Empowering Future Leaders

The task of the leader is to serve in a mentoring relationship of mutual accountability so that discernment may be exercised . . . But people must be free to make their decisions and to carry the responsibility for the course of action to which they commit themselves.

Eddie Gibbs

Every organization I visit, I hear the same drumbeat. "Our management team is aging and all those Baby Boomers are going to retire soon." "We don't have a succession plan, and we need one now." "We've got management talent in the pipeline, but no plan to help employees reach their full potential." "Our junior executives are dissatisfied because they want more responsibility sooner." "We need our senior executives to mentor and develop our junior executives."

I hear a lot of talk, but see very little action. I've discovered that many Baby Boomer executives have never experienced a mentoring relationship. They have not learned how to empower and develop others.

Let me admit right now, I'm a Baby Boomer myself. When I joined IBM straight from college, I saw limitless opportunity ahead. IBM was growing, the industry was growing, and there was plenty of room for advancement up the ranks. IBM's strategy was to identify high potential individuals early in their career, and promote them rapidly.

IBM was a great company, and I enjoyed twelve great years in a variety of jobs. I never had a mentor or advisor. I was given a great deal of freedom to try different approaches. I made plenty of mistakes and learned a lot the hard way.

Many executives my age had similar experiences. No one mentored them or showed them the ropes. It was sink or swim, and they swam. They assume others will learn the same way, and are puzzled when they don't.

Eddie Gibbs has great insight into the underlying issue. In order to learn from your mistakes, you’ve got to be allowed to make mistakes. Managers need the authority to make decisions and the responsibility to live with the results. And many Baby Boomer executives are reluctant to delegate.

Effective mentoring requires empowerment. Are you willing to take the risk: give your managers the opportunity to succeed by giving them the opportunity to fail?