Depending on the situation and the individuals on your team, your leadership will be different. If you’re overseeing a large team where your direct contact is mostly with a smaller leadership team, your role will be to help them. You might focus on having leadership lunches so that the employees can see the senior most leaders up close and have access to ask the questions. If you lead a smaller team, you will have more direct access to mentor on a one-on-one basis. To be an effective leader, you must be flexible. Leadership is malleable and must shift based on what your team needs at that time.
Ask the questions
If you don’t know what your team needs, ask. Never assume. You need to be able to ask, “What is it that you need from me?” and be able to unpack what that is and how you can best work with your team to get them where they need to be. This isn’t always easy. But having these direct discussions with members of your team and helping them to focus on what their goals are and align them with the team goals is key. Make yourself available to your team.
Another question you need to consider is, “What are my team members’ personal goals, apart from the business? And can the two marry?” Unfortunately, sometimes they do not align. Always be clear and transparent with your team about the needs of the organization and where they align with those goals.
Your value as a leader is not based on the size of your team. The best leaders have widespread influence. You can mentor members of your direct structure, but also those outside of your individual team. Ask questions, be a voice that influences decisions, and find ways to support the goals of your organization, even if it’s outside of your direct team.
Set goals
As a mentor, there must be a goal-setting process where you work with your mentee so that you have a shared alignment on what it is that you are trying to achieve. While you will mentor members of your team, you likely will not mentor every member of your team. To mentor someone, the mentee must be drawn to their mentor and the mentor must see something in the mentee that pulls them in and makes them want to spend the extra time to mentor, because mentorship takes time.
A mentee needs to understand their goals, be able to articulate them succinctly and determine where they need help or assistance. Having clearly defined goals is vital to the success of a mentor/mentee relationship. When mentoring your team, engage in discussions and strategy meetings where you outline your clearly defined goals and assess if they are achievable.