Written by: Judith Germain, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We are living in a world which is complex and constantly changing. We are seeing a seismic shift in social norms, consumer wants, worker expectations and corporate social responsibility. We demand real leaders that can set the right strategic direction, align others to it, show integrity, empathy, and passion in who they are and what they do.
These leaders need to be able to understand the risk of doing or not doing and be able to make decisions, without the past as a guide. The ability to accurately predict the future relies on the capacity to understand patterns and people. There is a need to be objective and without ego, because ego can get in the way of new ideas that will allow the organisation to be agile and sustainable. To usher in a new culture often needs external influences and people that can listen confidentiality and advise accordingly.
The challenge
Traditionally organisations have assumed that the newly hired or promoted C-Suite member (including the CEO), have all that they need to lead the organisation and the people within it. This assumption has made it difficult for the C-Suite to reach out in those times when they need additional support. This can be very damaging to the individual and the organisation, especially when you consider the responsibilities that they have. Here are a few:
accountability in defining the company,
an efficient and effective Board or senior leadership team,
an employee culture that empowers the employees and satisfies the customers,
a business model that really works.
Senior Managers must also understand the business and be able to take on a peer's responsibilities at a moment’s notice if necessary.
This requires a high level of capability across several diverse competencies and behaviours. Failure in any one area can have a disastrous effect on the company, and the people within it. An uncertain CEO or senior executive, forced to make decisions and interact with others whilst that uncertainty exists, makes it harder for them to align and empower others. A senior exec team or Board that isn’t cohesive will struggle to have the right individual and collective impact.
Often the success of a company rests on the C-Suite’s leadership abilities. Often when in situ they are expected to need little professional development, to be a charismatic leader and an effective manager. It is presumed that they will have knowledge of their industry and emerging trends and an ability to understand the differing activities of the business that makes up the whole.
The more complex the company is, the higher the level of expectation that is placed upon them.
To ensure that they deliver what is expected of them, productive leaders must ensure the successful interplay of their own management and leadership skills. In this context, management can be defined as the ability to make good decisions and leadership as the ability to execute those decisions through others. As a result, successful organisations often hire the services of an external mentor, recognising that this can enhance capability and should not be considered remedial action.
Here are the main benefits of having an external mentor:
the ability to confide in someone outside the company
having an objective sounding board, who will challenge when necessary
receiving support and advice on team dynamics, enhancing leadership capability
staying ahead of the game by receiving knowledge from other industries
continuous leadership development
a more successful and sustainable company and exec team
Does mentoring always work?
There are only four main reasons why mentoring doesn’t work:
A bad fit between the mentor and mentee
The leader is not ready to be open and honest with their mentor
The leader refuses to leave their comfort zone
The mentor is trying to manage the mentee
When the opposite is true, mentoring will work. For example, I was working with an established CEO who had recently moved companies. The new company was very dysfunctional; his top team was inefficient beset with personality and competency issues, there was poor morale and severe union issues.
To add to his problems the company was losing key customers, haemorrhaging money and the shareholders were not happy. He was very much the ‘Hero CEO’, tasked with making an impact quickly or exiting the business sooner than he would have liked. Walking away with a permanent dent to his reputation.
The CEO felt unable to confide in his team and was unclear as to where the true starting point was and whether there was a common root to the company’s issues. By working closely together he was able to see clearly the issues that he was facing.
He saw the need to segregate the problems caused by his top team and the consequences of devalued and de-motivated employees. By tackling these key areas, he understood that these were the causes of customer dissatisfaction and poor bottom line results.
He learnt that his own leadership style was adding to the problem and how best to interact with others to ensure that he got the results that he wanted. He discovered how to get the best out of his team and how to implement the appropriate processes to deal with the technical deficiencies.
Under his tenure the company improved its fortunes, his team increased their competence and the union difficulties improved as they saw the employees being better treated. This had a positive effect on the bottom line. The CEO benefited from having a trusted advisor who was removed from the company, who could provide objective guidance and advice.
DEEP™ Mentoring for the C-Suite – a way to ensure that mentoring works
The C-Suite face many important strategic decisions and will require external support from time to time, in the appraisal of them. When mentoring it’s worth the mentee having a goal in mind and being empowered to Strategise, Innovate and Execute, therefore building passion and accountability into the process.
Whilst there are many different ways to mentor the C-Suite, I have found that the DEEP™ Mentoring framework works best.
My DEEP™ Mentoring Framework, is an acronym that enhances leadership capability. Every member of the C-Suite is unique and it might, therefore, not be necessary or appropriate for them to work on all aspects of the framework, at any given point in time.
We are living in a world which is complex and constantly changing. We are seeing a seismic shift in social norms, consumer wants, worker expectations and corporate social responsibility. We demand real leaders that can set the right strategic direction, align others to it, show integrity, empathy, and passion in who they are and what they do.
During and post pandemic the C-Suite demands external mentors. Mentoring is often beneficial to the C-Suite as it provides senior leadership teams with an external sounding bound, someone who can practically assess and advise on the problematic issues within the organisation as a whole. Mentoring from an external mentor like myself, works when the mentee wants to enhance their leadership capability and do their very best for their employees, peers, organisation and themselves.
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Judith Germain, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Judith Germain is the leading authority on Maverick Leadership. She is a strategic innovator utilising Maverick Leadership principles to empower business owners and leadership teams to have the strategic insight, innovation and execution, to enhance their impact and influence.This enables them to exceed stakeholder expectations, have engaged inclusive teams and attract the clients that they want. Judith hosts The Maverick Paradox Podcast, is the Founder and Editor of The Maverick Paradox Magazine, and host of The Maverick Paradox @ KLDR radio show. She is the author of The Maverick Paradox: The Secret Power Behind Successful Leaders. Judith is also a senior consultant, trainer and speaker.
