What was needed …
A senior leader in the Australian division of a large global business services firm was seeking one-on-one mentoring for a high-potential manager on his team. This manager was very capable and showed great promise as one of the future C-suite leaders for this organization. However, as she continued her professional and personal development, she was struggling in two main areas – balancing her time and workload, and coaching two of her supervisors who were grappling with issues of their own. What she needed was someone who could mentor her on an individual basis – help her think through specific issues, boost her confidence, and inspire her to take positive and productive action. Merge was asked to work with this manager as an encouraging, supportive and confidential mentor.
What Merge did …
Merge met “virtually” with the manager (located in Australia) in a preliminary consultation to better understand her goals and challenges and to determine whether Merge could provide value to her as an individual mentor. Merge and the manager mutually defined a process of interaction and accountability and agreed on the “ground rules” that would form the foundation of the mentoring relationship. Over a six month period, Merge met with the manager at scheduled intervals and was also available to her for short unplanned discussions as needed. At each scheduled meeting, the manager outlined specific actions to be taken in the next period, and reported back on successes and challenges from the previous period.
What were the results …
At the end of the six-month formal mentoring period, this manager felt more confident in her ability to manage the myriad of issues she was dealing with on a daily basis. In addition, she was successfully coaching and guiding two of her supervisors through several challenging performance and personnel issues they were facing. Even though she planned to keep in touch with Merge informally, she indicated that she felt more assertive and poised than she did six months ago, and she no longer needed the safety net of a formal mentor.