Calypso Consulting

(This article originally appeared in Chinese in a two-part series in CHO Magazine in May and June 2008)
 
            There is quite a bit of discussion these days about corporate mentoring.  Companies are realizing that some of their junior executives, high potential employees and others can all benefit from having someone give them free and informal advice on an ad hoc basis.  Some companies (like Microsoft) require that every employee have a mentor.  In other companies, mentoring is a benefit for selected employees only.
            In this article, I wish to begin an overview of mentoring and how a company can design their own customized program. 
What is a Mentor?
            The word “mentor” comes from ancient Greece.  According to Greek legend, when the king Odysseus went off to fight in the Trojan War, he asked his good friend, named Mentor, to look after his son Telemachus.  Mentor was asked to provide advice to Telemachus and to offer guidance in his education and his young life.  Many years later, the concept of an elder, more experienced, person to provide friendship, guidance and teaching to a junior person became known in Europe as mentoring and the person providing this advice became known as a mentor.
            We should distinguish the English words mentor and coach.  The coach is an expert in an area; for example, tennis or football or finance or human resources or leadership.  People get coaching in a particular area or subject.  Unlike mentoring, which is general in nature, coaching is very specific.  Managers often coach their employees in how to do the work.  But managers are rarely mentors because of their authority over the employee.  Typically, we would like the relationship between the employee and the mentor to be outside of an organizational hierarchy.  The mentor should not be someone who could fire the employee or change his pay levels.  Another way to look at this is to say that the mentor is like a trusted uncle or aunt while a manager is like the father or mother. 
One Proven Approach to Mentoring
            One of the world’s experts on mentoring is Bob Aubrey.  Bob is a professor in the Tsinghua University International MBA program.  He is also the founder and CEO of Metizo, one of the only companies that focuses exclusively on an individual’s personal development.  The primary method by which the individual develops in the Metizo program is through mentoring.  While the Metizo approach is comprehensive and, of course, proprietary, they do have an overview that they share with the public.  I would like to highlight that overview here and then discuss specific aspects of this approach.              Metizo outlines a three-step process.  The first is called the IDEAL, the second is called SCORE and the third step is the development of a Personal Enterprise Plan, also known as PEP.  This process is used between the mentor and the individual receiving the mentoring, also known as the mentee.
 
IDEAL is an acronym that stands for Identity, Dreams, Enterprise, Achievements and Learning.  In this step, the mentee meets with the mentor and answers questions about each of these items.  For example, in the Identity phase, the mentee discusses how they see themselves and how others see them.  A typical Identity statement might be, “I am a Chinese female engineer.  I graduated from university three years ago.  I specialize in computer design.  I was raised in Sichuan province and went to university in Beijing.  I have worked at this company since graduation.”  Others may add items about their personal life such as hobbies and unique interests or specialties.
            In the Dream phase, the mentee goes deeper into their selves and describes to the mentor how they see their future.  Here they talk about possibilities.  For example, “In five years I would like to be a department head.”  Or, “I see myself as running my own business some day.”  This phase requires that the individual and the mentor have an element of trust because the mentee needs to discuss things that they usually do not discuss with their manager.  The mentee has to feel safe in this relationship.  Otherwise, it is not likely that they will discuss their dreams honestly.
            In the Enterprise phase, the mentee thinks of himself or herself as a producer.  You talk about goals.  One answers the questions “What will I become?” and “What is my next step.”  The first answer may be totally focused on work – “I wish to become an expert in my field in China.”  Or, it may also be focused on private life – “I expect to raise a great family and achieve a comfortable balance between work, being a great spouse and being a great parent.”  Then, whether the answer is focused on work or private life, the mentor begins to consider and discuss next steps in getting to these goals.
            When the mentee talks about Achievements, they tell the mentor what they have done already and what they are near to accomplish.  These answers tend to include work life (I have completed two years of increasingly responsible activities in work and have been promoted from junior engineer to senior engineer), education (I received a Bachelor’s Degree with honors and have recently applied for an EMBA program), and personal achievements outside of work (I am an accomplished pianist and have also traveled to three foreign countries.)
            Finally, in the area of Learning, the mentee tells the mentor what they are currently learning about and what they need to learn in the future in order to reach some of their goals.  Again, these answers may be related to work but they should also cover other, non-work, areas such as foreign language training, parenting skills development, etc.
            So, in summary, in the first one or two mentoring meetings, the mentee can describe themselves through the IDEAL.  This will give the mentor a very good understanding of who this individual is and how the mentor can best advise them.  For example, in the Identity area, the mentor can remind the mentee to be comprehensive in their self-description and not just focus on work.  In the Dream area, the mentor can advise around whether dreams are just fantasies that will never be achieved or if they are realistic enough to allow the mentee to aspire towards them.  In the Enterprise area, the mentor may help the mentee think about concrete steps to reach their intended goals.  As for the Achievement and Learning areas, the mentor needs to remind the mentee to make sure that these areas are comprehensive enough to focus on their general life, not just their work life.  If there is a conflict in the two, the mentee will most likely not be happy in their work life.
 
