Mentorship and Leadership- Two side of the same coin

A good leader is defined by his/her actions. The compelling vision, clarity of thoughts, ability to create a high trust environment at the workplace, and many more things which defines a great leader. But have we ever thought about how they acquired such finesse in their leadership skills? Every successful person has some or the other mentor who teaches them the nuances of the profession, the tricks of the trade to be good at what they do. Be it Mark Zuckerberg who was mentored by Steve Jobs during the initial days of Facebook, the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos considers his old boss as his mentor or The Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s mentor was his coach Ramakant Achrekar, and now Sachin Tendulkar is a mentor to many cricketers. Everyone has received some form of mentorship which guided them in their professional or personal life

Mentoring is one of the essential parts of the career development of a person. People attribute the success they have achieved to their mentors. A great leader also focusses his/her energy in mentorship, and it helps in achieving the business objectives, it transforms a good employee to a great employee. Companies, where the leaders take their mentoring role seriously, is one of the successful companies in play. Mentoring is a potent tool in improving the thinking process of the mentee, which would lead to taking quality decisions helping the overall goal of the business enterprise.

The leader to reach the level they are in has loads of experience; they don’t shy away in asking tough questions and making tough decisions as well. The years they have put in to get this wisdom has to be passed on. Their mentors give some of these pearls of wisdom while some of them they have learned on the field through their own experience. They know that having a mentor makes the journey to the top much more comfortable; as they can seek advice from their mentor if faced with an obstacle. Mentorship also helps the leader in their development, as constantly discussing and developing the skill sets of their mentee gives them a perspective about their leadership skills, which further develop them in becoming a better leader.

The leader is helping the whole organization by mentoring, and it increases productivity, the attrition rate goes low, people are more committed to the work they are doing if the mentoring has a positive impact on the mentee. The exchange of ideas between the leader and the mentee will benefit the organization as a whole. One of the qualities of a great leader is that they are a fantastic mentor. A truly great leader creates opportunities for other people and mentors them in making full use of the opportunities to their advantage, which will help them in becoming a future leader.