Do what your adversary is not expecting you to – the element of surprise is very powerful.
I’ve paraphrased this from Saul Alinsky, whose 1971 book on community work, Rules for Radicals, was a powerful influence when I was training as a social worker. It’s sound advice, which I have used in many different contexts. Learning from text is, of course, but one way of learning and I share this advice and the ways I have used it – sometimes successfully, others less so – with people that I mentor.
I’ve always believed mentoring is a hugely important ingredient in lifelong learning and continual professional development. For anyone unfamiliar with mentoring, It’s a relationship where usually two people meet to share learning and experience. Usually the mentor is someone with more experience, knowledge and skills who is willing to share this with the person they are mentoring. The aim is that through this sharing, the person being mentored – the mentee – will gain and develop their professional practice.
Equally, group mentoring can work, and an example of this are the national registered managers networks, where that key group of leaders come together to discuss issues they are wrestling with. One chair told us that making that time and space to talk to peers was particularly useful for one new manager who was able to ring more experienced colleagues for support and advice. She was reassured her problems were not about being a new manager, but the issues she raised were ones all managers were dealing with.
Having been both a mentor and mentee for a number of years, I know that whichever role you undertake, you learn and develop.
My own experience as a mentor – to a wide range of people from diverse organisations – has provided some rich learning as I listen to the issues raised, share my thoughts and insights as to how best to address them and then reflect on my own practice.
That’s the key thing to remember: mentoring is a two-way process that helps both parties really think about their own working practices. So I am challenged to ask myself, would my colleagues raise those same issues if they were being mentored? How can I learn from the positive and poor practice that is shared with me and apply that to my leadership approach?
As a newly appointed and inexperienced chief executive back in 2003, I sought out a colleague who was more experienced and asked if he would mentor me. He generously gave his time and insights, which were invaluable in supporting me to build my own skills, confidence and knowledge at this critical time in my career.
That hour once every couple of months, where I could freely talk through the issues with someone who was not in any line management role with me, and who would listen, reflect and guide was vital. That honest feedback was just the support I needed at the right time to start my leadership career, so thank you Liam.
I wanted to give back as a mentor so I when I worked in housing, volunteered for programme called Career Opportunities for Ethnic Minorities (Cofem). The Housing Corporation established this scheme following a piece of research showing that people working in housing associations from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds were generally employed in posts more junior than their level of ability, qualifications and experience merited.
Cofem sought to share the skills, knowledge, experience and networks of more senior housing colleagues to support BAME colleagues to achieve their potential. Later this scheme became Edge Forward, a broader diversity based mentoring scheme, which is still run by the Housing Diversity Network.
Through being a mentor with both of these programmes, with a scheme run by a large local authority and through personal contact, I continue to benefit from sharing and learning with a wide range of colleagues.
I have also mentored colleagues who have participated in our Moving Up programme for BAME leaders in social care. Mentoring is a hugely important aspect of this and the other programmes that we run through our academy. One of the Moving Up cohort recently asked to spend a day shadowing me, which we both found really useful in thinking about the way we work at different stages in our careers.
We also run a stand-alone mentoring scheme for social care colleagues who wish to benefit from a supportive relationship with an experienced sector colleague. Details can be found here.
So if you’re like I was as that new chief executive – perhaps in your first management role or having taken on a more senior role, perhaps wondering whether your next role should be taking on a management or leadership role then mentoring can help.
One of the key issues we face is helping quality people move from care and support roles into management and leadership roles. I know from my own experiences that transition can seem daunting but if you are looking for guidance, support, someone you can share openly with, why not have a mentor?
If you have experience that you want to share and, particularly to support more diversity in our social care leaders and managers, why not become a mentor? You can sign up here. It’s a great way to learn and believe me you meet some amazing people.
Some people who would make good mentors might say “I just don’t just have the space in my diary,” and, yes, it isn’t always easy, but it is worth every second because the mentoring process has such personal and professional benefits, it is always time very well spent.
To everyone who has mentored me or I have mentored, and to those yet to come – thank you, I continue to learn so much from you all.
Content on this page is produced and controlled by Skills for Care, sponsor of the Guardian Social Care Network leadership, learning and development hub
