Have you ever been sailing? Sailing a boat requires a great degree of trust in your intuition to steer—paying close attention to changes in the wind, knowing how to adapt and adjust (sometimes suddenly) and when to let go of control, relax, and enjoy. Like canoeing or kayaking, it’s best to steer into high waves to avoid capsizing. And it’s hard to sail a large ship alone; you must rely on your crew’s strengths. Communication is required between the captain and shipmates as the sail swings so no one ends up overboard.
Does sailing sound a little bit like leadership?
Well then… “Ahoy, Captain!” I invite you to set sail with me over the upcoming months as we explore three “ships” vital to your fleet of leadership skills: Mentorship, Relationship, and Stewardship.
Let’s start with MENTORSHIP
My colleague, Cella, often relays that our number one job as a leader is to grow our people. So true! This commitment to coaching and enhancing scholarship has positive impact in several key ways.
- Across the board benefits. Having employees with high level skill and behavior impacts all facets of the work—better quality, improved outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, elevated engagement, improved team collaboration.
- Promoting retention and recruitment. Who wouldn’t want to stay in an environment where they’re supported and encouraged to grow to be their best self? And who wouldn’t want to come work where their strengths can flourish?
- The ripple effect. Those who are supportively mentored often pay it forward to others. A culture of sharing and support begins to flourish. Growing one on your team yields growth of your entire team.
- It helps you. If you have a highly skilled team you can trust, it makes less work for you. You collectively achieve more with less direct effort.
In what way might you expand your MENTORSHIP with one or two among your team?
Here are few reminders of what great mentorship can look like in our leadership.
- Craftsmanship thrives with awareness. If you perform rounding with your team, chances are you ask about what’s going well, what gets in their way, who should be recognized, and what resources they need. Do you also ask about how they’d like to grow? This question doesn’t have to be a once-a-year conversation embedded within the performance review. It should be an ongoing dialogue about what’s next for them…AND what partnership they need from you (or others) to grow. You can only supply the support if you know what they need.
- Tutorship in the moment. Do you wait until you’re rounding or conducting performance reviews to share your praise or offer your guidance to their performance? For someone new to riding a bike, you wouldn’t wait until they’re flying over the handlebars to intervene or offer advice. You run alongside, encouraging but also rebalancing moment by moment until they’re steady enough to pedal unsupported. Effective mentoring requires the same in-the-moment minor adjustments and fine-tuning—celebrating the small achievements and helping them to discover better approaches while the experience is still fresh in their memory. Learning is fostered then in digestible bites, rather than uncomfortable gulps.
- Internship breeds mastership for two. You were likely mentored by someone who was willing to give their time to your development. Return the favor by dedicating an hour a month with someone in whom you recognize great potential. This not only grows them, it polishes you. Teaching others reinforces your own learning.
- A championship isn’t won alone. If you’re not actively considering how you could delegate more, chances are you’re not delegating enough. We worry that by asking for other’s help or expanding their expertise that we’ll overburden them. Consider delegation from a different angle – by not delegating, you’re hurting both those you serve AND yourself: You continue drowning in the growing list of to do’s; meanwhile you’re withholding from them the opportunity to learn something new. By not engaging them in apprenticeship to expand their skills, you’re stifling their growth and nearly ensuring they will choose to go elsewhere to seek development…which would only further burden your workload.
Stay at the ship wheel with me next month as we navigate our next “ship:” Relationship. Meanwhile, what one thing will you do this month to grow your fleet using Mentorship?
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“Mentorship is the bridge that turns potential into performance.” - Unknown
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Explore these workshops and programs offered by our RWHC Education Team to further develop your Mentorship skills:
- Preceptor Training Program
- Coaching for Performance
- Tell Me More: The Art of Giving & Receiving Feedback
- Win-Win Delegation: Growing Them While Helping You
To learn more, visit: https://www.rwhc.com/Services/Educational-Services/Leadership-Series or email me at: csearles@rwhc.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Corrie Searles, MPT, Leadership Development Educator
In Corrie’s role as Leadership Development Educator at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC), her aim is to empower leaders--formal and informal--to create positive influence that enables others to serve well.
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