How do you champion the right attributes as a leader to generate greatness in others?
American powerhouse Susan L. Colantuono once said, “Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes, by engaging the greatness in others”. Sounds simple doesn’t it.
However, during a recent training seminar with founder of Advancing Women, Michelle Redfern, as part of Pinstone’s membership of Meat Business Women, she drew the conclusion that this is easier said than done in the modern workplace.
When 2,000 women were surveyed about career advice they had received, 75% said they had only received advice on personal greatness, such as being resilient or following through on commitments. Most of the women, in fact, received advice about communication skills rather than business acumen. But how can you ensure you are getting (or giving) the right advice, to cover all these attributes?
To do so, we need to ensure we are embracing all the necessary aspects that will support our career progression. At Pinstone, we have a comprehensive mentoring programme across all levels, to instil the required skills and qualities from the ground up.
So why mentoring?
According to Forbes, 71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programmes, and of those with a mentor, 97% say they are invaluable. Furthermore, 89% of those who have been mentored will go on to mentor others.
So, what main attributes are a company looking out for in an employee?
- Using the greatness in ‘me’
- Achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes
- Engaging the greatness in others
Broken down even further, these three attributes look at different aspects of an employee’s personality traits and ability to inspire others:
Using the greatness in ‘me’
- Personal attributes
- Strengths
- Values
- Purpose
Achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes
- Business acumen
- Financial acumen
- Strategic acumen
Engaging the greatness in others
- Empowering and motivating individuals and team
- Communication skills
- Strategic relationships
What is the right advice?
Using a 365-degree feedback scheme, each employee has the chance to help others through constructive appraisals and training feedback every year. This helps identify where someone is excelling, but also where they might potentially need to focus on improvement.
So how do you shape your mentoring conversation to ensure progression?
Progression always comes from learning – learning about your role, your industry, your company and, in our case, our client’s insight. As a mentor, how can we shape conversations with our counterparts to ensure maximum benefit?
- Have conversations about the business – across all clients or sectors
- Analyse financial information for key insights and actions
- Discuss initiatives in the context of the strategic and related financial targets
- Discuss industry trends and implications on any strategy
- Offer to provide feedback on presentation skills and leadership
- Provide opportunities for shadowing (with briefs before and after)
It’s an approach that is proactively encouraged at Pinstone. Where our company culture and mentoring scheme ensures everyone in the business is seen, heard and enabled, as they work their way up through the ranks.
