The leader’s job is dynamic and overwhelming. The leader must choreograph the corporate vision, purpose, values, strategy, tactics, and goals. The leader must also compose the team through which he executes the business model.
Leaders must influence followers by continually adjusting some 90 material variables validated in a 2006 article by Dr. Bruce Winston and Dr. Kathleen Patterson, “An Integrative Definition of Leadership.” Furthermore, the leader must continually orchestrate the emphasis between these variables in the context of competitive realities: (i) customers buy comparative value, (ii) value is a function of price, (iii) price pressure in the market is relentless, (iv)) firms have more control over their costs than their prices, (v) profitability is a function of price and cost, and (vi) profitability is the prerequisite for career prospects for employees. employees.
Effective leaders practice something that consulting firm Middle Market Methods considers R4: the right people with the right skills in the right positions at the right time. Especially with regards to skills, this alchemy is a mix of discipleship and mentoring. Discipleship and mentoring can be strong proposed values. As such, a leader’s corporate legacy may be institutionalizing the discipleship and mentoring processes.
The family relationship between children, parents, and grandparents offers some insights into the organizing principles of discipleship and mentoring between leaders and followers. Grandparents and parents can share similar values. Also, they may have similar motivations and aspirations for the child. However, the tactics for parents and grandparents may differ.
Raising grandparents is like mentoring. Grandparents tend to spend less time in front of the child. They can approach the child in an altruistic way with influence. They can invite the child to learn in a non-directive or non-threatening way. Perhaps the child may be more receptive to grandparents’ innuendo because the source emanating from it is not the relatively authoritarian parent figure. Grandparent mentoring can result in the achievement of the child’s perspective or the development of wisdom. Successful mentoring of grandparents can prepare the child to analyze ambiguous situations and make mature decisions.
Parenting is similar to discipleship. Parents tend to spend more time face to face with the child. Parents may want to indoctrinate the child. The parent’s teaching approach can include both positive and negative reinforcement. Discipleship of parents can result in the child’s perception of what is right and what is wrong. The desired outcome of parental discipleship may be the child’s “good” Pavlovian response to situations beyond the parents’ line of sight. Successful discipleship of parents can result in the institutionalized values and character of the child.
Homer Odyssey first introduced the word mentor and positioned the role as a trusted advisor. At Chip Bell’s Managers as mentors, explains mentoring as the process by which the mentor helps a mentee learn. Bell exposes the learning formula by describing its informal, infrequent, and non-conformist aspects. The idea of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as bridge opponents comes to mind. They are both corporate icons in their places, yet they advise each other on business and non-business matters.
The root word for discipleship is disciple. Tea Online etymology dictionary imparts a picture of a student achieving understanding. Students need teachers. Therefore, the teaching or discipleship process connotes an environment of order, authority, and rigor.
The comparison and contrast of discipleship with mentoring can be seen as the difference between competence and skill. A leader can disciple his followers to achieve levels of experience. For delegated and empowered business cultures, disciplined knowledge includes situations that require confirmation with the chain of command. This is especially important in virtual and global organizations. Leaders can measure the effectiveness of their discipleship by the follower’s ability to apply acquired skills to predictably perform assigned responsibilities.
The concept of discipleship enjoys several practical examples. Certified public accountant and bar examinations attest to the technical competencies of prospective employers. Commercial banks routinely subject new hires to credit training programs. Even incumbent employees receive continuing education and training on compliance, such as sexual harassment, equal employment opportunity, and conflict management.
The craft goal of mentoring comes with a different game plan than discipleship. Mentors do not outperform mentees with authority. A true mentoring is offered to the apprentice for personal consideration and voluntary adoption. The mentor’s perceptions are presented to the apprentice as a means to reach a higher level of performance and personal fulfillment. Through effective mentoring, the learner can reach the top of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs: self-actualization.
Although the apprentice is free to avoid knowledge without immediate consequences, a bad decision can affect the development of his career. This choice allows you to discern the mentee. Also, since the learning experience includes the mentor, the mentor has the opportunity to try out stylistic approaches to share knowledge with other potential learners.
Mentoring is a reciprocal opportunity. The mentor can become a mentor (apprentice). While the mentor role may involve experienced seniority, the (possibly) junior mentee can impart knowledge to their mentor. For example, the veteran mentor can provide information on multicultural virtual teams to the mentee. The apprentice can return the favor with project management technology skills such as Microsoft Project Server and Microsoft Share Point.
Discipleship and mentoring can be examined through Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory of hygiene and motivational factors. Perhaps hygiene factors align with discipleship. Hygienic factors include company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relationships, working conditions, salary, status, and security. Perhaps the motivating factors align with mentoring. Motivating factors include achievement, recognition of achievement, the job itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth.
Work teams are increasingly diverse in age, gender, demographics, and geography. Consequently, the leader’s strategy for discipling and orienting his team must be reconciled with the business model execution scenarios. The leader has to be smart enough to select the best script to disciple and guide the followers. Faced with these complexities, the leader may forgo direct discipleship and mentoring in favor of an indirect route. These paths can be intra-organizational or extra-organizational.
Leaders must consider cultural variation in their discipleship and mentoring strategy. The Geert-Hofstede Cultural Variation Tool provides comparative insights in the categories of Power Distance Index, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, and Long-term Orientation. For example, a wide variation in the Power Distance Index may indicate that discipleship is easier than mentoring. In more egalitarian cultures, mentoring can be easier than discipleship.
Dr. John Ivancevich provides generational insights in his textbook, Human resources management. The older generation is largely retired from the workforce. While his formal education may be comparatively spartan for generations to come, his experiences are invaluable. Are they mentors waiting?
What about Generation X? They are approaching the last scenes of their careers. What do Gen X members offer as disciplers and mentors as Gen Y enters the workforce? Can these generations exchange knowledge in the context of mentoring?
The true dividends of discipleship and mentoring are the mutual gratification of better employee performance. While the effect of discipleship may be evident, mentoring may not leave traceable causal evidence. Therefore, the leader must be content with favorable performance results, never knowing with certainty the part attributable to mentoring. Such is the waltz of leadership.