Be a Mentor: Teach Your People All the Time

By Sander A. Flaum

Remember the old adage, “Those that can't do, teach?” Well, forget it! To be an effective leader you have to do both. Employee training is not an episodic event—it is an ongoing daily process. Leaders can't only be great doers; they also have to be great teachers.

There is always that cocky manager who says, “I can't be bothered with training staff, I have too much of my own work to do.” I say, look out—that's a manager who will be quick to blame the new hire for not knowing the ropes at the big client meeting. In reality, the blame should fall on the leader who falsely believes tending to her “to do” list is more important than training her greatest assets—her people. And, sad to say, a lot of entrepreneurs don't grasp this truth. They expect their people to come fully formed and trained. It never works out that way.

The most successful entrepreneurs know that it's training that sets the mission and clarifies the vision of the company. I have not met any young leader who does this as passionately and consistently as Myrtle Potter, Genentech's COO, who states, “I'm not here in my role because I am gifted, I am bright, I am this, I am that. If I'm here for any reason, it's because I learned very early on the number one job we have as leaders is to ensure that we've got capable people working with us, people who are emotionally committed, people who want to get on board, people who can buy into a vision and people who are willing and ready to give it their all. And once you are certain that you have that, your number one responsibility is to help these people grow, develop, allow them to exceed all of their personal goals and take their careers to the next level.” (Myrtle Potter, Fordham Lectures)

In 2002, Time named Myrtle Potter one of the top 15 “Young Global Business Influentials” and Fortune ranked her number 18 on their list of the “Most Powerful Black Executives in America.” But none of that is what it is about for Myrtle. She wouldn't discuss that stuff with the class. All she wanted to talk about was a leader's responsibility: “You get accolades, you get recognition, you get all the wonderful things that come with it, but at the end of the day, if you're not teaching people what you know, what good are you as a leader? Not much! There's only one of me. There's only so many things I can do in a day. If I'm not multiplying my impact by putting my knowledge and my insights in the hands of others, then I'm not only cheating myself, but I'm also cheating the business that I'm running. I tell my folks every single day that the number one obligation they have is to put other people in the position where they can do what you do.” (Myrtle Potter, Fordham Lectures)

Mentoring people to grow into the leaders they need to be is not always such a cut-and-dried process. It requires finesse to encourage someone to grow. As children, how did we learn? Through stories. We learn, process new information and store memories in story form. Leaders have to be storytellers. They need to tell stories about themselves and to provide personal examples to their employees. That's how people learn to lead. Whether you're 2 or 82, people love hearing tales of their own and other's triumphs—it helps to shape the legend of the workplace, not to mention what it does for promoting positive self-image. When an employee looks at a leader, he should see himself reflected—a story both of what he is and what he can be.

Just like individuals, companies need positive folklore that builds a positive culture. You have to communicate positive messages on a large scale and inspire people to overcome pettiness. Peter Drucker says that the only three things that come naturally to an organization are “friction, confusion and underperformance.” To achieve something positive you have to work at it skillfully and creatively.

There's an even better way to be a mentor than telling stories…show it! Model the message all the time. Former NYC Fire Commissioner Thomas Van Essen told my students how he reacts to the high-priced fundraisers he's been a part of over the last couple of years: “I'm a person who is a lot nicer to the busboy than I am to, you know, Jacques, the maitre d'. That's just me. In other words, I relate to the swine. Being a swine myself, I relate to the person at the bottom. And I appreciate what they do; the people who are trying to get started, make a life, get an education and begin something. I'm not as impressed with the person who is playing a role that doesn't really mean anything to them. So I think it's more important to be nice to the busboy. He probably has four jobs and twenty-five people living in his apartment. So that, to me, tells me a lot about somebody. When I'm with somebody, and I see them treating people who are less fortunate than they are disrespectfully, or without any recognition, I lose all respect for that person.” (Thomas Van Essen, Fordham lectures)

What matters to Van Essen is that his people know they are valued. If you berate the busboy but fawn over the maitre d', what kind of a message does that send to your employees on the front lines of your operation? Nothing speaks louder to your people than a moment caught “off the record.” Billy Shore, former U.S. presidential political consultant turned CEO of the nonprofit organization “Share Our Strength,” told me that the key moment in any political campaign is when the curtain is lifted and the true identity of the candidate is revealed as a result of some unplanned inadvertent action. Billy was adamant in saying that at that point all the creative spin in the world could not rescue a candidate from his own actions. For a leader of an organization this is incredibly true—the microphone remains on even when you think you're off camera. And at these moments, more than the scripted ones, your people are really paying attention and learning what you are all about.

If you want to learn more about leadership and mentoring, consider these AMA seminars:

• Preparing for Leadership: What It Takes to Take the Lead
• Motivating for Results: Bringing Out the Best in People
• Coaching and Counseling for Outstanding Job Performance

Author bio: Sander A. Flaum heads up Flaum Partners, a consultancy focused on transformational thinking for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and serves as Adjunct Professor of Management at the Fordham University Graduate School of Business where he chairs the Fordham Leadership Forum. He is the former Chairman of Euro RSCG Life and CEO of Robert A. Becker.

Contact info: sflaum@flaumpartners.com or at 212-572-6325.