Scott Jeffrey » mentor

Three Powerful Steps to Coaching

Scott Jeffrey — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:00:28 +0000

In the last post we reviewed tips to become a better mentor. Now, let’s look at coaching.

Every team leader of any project takes on the role of the coach. As with sports, the team with the best coach usually has the edge.

Coaching is an important responsibility of a leader. Compared to a mentor, a coach has greater accountability and provides more active, hands-on guidance along your professional journey.

Let’s review the three basic roles of the coach:

1) Take Inventory: Identify where your team is now.

A good coach lives by the dictum “Know thyself.” If you don’t know where you are, you can’t plot your course to any destination. What is your team’s current condition? What are your strengths? (Play to your strengths, not your weaknesses.) What’s the overall context of the competitive landscape?

2) Set Objectives: Determine where you want to go.

Obvious isn’t it? Yet frequently, this vital step is often overlooked. An effective coach spends a disproportionate amount of time clearly defining the end picture—what the project will look like at the end. A clear vision is paramount to leading a successful team.

3) Develop Strategy: Plot the optimal course to your end picture.

With the help of an experienced team, the coach crafts a pathway to success by identifying the key results and strategic actions that must take place in order to realize the ultimate vision determined in step 2.

Similar to mentoring, the better you are at coaching your team through these three steps, the more effective you will be and the greater the results you will achieve.

Are you an Effective Mentor?

Scott Jeffrey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:27:01 +0000

An effective mentor is also a great leader who inspires growth and contribution in others. Effective mentors have less work-related stress and interpersonal conflict because they are empathic communicators.

Every one of us helps, advises and guides others—we are all mentors to different people at different times. But what are the keys to being an effective mentor to your team members, associates, friends and family members?

1) Be a guide, not an instructor.

An instructor tells a person what to do. A guide provides moral support, but only advises when appropriate—like when you know they are going in the wrong direction.

2) Give the mentee space.

Your role as mentor is not to keep the mentee from failing. Failure often represents the fastest avenue for growth. Your supportive presence is often all that’s required.

3) Become an active listener.

Learn to be with the mentee. Deeply listen to the emotional tone and watch body posturing and gesturing, instead of merely listening to the words. Avoid formulating a response while the mentee is explaining an issue—even if you know the answer. The mentee will be more receptive once he feels he has been heard and understood.

4) Lead by example.

You earn the respect of your mentee not by what you say or do—or even your executive rank and title—but by who you are. Your own commitment to growth will inspire a profound willingness in your mentee.

5) Let go of your narcissistic ego.

There’s simply no place for ego within the mentor’s role. Approach the mentoring role with humility and a sense of servitude to your fellow employee. Remember: It’s not about you; it’s about them.

Mentoring is a role each of us plays in supporting and uplifting the whole of our organizations and all of humanity. The more you sharpen your mentoring skills, the more effective and inspiring a leader you will be.

The Importance of the Mentor

Scott Jeffrey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:00:56 +0000

The Greek poet Homer tells us how Odysseus left his son Telemachus in the care of his old friend Mentor. Mentor guides Telemachus in the search for his lost father and his true heritage in The Odyssey.

From this Greek mythology we get the word mentor that’s now come to be defined as “an experienced and trusted advisor.”

The importance of the mentor role is further illuminated in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell points out that the hero, reluctant to engage in the adventure, meets a protective figure with supernatural aid. This mentor archetype provides a magical amulet or sage-like advice the hero will need along the journey.

Contemporary story telling drives home Campbell’s observation:

Luke Skywalker is guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi to learn the ways of the Force in the original Star Wars.
Frodo encounters a powerful mentor in the form of Gandalf the Wizard in Lord of the Rings.
Morpheus instructs Neo how to operate within the Matrix.
And Harry Potter can always count on guiding wisdom from Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Of course, you don’t need to be a Jedi Master or a powerful wizard to be a mentor in the business world. In fact, we are all mentors to different people at different times. Every one of us helps, advises and guides others.

Who do you help guide along their adventure? Who do you look to for guidance along your journey?

The Mentor is a vital role in business and in life. Honor your mentors. Be grateful for their presence in your life.

Simultaneously, strive to be the best mentor you can be to those you have the privilege to serve.

The Power of Decision

Scott Jeffrey — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:48:07 +0000

One of my mentors, a retired CEO, said that chief executives are essentially paid big bucks to make three major decisions each year.

The key, then, is to first recognize these three decisions and then respond in the best interest of the organization.

Think back to February ‘08. Apple’s iPhone became an international sensation. Programmers, however, wanted to do more with the cool smart phone and found ways to hack the iPhone.

Since the iPhone’s release in June ‘07, Steve Jobs’s team attempted to thwart the hacking community to no avail.

Then came Jobs’s BIG decision in March ‘08. He announces a software development kit that allows programmers to create applications for the iPhone to be made available in the new iTunes AppStore. Programmers get to keep 70% of the revenue.

It’s difficult to appreciate the power of this single decision. Apple recently celebrated its 1 billionth download from the AppStore, which has over 25,000 Apps and 5,000 more added monthly.

More importantly, with the new App Mania, Apple is now well positioned for the next wave of mobile innovations while their competitors play catch-up.

Effective leaders value the power of a decision. Be deliberate and thoughtful in your decision making. Choose well.