My boss does not have time to mentor me
Question: After my boss took a new role in the organisation, I have been assigned a mentor by the senior management from a different unit. My mentor is very busy with his other responsibilities and thus is not able to devote time for mentoring or coaching. I am feeling very disengaged and not able to get help that I need to grow in the organisation. The small business unit I am heading is not core to the business and is not achieving it’s numbers and thus needs guidance and attention of leadership. My confidence is at all time low. Please guide how to come out of this situation.
Abhijit Bhaduri:
You have raised two issues
a) You have been assigned a mentor, who has no time.
b) Your business is not central to the organization and is not growing and neither are you. You are feeling disengaged and under confident.
Let us address both the issues. Let us start with the business.
Every business has to keep a more short term view of the existing business. Yet, their future depends on finding new markets, creating innovative products and services and often finding new customers who may be completely different from your current customer set. So your role and your success is tied up to the future of your organization too. Think of your role as an entrepreneur who is building a business. Every big business started off as set of dreamers who knew they would do everything to make their dream come true. If they could, so will you.As your business grows, the revenues and profits will become a larger percentage of the organization's annual business. You will then become a critical resource for the rest. You will be the center of that future. What could you do to grow the business:
- Talk to the potential customers to identify the pain points your organization could solve
- Ask leaders in other businesses of your organization for advice on how they have grown their business. Tell them that you will come back to them for ideas and even possible introductions/
- Study other industries. That often leads you to find innovative ideas. Then share your execution plan with your bosses.
Mentoring someone needs someone to have the skills as well as the desire to invest time and commit towards your success. Else many mentors simply use the time to tell the mentee about their own achievements. Being a good listener and having empathy makes someone a good mentor.
- Try using the collaboration software (Skype or Zoom) to connect with your mentor. Once you get started, you will realize that the virtual mentorship model will throw open many new possibilities.
- Use social media to follow the best business leaders you look up to and seek their advice. Their tweets, their blog posts and podcasts are valuable sources to expand the set of mentors you work with. Once you have connected with them, you could seek their advice on issues you are struggling with.
- Create a Board of Mentors from your own organization. Build a set of 4-5 people you will seek advice from. I have always had a group of mentors to learn from. I find it wonderful to get a variety of ideas and perspectives on the same problem.
Let me know which option you found to be of value.
PS: Have you heard my podcast Dreamers & Unicorns? It is trending at No 1 in podcasts
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A version of this was published by Times of India on 7 Nov 2019 in their Adwise column. <click this>Read: How to deal with workplace romance