Your highest performing and most talented employees are obvious assets to your team and organization; however, they tend to get the least amount of attention from management because they need the least amount of help.
Turning your efforts toward your top performers can actually improve your overall team—especially if you can develop them into mentors for others.
Effective leaders understand how to build relationships in and out of an organization, but convincing them to spend their time coaching or mentoring others may require an incentive and persistence on your part. Here are five skills you should look for when considering an employee as a mentor from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan:
1. Look For Someone Who Exhibits Results-Oriented Behavior — The key is finding someone who looks at finishing a project and then moves on to other projects, closing any and all issues in the process.
2. Look For Someone Who Manages A Project Well — With so many projects being worked on at once, look for someone who can manage large tasks even though they are being pulled in different directions. Remember, good project management skills can be contagious.
3. Look For Someone Who Is Proactive — Many good leaders are already proactive. And with a bit of tweaking, a leader can apply this thinking to mentoring. Additionally, someone who is proactive is never satisfied with the status quo.
4. Look For Someone Who Exhibits Leadership Skills — In addition to a go-getter mentality, a mentor must have solid leadership skills. As all good leaders know, you need to be goal-oriented, aligned with the organization’s vision and make good decisions that add to the overall value of the company.
5. Look For Someone Who Focuses On Overall Value — Mentors not only enlist the help of others, but they also assist others to contribute maximum value to the organization. Plus, skilled mentors who know value are great resources to use when developing joint ventures inside and outside the organization.
If your organization has a mentoring program, always build upon your organization’s core vision and value, but remain a pioneer in your thinking. Another point: Select the employees who are engaged, innovative thinkers and are highly productive.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Michigan. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @micarnegie.
Photo credit: David Castillo Dominici
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