            SCORE.  The first letters of this English word represent Strengths, Concerns, Opportunities, Risks and Evaluation.  The step is used to examine the employee’s IDEAL and identify its strengths and weaknesses and then discuss possible problems.  As with the IDEAL, it provides a structure for both parties to use during the mentoring process.
            Before writing the SCORE and presenting it to the mentor, the employee is asked to conduct a multi-rater evaluation.  Many companies use 360-degree evaluations in their normal course of business.  However, these are typically aimed only at business results.  In the Metizo approach, they have modified the 360 approach and use what they call a 720-degree evaluation.  Basically, it is a combination of two 360s, one for business and one for personal life.  When I have worked with companies using the Metizo approach, I have urged them to do this exercise independently rather than use their existing 360.  In my experience, the original 360 does not have all of the information (especially the personal information) that is needed to cover the entire individual.  The questions that Metizo uses in their 720 are simple and easy to obtain in a 10 or 15 minute interview.
            Typically, the SCORE is written by use of a template with five boxes.  It looks very much like a SWAT analysis.  In the upper left box, the employee lists their strengths.  This includes what they see as their advantages over others, their personal abilities or talents and their experience.  To the right of the Strengths are the Concerns.  Here the employee identifies what they are lacking in order to move themselves forward, whether at work or in their personal lives.  These two lists, (Strengths and Concerns) are obtained by looking inside.  The employee should be able to do this without the aid of others.
            The second row of the template has two more boxes, located directly below the first two.  These are used for Opportunities on the left and Risks on the right.  The Opportunities list identifies the external conditions and events that create a market for the employee.  This might involve things that are projected to happen in the employee’s company or the industry.  For example, if the employee identified a dream to be a manager some day soon, and the company is growing its operations rapidly, then this would be listed as an opportunity.  In the box on the right the employee lists the external conditions that could create obstacles to the employee.  For example, if the employee dreams of starting their own business some day, but the desired field is already saturated with similar businesses, this could make the dream a risky one.  Unlike the first two boxes that looked internally at the employee, these two boxes examine the external environment. 
            When these four boxes are filled in, the employee will have listed the internal and external conditions that both help and hurt their chances to achieve the dream they identified in their IDEAL statement.  The remaining box is placed at the bottom of the template and spreads across the two boxes above.  This is where both the mentor and the mentee evaluate the SCORE.  They examine the internal and external factors that help the employee to overcome obstacles.  It is also used to list priorities to implement a plan.
            Once the IDEAL and the SCORE are completed, it is time for the employee to develop their Personal Enterprise Plan (PEP).  This is the third and final step in the process.  The plan has several components.  It needs to be written and submitted to the mentor for review before it becomes finalized.  It begins with a detailed IDEAL and SCORE.  It is optional for the employee to mention key points that were obtained from their 720-degree evaluation and include that in the plan as background explanation for how the SCORE was developed.
            After these are presented in the PEP, the employee identifies both their work career and their personal lifestyle priorities.  Unlike a typical work-only evaluation, the employee lists what is most important in both the work and personal lifestyle dimensions.
These priorities are then explained in as much detail as is necessary to show the balance between the two.  They need not be 50-50, but the plan is incomplete if it only lists work priorities.  The employee needs to identify how their personal dreams and aspirations compliment the work objectives.  If there is a conflict, this is a good opportunity for the mentor to guide the employee until these matters can be resolved.  Without addressing these personal matters, the employee is at risk and may not last long with the firm.  This is really how a mentor can offer their wisdom and provide value to the employee and the company.
            The employee is then asked to list their personal competencies.  That is, they are asked to list those unique traits and characteristics that not only enhance their ability to work well, but also to be successful in their personal lives.  If the competencies are lacking, this is a good place to identify that, as well as in the “concerns” box of the SCORE. 
            Before asking the employee to actually identify the plan(s), there is one more component to the PEP that is essential.  This is a positioning statement.  It is like the typical “elevator speech” that one gives to describe their market identity.  The positioning statement answers the question of why I am eminently qualified to do what I am about to identify in my detailed plan.
            Finally, the PEP includes the employee’s detailed plan for success in the next few years.  The plan lists objectives, milestones and expected completion dates.  In my experience it is best for the employee to have a Plan A and a Plan B.  Having a Plan B is always a good practice to account for unforeseen circumstances that may make Plan A impossible to achieve.  The PEP would then be reviewed and modified periodically.
            If the mentor and mentee can follow such a structured approach, then it is most likely that both will view the mentoring process as a mutually valuable one.  Without such a structure, mentoring often fails, as there is not an understanding about what should be accomplished in the process.  With this approach, there are no doubts.
            If one wishes to learn more about this approach to mentoring, I recommend you go to www.metizo.com and contact someone to speak with directly.