Mentored & Mentoring in Leadership

 

 

The Leadership Series

 

 

Introduction

As we continue exploring Leadership, I would be remiss if I didn’t expand on mentoring. Indeed, I have mentioned it numerous times already, but it’s important enough to have a single article focused on it. Moreover, the lack of mentoring is at a point that’s about to reach critical status. Let’s get started.

 

NOTE: This article is part 13 of a series on Leadership here at The Wealthy Ironworker

1. Foundational Leadership Truths
2. Leadership and the Three Areas of Your Life
3. Personal & Professional Development in a Leadership Context
4. Leadership, Management, and The Skilled Trades
5. The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
6. Leadership and The Task-Oriented Trades
7. Situational Leadership and the Skilled Trades
8. Leadership and The Art of Intentionality
   1. Skills Developed From The Art of Intentionality
9. Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
   1. Skills Developed From Emotional Intelligence
10. Leadership and Humility
    1. Skills Developed From Humility
11. Leadership and Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
    1. Skills Developed From Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
12. Skills Developed Overall in the Leadership Process
13. Mentored & Mentoring in Leadership
14. Influence Vs Inspiration
15. Inspiration – Going Beyond Influence

***The above is subject to change as this series expands***

 

 

Mentoring – The Forsaken Discipline

Mentoring has been forsaken – just like this barn

 

Mentoring, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, is “The act or process of helping and giving advice to a younger or less experienced person, especially in a job or at school.”

Seems fairly straightforward. In that vein, apprenticeship programs, trade schools, and even colleges are examples of mentoring. To a degree, anyway. Yes, knowledge and/or advice IS given, but that type of mentoring seems more robotic, distant, and abstract in those situations. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but mentoring has a more personal touch to it, which is one of the reasons I believe it has been forsaken.

Mark Breslin, author of The Five Minute Foreman, brings this to light when he wrote:

 

“Unfortunately, mentoring is at risk in our industry. I speak to thousands of leaders every year – contractors, CEOs, union leaders, foremen, and journeymen. I ask them all the same question: ‘How many of you have had someone mentor you for career success?’ Every time, almost 90% of the experienced guys raise their hands.

But when I ask the follow-up question, the problem becomes clear:

‘How many of you are now taking a personal interest in and mentoring someone in your company or industry?’

Now very few hands go up – probably less than 30%. That response is startling. And a problem for the future of the construction industry.”

 

People give reasons why they aren’t actively mentoring, but for my part, they are simply making excuses. People are simply not mentoring, and there is no excuse for that.

 

Related: Read The Five Minute Foreman – Book Review

 

Mentored/Mentoring – The State of an Industry

Abandoned and desolate – just like the state of mentoring in the industry

 

As I outlined earlier, mentoring IS the forsaken discipline, the likes of which most do not fully grasp. One reason is because of our decades-long experiment of offshoring any and all training, including mentoring, to third parties. Companies and industries used to view training as an investment – now they believe it’s a burden. Culturally, we have flirted with the idea that we do not need to train; indeed, that we can thrust the burden of training (including mentoring) to institutions like colleges and/or trade schools – all while making the individuals (prospective employees) pay for it – a double win.

The problem, however, is that it isn’t true and doesn’t work. Companies still have to train people, and in numerous cases, have to undo what they “learned” elsewhere. The end result? Employees who have been saddled with debt, are disengaged at work, and many believe they are just a number to their employer.

In short, the results of this experiment have been catastrophic.

But what about the construction industry? How does it look – the state of the industry, if you will?

Well, Construction Dive mentions how 1 in 5 workers is 55 or older. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that a whopping 45% of all construction workers are 45 and older. Anecdotal (experience) tells me they aren’t too far off: After 23 years in (as of this writing), I see mostly 25 and younger (with some close to 30) and 55 and older. People like me (I’m 44 as of this writing) are few and far between. There are reasons for this – which is not the point of this article – but suffice it to say, this problem of an experience/age gap didn’t happen overnight nor will it turn around that fast, either.

To take things further, IF there is an experience/age gap, there IS a mentoring gap. It stands to reason that with fewer people, we have less mentoring, but the problem is so much worse, as Mark Breslin pointed out earlier. Not only do we not have enough people to effectively mentor, but we simply aren’t doing it.

This, of course, creates a vacuum in leadership and significantly weakens the entire industry, placing it in a precarious position, and THAT is the current – and true – state of the industry.

 

Why Mentoring is Important

 

Mentoring is important for a number of reasons – and we will only mention a few here. First, there is no training you can take that will surpass mentoring on the job. It doesn’t exist, and it cannot be replaced. As stated above, we’ve already tried this, and all it did was increase our problems. Second, mentoring illuminates a path through difficult situations. Without mentoring, people have to learn lessons the hard way. A lot of people seem to have to learn lessons the hard way anyway, even if they are mentored and receive training on the job; mentoring offers a shortcut.

