Entrepreneurship

First of all, thanks for all your letters of advice following my blog last week about dealing with stragglers. I can't tell you how great it is to spout off about my problems into the ether, and receive a string of thoughtful and practical suggestions in return (I felt briefly like a hugely self-important celebrity). I'm only sorry I can't reply to you all individually. But one point that particularly struck me was about the effect on morale - I've been worrying about unsettling the rest of the team, but as one of you rightly pointed out, firing someone can actually have a very positive effect if they've become a burden on everyone else.

In fact, inspired by your goodwill, this week I agreed to be a mentor to another girl who's just started a business. Now you might argue that a) I've got enough to worry about and b) it sounds suspiciously like the blind leading the blind. And you'd be right on both counts. But I figured that not everyone's lucky enough to be able to get advice from you lot, so it was probably the least I could do.

To be honest, I've always been a bit sceptical about mentoring. Admittedly, this is partly because I'm a closet egomaniac and always think I'm right. But it's also because there’s a big problem with mentoring, as I see it: it depends entirely on who your mentor is. This might seem like a statement of the bleedin' obvious, but I don't think everyone sees it this way; some people think it always makes sense to have a senior business person around to bounce ideas and problems off. Sorry, but I don't buy that. Unless that person has specific experience that will help me with a specific problem, I might as well ring the Samaritans. My dog's a useful sounding board, but I don't take him out for dinner once a month. After all, it's pretty unlikely that one person will be an expert on everything from strategy, to people, to finance stuff.

I've also had some bad experiences with mentors. When I first started, I had some useless bloke from Business Link, who hadn't been anywhere near a real business since 1926. I got rid of him when I persuaded a very senior guy in our industry to mentor me, but that was actually no better. He obviously knew everything there was to know about the sector, but it had also been a long time since he'd been involved in the nitty-gritty. And he was so used to telling people what to do that he just talked at me. I'd ask him about something and he'd say: 'Right, do this immediately'. I felt like I was his secretary, there to take notes - and that really isn't my style. So, useful though his contact book was, I eventually drew a line under that too.

But I think that as a result I've learned what makes a good mentor. Primarily, you should have some relevant experience, and at a relatively similar level. Second, you need to know a little bit more than they do (in the kingdom of the blind, etc). And third, you shouldn't tell them what to do. Your job is to listen to their problems, tell them about your relevant experiences, and help them talk through their options. Then they can make up their own mind in an informed way.

And personally I'm a lot more comfortable with that. It's enough hassle having responsibility for all the decisions at my own company, let alone at someone else's...

secretdiary@managementtoday.com

Previous blogs:
Handling the stragglers
Taking the rise
Breaking and Entering
The importance of Plan B
Competitive selling
The elephant in the room
Office relationships
Money troubles
I Don't Need No Bad Advice
Value creation
HR Therapy
Difficult people
Partnership Troubles
Bad debts
About Me