Mentoring Relationships - How to Foster Them

Assigning mentors is an important way to bring new hires up-to-speed or groom promising workers for better thing. But the strategy is only as good as the relationship between mentor and mentee.

Follow this advice:
- Choose Wisely - Of course, anyone would be thrille to work with a company or industry superstar. But you should select mentors based on what they can offer a particular worker rather than their glowing reputations. Talk to perspective mentors about their backgrounds and how they got from here to there, then pair them up with workers who have similar histories. Mentees should be able to look at their mentors and envision themselves having the same success.
- Offer Instruction - Ask mentors to make first contact to avoid putting the pressure on those in the subordinate role. Request mentors dedicate uninterrupted time to working with their mentees rather than allowing meetings to be disrupted by phone calls and other distractions. Mentees should be made to feel their advisors want to help them. And you may also suggest that inital meetings take place in neutral territory, such as a conference room, so worker won't be overwhelmed by ego walls and other trappings of success.
- Follow Up - Solicit regular updates from both parties - to ensure they are in fact meeting and to learn whether the relationship is having the desired effect. Street to mentees that they should be honest regarding how they feel about the process and not fear retaliation if they'd prefer to be assigned to another mentor. If they are not benefiting from the program, it's a waste of time for everyone involved.

Adapted from "Handle the Awe Factor" by Linda Phillips-Jones

The Call from the Family

Several years ago, I attended a certification program for coaches titled, “Coaching the Small Business Owner”. The course was designed to provide how to coach a small business owner through the “rough waters” of small business ownership. The course demonstrated how superior coaching competencies could compliment the achievement of the small business owner. It was apparent that from the start, the small business owner wanted both a sounding board and a resource that would he or she could now call, “Coach”. Coaching is different than consulting and most consultants claim that there is no difference but that is an argument for a different day. Coaching skills coupled with strong business acumen are certainly the competencies needed to work with any business owner. The majority of small business owners are about to transition their business to other family members within the next ten years and most have not designed an “exit” plan or succession plan. It is really discouraging that most financially successful business owners don’t have a plan for transitioning themselves out and the family members into the decision – making roles.

The following facts are presented in The Pricewaterhouse Coopers Family Business Survey for 2007/08:

• One –quarter of the family firms in the survey are due to change hands within the next five years


• Half of those companies are expected to remain in the family
  Yet almost half of all responding companies have no succession plan, and the percentage is even higher in small firms or those that have been in business for fewer than twenty years.


• Eighty – four percent of the respondents aim to pass their companies on to their descendants compared to less than half of that in Europe and other areas of the world.


• Two –thirds of family businesses have no defined criteria for choosing which family members who want to take an active role in the company should be allowed to do.


• More than half also employ relatives without requiring them to compete for their jobs on the open market.


• More than two –thirds of companies in the survey had no procedures in place for dealing with disputes between family members
  
  
  Remember, an effective succession plan assesses the company’s leadership needs, determines the positions needed to continue the achievement, and identifies the core competencies needed for those positions. In other words, who is going to assume the roles of the family members starting to leave through the back door?
  
  The fact of the matter is that the small business owner is not a good planner. Most owners are great tacticians and manage the business on a day-to-day basis very, very well. After all, this is why most started the business. They were the best technician, and no one asked them if they were a good manager, or visionary. Now suddenly, they are asking their family members to be much more than they were. Many business owners have commented that they don’t have a high confidence level that the next generation can make it as successful as they did. The younger family member wants to know why their ideas and recommendations are not being readily accepted. Most wonder why the other is not listening to the other and why communication is becoming more difficult than ever. My listening skills have never been more tested. Both sides claim that they are not being listened to by the other nor do they feel that either is exhibiting any compassion, so communication has come to a standstill.
  
