The Hindu Business Line : The insider-outsider

The mentor is by definition a person with a passion for helping people and organisations achieve their potential. Other than that, he has no vested interest.

V. K. Madhav Mohan

When you’re in the middle of something its difficult to see the big picture! For COOs focused on achieving the quarterly numbers anything else is invisible. Power struggles render normal vision impossible. Opportunities for inorganic expansion cloak the inadequacy of managerial bandwidth. Disputes obscure the real issues. In all these situations and more, organisations desperately need another point of view. That’s when an insider-outsider comes into play!

So who is an insider-outsider and what is his role? The term seems to be a contradiction in terms and yet that is exactly what I think a mentor should be!

Mentor’s primary role

The mentor is by definition a person with a passion for helping people and organisations achieve their potential. Other than that he has no vested interest.

Therefore he is fearless and unbiased. His perspective has been honed by a background that is as diverse as it is deep. He can speak his mind without fear of being misunderstood; his integrity is unimpeachable.

He teaches without ridiculing and listens without judgment; his encouragement and acceptance of individuals is complete and unconditional because of his ability to separate the person from her behaviour.

He will keep the trust and maintain confidentiality. Because of all these factors, tested and proven over many years the mentor’s credibility is supreme. It’s not what’s being said that’s important; it’s who’s saying it!

The mentor’s primary role is to listen and understand situations, problems and opportunities from all angles. Then, he can ferret out the implications and point out alternative options available and their respective ramifications.

Implementing, deciding and executing are not in his ken; those are the exclusive prerogatives, indeed the core competence, of the CEO and his team. However, the mentor stands by during the implementation to nurture, encourage, facilitate and help in problem solving.

A lot of the time the mentor just listens intensely and thereby de-stresses members of the top management team. That’s because managers have a great need to unburden troubles and problems with a person who doesn’t criticise or blame; understanding and patience are preconditions to fostering personal change and professional improvement, both of which are critical for sustained delivery of results.

A misconception

A widespread misconception is that the mentor is essentially a HR person. The rich relationships people have with the mentor makes them entirely receptive to feedback and suggestions from him.

However, the HR aspect is a mere subset of the larger role of the mentor. This role encompasses the entire business of the organisation and its contextual relationship with the external environment.

Strategy, leadership development, policies, trends, analyses and business reviews are all therefore within the competence of the mentor. In fact the wide repertory and depth of experience lifts him above narrow functional or domain specialisations.

As an outsider the mentor is not bound by the confines of the organisation. He is not subject to its rules; however he adheres to the highest standards of conduct and professionalism.

He is free to move around and observe everything and contribute in every area; functional barriers do not apply to him so he is able to think and contribute outside the box.

This is particularly true since he brings with him a very diverse experience-knowledge combo. Every time he participates in any activity outside the organisation he enriches his experience; the organisation benefits directly from what the mentor experiences and sees outside.

Many best practices and ideas can then be adapted for use within the organisation.

Many people try to manipulate the mentor! By bringing him into their problems they try to push their own private agendas. Sometimes they try to vocalise their concerns through the mentor.

By getting the mentor’s input they try to insulate themselves from responsibility for the output. By sharing a problem with the mentor they attempt to distance themselves from the responsibility to solve it.

The worst by far is to use the mentor politically: to censure or dismiss someone they dislike; to suppress facts from the mentor and thereby trying to make him an unwitting accomplice in a diabolic plot. Interviews, feedback sessions and performance appraisal and new assignments are all areas that are all ideal opportunities for people to try and manipulate the mentor.

Mentor beware! Listen, understand, make the connections and then make a fair assessment under all conditions: that’s the mantra for the mentor.

By distancing himself from operational pressures he can visualise the trajectory of the organisation and its current and future needs. If this is appreciated by the organisation, the mentor can become a formidable force-multiplier.

Indeed, such a mentor could add a significant competitive edge to the organisation. Consummate detachment intertwined with infinite affection are the hallmarks of a true mentor.

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