How do you choose a Senior Executive Mentor?
In a previous article we established what exactly
business leader mentoring is about. At the CEO or equivalent level it encompasses all four areas where advice is likely to be required:
- Strategic
- Operational
- Political
- Personal
Leaders are made and not born, however the right kind of mentoring intervention can deliver remarkable outcomes. A key consideration is who might be best suited to provide the mentoring? In choosing mentors Merryck & Co. therefore have rigorous selection criteria:
1. Extensive on-the-job experience in a major CEO role for at least five years, probably in a global context.
2. Particular personal qualities in terms of questioning and listening skills, confidence, humility, integrity, empathy, emotional intelligence and work/life balance.
3. Generosity and commitment in respect of time, knowledge, network, service and continuous learning.
Given this background and their independent nature, mentors are able to take a ‘helicopter view’ of the issues at play and quickly assimilate the environment in question in order to extract all options from the client and focus on the most appropriate ways forward.
Clients may well need to navigate their way through minefields of increasing size, complexity and ambiguity for the first time. If mentors have already put in the ‘hard yards’ at the same or a higher level to their clients, they will be positioned to avoid the mistakes and take advantage of the achievements in their own careers. All this while concentrating with their clients on the crucial issues which together they will have identified.
Merryck mentors are able to draw from a global network of seasoned mentors who represent diversity of industry, experience and special skills. For clients, what results from Merryck mentoring is an improvement in profits, performance excellence and personal development.
For further information, contact:
Robert Fisher
General Manager
Merryck & Co.
Telephone +61 3 9889 0429
Email robert.fisher@merryck.com
Website www.merryck.com
- HC Magazine Issue 7.1 ‘The Advantage of a Mentor’
- HC Magazine Issue 7.2 ‘Selecting a Mentor’
- HC Magazine Issue 7.3 ‘Maximising the Mentor Relationship’
- HC Magazine Issue 7.4 ‘An Effective Meeting with your Mentor’
- HC Magazine 7.5 ‘Measuring a Return on Investment’
- HC Magazine Issue 7.6 ‘Establishing a Mentoring Culture’.