Third, mentoring on the job cuts down on the time someone needs to learn something. Fourth, its importance increases the higher up you go: Apprentice to journeyman, journeyman to foreman, foreman to general foreman, general foreman to superintendent, and other positions potentially occupied. As you find yourself in each of these positions, you’ll note the decreasing number of people in them; the higher you move up, the fewer people in the same positions who’ve come before you. Moreover, the problems you’ll encounter as you move up increase, both in numbers and complexity.

Mentoring is far more important than most people realize.

 

Mentored/Mentoring in a Leadership Context

 

For all the talk about mentoring, though, there is one specific area I want to focus on here: Leadership.

The construction industry may have an experience gap, but the Leadership gap is enormous. The reasons for this are many – cultural shifts, our understanding of what it means to mentor, increased focus on management, outright dismissal of the human element by human resources, massive increase in distractions… the list goes on. All of these have contributed greatly to the decrease in leadership, and if we are to solve this problem, we must first understand how big it is.

 

What’s more, leadership is a skill – one that can be learned. Some have higher initial talent, and some people have higher ceilings for growth, but this stresses the importance of tenacity.

 

Related: Read Talent Vs. Tenacity

 

What Do We Do To Correct This Problem?

 

First, we acknowledge that a problem exists, something I’ve already outlined above. Second, you – yes you, the reader – should understand your role in this. A lot of people believe one person cannot change things, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

One person can change A LOT. NEVER EVER doubt the influence and ability of an intentional person to make substantive change – and it all starts with you – the individual.

Once you understand the power one person has, ask yourself: Can you recognize mentoring? Were you mentored? If so, who was/is the person? Are you mentoring? If not, why not? As stated earlier, I believe there is no excuse for not mentoring.

These questions and others should be asked while searching for answers. We should be looking for resources to increase our capacity to mentor; Read books, listen to podcasts, subscribe to websites like The Wealthy Ironworker, where The Leadership Series has been written for those in the trades, seek out someone who has come before you to ask questions – there are numerous things we can do.

You may be tempted to ask, “Why don’t people do this already?”

There are several reasons (read: excuses), but the main one is that leadership – real, authentic, genuine leadership – WILL cost you something. It will cost you intentionality, effort, time, anguish, stress, money, and leadership mentoring is no different. It WILL cost you something, which is precisely why so many have forsaken it.

 

Things Are Going to Get Worse Before They Get Better

 

We’ve already established that many people do not mentor, and the age/experience gap is large, with massive implications. Couple that with the higher position you hold, the fewer people there are to mentor, you have a growing problem – one that many in the construction industry fail to recognize. Moreover, recruitment issues today create retention problems tomorrow, something that deserves its own article (it’s in the works). Those who find themselves with years of experience and years to give to the industry will become extremely important. For the few who embrace leadership mentoring, however, they become linchpins; THE indispensable, as it were.

Strive to be better tomorrow than you were today, only comparing yourself to yourself, with the understanding that while one person can bring about massive change, it will get worse before it gets better. Stay the course and know that things will get better. Trust me; I am speaking from experience, here.

 

Conclusion

Mentoring isn’t just important – it’s vital in every circumstance. The age/experience gap has created significant issues the construction industry cannot ignore anymore. Leaders who demonstrate intentionality, embrace mentoring, and are consistent about it will become indispensable if things are to ever get better. Don’t allow excuses to keep you from mentoring; whatever you need to do, however you need to overcome challenges and difficulties, mentoring MUST be given a higher priority. It starts with YOU; find someone to mentor, and change people’s lives. And while leadership mentoring WILL cost you something, it’s worth the price you pay – every time in every way.

 

 

NOTE: This article is part 13 of a series on Leadership here at The Wealthy Ironworker

1. Foundational Leadership Truths
2. Leadership and the Three Areas of Your Life
3. Personal & Professional Development in a Leadership Context
4. Leadership, Management, and The Skilled Trades
5. The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
6. Leadership and The Task-Oriented Trades
7. Situational Leadership and the Skilled Trades
8. Leadership and The Art of Intentionality
   1. Skills Developed From The Art of Intentionality
9. Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
   1. Skills Developed From Emotional Intelligence
10. Leadership and Humility
    1. Skills Developed From Humility
11. Leadership and Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
    1. Skills Developed From Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
12. Skills Developed Overall in the Leadership Process
13. Mentored & Mentoring in Leadership
14. Influence Vs Inspiration
15. Inspiration – Going Beyond Influence

***The above is subject to change as this series expands***