  It’s seems to me that it is now time to call the “Coach”. Most businesses have their professional advisors like their lawyer, accountant and possibly a business consultant. Most family members have their own financial advisor, stock broker, counselor or whatever. The coach is now being asked to be the conduit between all of the above focusing on the new members of the family and the exiting family members. It becomes the role of the coach to assume the following responsibilities:
  
  · Provide a communication channel for all parties
  · Make sure effective and open communication is present
  · Provide a fair assessment of the talent at the table
  · Make sure everyone listens to “what” is being said and not “how” it is being said
  · Confirm understanding and expectations
  · Encourage participation
  · Hold people accountable
  · Monitor the implementation of ideas, policies, procedures, etc.
  · Measure the results
  · Celebrate successes
  
  
  The above certainly looks like a Results-oriented model that I like to use in the coaching environment. I know that Business Coaching can provide an integral component to the transition or transformation of any small business between family members. Most family disputes are focused on the skills, competencies, behaviors, and knowledge demonstrated by the younger family members while the younger members are wondering when the elders will finally let go. The experienced ones are questioning their fortitude, knowledge, ambition, and energy while the younger ones are wondering if the experienced ones will ever let go of ways they have been doing business. It certainly appears to reflect the Definition of Business Insanity, “doing the same thing over an over, yet expecting different results”.
  
  Sounds like we have to let the experienced owners transfer the positional authority to the younger generation and be willing to accept mistakes and just file them as a learning experience. It might also behoove the younger generation to ask questions and include the experienced ones in the problem-solving process. In reality, maybe the coach should focus the family more on how to better understand generational diversity and make the workplace an environment satisfactory to all. Good luck….and good coaching.
  
  Richard Hohmann
  
  For more information of succession planning (Exit Strategies) and Business Coaching, please call us for a complimentary Coaching Session or contact us

Networking Strategies for Success

All businesses, small and large, need to explore every possible venue to grow. A venue that is extremely valuable, but underutilized, is networking. Networking, sometimes referred to relationship selling, includes the sharing of ideas, resources, and other information that can benefit all parties. Jessica Lipnack and Jeffery Stamps in the ‘Networking Book’ define networking as people connecting with people, linking ideas and resources. Ronald L. Krannich in ‘Network Your Way to a Job’ and ‘Career Success’ states that networking is a communication process – exchanging information and receiving advice and referrals. Networking relates to results, relationships, effectiveness, and efficiency, and involves promoting yourself and others, giving, receiving, contributing, accepting and supporting. These words reflect a mutually beneficial relationship.

Networking has often been compared to other means of generating business such as cold calling, advertising and public relationships, but networking usually comes out on top in terms of providing the greatest return on investment. People like to do business with people that they trust and where there is confidence in the quality of service provided. There are many benefits to networking: it has been shown to generate 80 percent more results than cold calling; referral business compared to business generated from advertising is easier to close and costs a lot less; and a referred customer has a higher sense of trust, has fewer objections and remains a client longer. Networking is typically far less expensive compared to an extensive public relations campaign.

Another aspect of networking today is the need for relationships. Every relationship is th one of give and take. Ivan Misner, founder of Business Networking International and author of numerous best sellers on networking, coined the phrase “givers gain.” Relationships are more important today than ever because our work environment is in constant change, the workplace has become technological in nature, our job descriptions and roles have become broader in nature, we experience more stress than ever before, and living without a strong reference group is a troubling phenomenon of modern times. People, who fail to realize that in the end that all business is conducted through personal relationships, will fail themselves.

The following are some opportunities for networking:
- Casual Contact: Any general business that allows membership to include many people from various overlapping professions. An example of such would be your local chamber of commerce.
- Strong Contact: Any group that allows only one member per profession or business that meets weekly for the express purpose of exchanging leads and referrals.
- Community Service: Any group that exists for the primary purpose of serving the community, such as Rotary, Kiwanis, or Lions.
- Professional Organizations and Associations: Any group of people in a single profession or business, whose primary purpose is to exchange information and ideas, such as a state medical equipment supplier or a local managed care group of nurses.
- Social and Business Groups: Any group with a dual purpose that combines pleasure with business with the emphasis on the social aspect. Examples of such are the Jaycees or a Gourmet Club.
- Women’s Business Organizations: The National Federation of Business and Professional Women.

Your best plan is to visit several networking opportunities within each group and select a well-rounded mix of organizations to join. Make sure that you visit each at least twice and talk to the members to get your questions answered.

Remember, sales are like hunting for new customers and networking is like farming because you are cultivating relationships. To be successful in networking, you must first participate, communicate, education, and then reciprocate. If you haven’t done any networking to date, then start now by sitting down and creating your networking referral marketing plan.

By Richard Hohmann