MBA Introduction to Leadership

Steps to Success

Consider how this framework will impact on the process you use for mentoring:

STEP 1 - SITUATION: Discounting at this level means that a person is unaware there is a situation that could be a problem. For example your team member could be pre-occupied and miss the signs that there is tension and/or conflict with a colleague.

MP: This is the assessment stage. It involves making sure that the mentee has correct and complete information about the situation. What is actually going on, what data do they have access to, what has happened in the past that now affects the present?

Understand and reflect back what the person is saying Watch out for ignoring the situation yourself State the impact on you of what the person is doing Challenge them if they make excuses State your observation on the facts and the effects of what the person is doing

STEP 2 - SIGNIFICANCE: At this level the person is aware that there is some sort of situation but doesn’t believe that this is very important. For example, a person may know there is some tension, but they minimise the importance of this by believing that it is simply because there is a stressful time and this particular colleague is always stroppy.

MP: This is the analysis stage. What is the significance of the information they have about their situation? What are the trends, what should they be preparing for, what are the problems or potential problems? How important are various aspects of the situation, what priorities are there?

Give them feedback about the impact they are having Let them know that it is important for something to change State what you observe is the impact on them Invite green behaviours Ask how important the change is to them? Ask what difference it would make to them & how bad it would have to get before

they do something about it?

STEP 3 - SOLUTIONS: Now the person is aware that there is a problem and knows that the conflict is an important issue. However they do not believe there is any possibility of sorting out the problem. For example, they know that their colleague seems impatient and has been un-corporative, but the manager thinks this is just the way it is now.

MP: This and the next step relate to the alternative stage of mentoring. What options are available? How can we generate more – brainstorming, spot mentoring, visits to other organisations, reading? We need to continue generating options until we are sure that we can identify no more. No solution should be rejected until we have measured it against the following steps.

Invite them to think of the different options Brainstorm – give examples but be careful not to give them the answers, they need

to come with them themselves Invite them to be creative Work with an analogy provided by the person and what that needs for resolution.

STEP 4 - SKILLS: Discounting one’s skills means that whilst a person is aware that the problem can be resolved via a number of options, they feel unable to resolve it themselves. For example, this manager may know that one option would be to sit down and talk with their colleague, but they don’t believe they have the skills to do this effectively.

Having identified a range of options, we need to consider how skilfully the mentee might implement them. Many people drop good ideas at this point because of an incorrect belief that they lack the necessary ability. A SWOT analysis… should have generated a longer list than normal of the mentee’s skills. Even a lack of a skill should not automatically eliminate an idea from the list of options. Acquiring new skills may become part of the subsequent action plan. Mentees may need to be reminded that they probably have additional skills which they use outside work at present. Many people in fairly mundane jobs turn out to have an amazing skills base; they may have excellent interpersonal skills which they use to coax volunteers to clean out canals, or be extremely good at chairing difficult meetings of the tenants’ association, or use project planning techniques unknowingly to plan complex holiday itineraries.

Use previous knowledge of the person to confront – consider what they have achieved in the past?

Invite adult green thinking What have they done in the past that is like this? Where could they get information to help? Where could they acquire the skills they need?

STEP 5 - STRATEGIES: Once the person is aware they have the skills to deal with a problem, they may still do nothing about it until they have developed a strategy. In other words, the manager needs to put together a plan in order to have this conversation.

MP: We are now into the Action Plan stage of mentoring. How will the new ideas be implemented? What needs to be done, what steps are needed, how will progress be monitored? What help will the mentee need and where will such help be obtained? How will they avoid the traps that arise from our working styles? If we recognise any of these stress-related patterns we need to check that the strategies are not influenced by the unhelpful aspects of their working styles (nor limited by personal or psychological styles).

Reach agreements around how and when they will deal with the problem Check viability, achievability, how specific, measurability and when Check how they may stop themselves achieving this and what they need to

overcome this

STEP 6 - SUCCESS: The manager may have a strategy and not put it into action or they may carry out their plan and fail to recognise what has been achieved.

MP: Finally, what are the factors associated with success? Often we plan changes but fail to consider the impact on others – and they unwittingly (or deliberately) sabotage us because the changes are resented. How will the mentee change recognition patterns to be sure of support from colleagues, friends and managers? How will they maintain motivation if others try to talk them out of the changes?

Sources:

Hay, J 1995, Transformational Mentoring: Creating developmental alliances for changing organisational cultures, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, p. 91.

ILM Leadership Programme (2011)