don’t learn the organizational culture or how to improve communication across the various segments of the company.”
To improve these odds, some companies are taking such measures as involving Human Resources to assimilate new hires to give them a good road map of the company, and formalizing mentoring programs and billing it as a way to get an “extra edge.”
Molly Dickinson Shepard and Jane Stimmier, in their article “Stop Whining and Get a Mentor,” point out that you need different things from mentors at different points in your career.
- Managers—need opportunities for exposure through projects, initiatives, and new positions in the company, increased understanding of the company’s culture and political skills and key relationships needed to advance.
- Officers—need information about what is really going on in the organization, visibility with those at the top, and feedback on style to make sure it is not interfering with success.
- Executives—need high-level support, positive peer relationships, and someone on the CEO’s wavelength who knows your accomplishments.
They also suggest that once you have a mentor or mentors to check in with them at least every six weeks, let them know when one of their ideas works, disengage if your mentor isn’t working out, and encourage them to give tough feedback.
Mentoring, in short, is really just part of life-long learning. And it’s a win-win-win situation. Not only does it help the companies and the mentees, but also the mentors as it keeps them in touch and on top of their game. Everybody is the better for it.