Leaders create meaning out of events and relationships that devastate nonleaders. Even when battered by experience, leaders do not see themselves as helpless or find themselves paralyzed. They look at the same events that unstring those less capable and fortunate and see something useful, and often a plan of action as well”. – Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas in “Leading for a Lifetime”.
In two previous articles, I highlighted a number of ways in which learning can take place among C-Suite leaders. These include coaching, acting on feedback, deliberate practice and engaging support. This article proffers two more aspect of learning for top executives: mentoring and learning from crises and challenges.
Mentoring
The current experiences of a CEO and other C-level leaders are often the past experiences of other leaders. This being the case, it makes executive common sense for top leaders to tap into the experience of others who have either faced or are presently facing similar situations. Leading organisations is not a unique activity by any means. There are numerous organisational leaders across the world who can narrate stories that will be of benefit to their peers. Consequently, mentoring is a useful means of sharing knowledge which is capable of providing guidance to other executives.
Mentoring can be utilised in different ways and no single way is necessarily the best. One option is for an executive to identify a senior individual with knowledge and experience of leading organisations. The relationship could either be formal and structured or informal and unstructured. Whatever approach is adopted it should be designed to enable one party transmit knowledge to the other including what mistakes to avoid. A second possibility is that of peer mentoring. This entails having a relationship with a leader at the same or similar level. The peer may be within the same organisation or in another one. This approach is more like having a “learning buddy” to get ideas from and share ideas with and will typically be more informal than formal.
The value of mentoring was noted in an article titled “Keep Learning One You Hit The C-Suite” written by Boris Groysberg and published in the Harvard Business Review. Groysberg refers to a survey of senior search consultants who interact with thousands of top executives. In the survey, many respondents recommended a mentor as a source of information and advice. They also suggested that leaders should be confident in seeking out mentors.
A third approach to mentoring (which is also proposed by the search consultants) is reverse mentoring – identifying a younger person who can help a senior colleague click refresh on valid but outdated ideas. Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric once insisted that all GE’s senior leaders should request younger colleagues within the organization to mentor them on evolving technology and its uses. Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company reinforces Jack Welch’s perspective on reverse mentoring: “It’s a situation where the old fogies in an organization realize that by the time you’re in your forties and fifties, you’re not in touch with the future the same way the young twenty-something’s. They come with fresh eyes, open minds, and instant links to the technology of our future”.
Learning from crises and challenges
Business history suggests that challenges are an inevitable aspect of individual and organizational existence. Organizations have had to contend and still contend with wars between nations, economic recessions, environmental problems and socioeconomic. In a similar vein, modern technology and innovation present a range of swings which are often complex for organizational leaders to navigate. Contemporary dimensions such as diversity, mobility of talent, globalization and sustainability invite participation in previously far-fetched realms of leadership. Consequently, challenge in the leadership setting is subject to multiple possibilities and interpretations.
James Kouzes and Barry Posner note that “Challenge is the defining context of leadership” and “the crucible for greatness”. Bill George suggests that nothing tests leadership like a crisis and that without testing, leaders may not be able to cope with challenges at the top. He insists that crisis is the defining moment for leaders. On the contrary, seeking to retain the existing state of affairs is the source of mediocrity.These research and factual perspectives imply that leaders have to be prepared not only for the coming of crises but also to use crises as learning tools.
As a final note on leading with challenges, Gary Hamel proposes that successful organizations of the future will be those that converge at the matrix of high challenge and low pain. He also avers that deep change often emerges from crises and that leaders have to provide enticing challenges that draw out the best in people or help them define their own challenges.
The likelihood of challenges is higher than that of success. This makes it imperative for leaders, especially in the C-Suite to be prepared to encounter challenges and learn from them. The lessons will prove valuable in future both directly and indirectly.
Closing note
Leaders in the C-Suite should be lifelong learners. They should deliberately seek out mentors and learn from the crises and challenges they will inevitably encounter.
Weyinmi Jemide
