Effective Mentoring THE SENSEI LEADER

A Stanford University study cited by the Institute for Organization Development revealed that another critical area of development for CEOs was mentoring skills— developing internal talent. Another critical area? This just might be your most important role as a leader. This is the role of the sensei. Mentoring, teaching, developing the skills of the people in your care. Sensei is a term we use for teachers in the martial arts. The sensei is a teacher, mentor, and coach in the dojo or in the office. In some traditions, both in the martial arts and in business, the sensei or leader might feel threatened by the abilities or skills of the student or subordinates. In this culture, the leader blocks development past his own skill level. What happens to the people under him? Most of the time they quit or move on to better opportunities for learning, growth, and development. What happens when the sensei measures his success by the student or employee who surpasses his own talents and abilities? In this culture, there's always room for learning, growth, and development. Instead of feeling threatened, the leader is looking for new ways to utilize the ever-expanding talents and skills of everyone in his care. Innovation, initiative, and creativity are recognized and rewarded. When the sensei or leader plays an active role in mentoring and training someone to exceed his skills, there's no threat. There's only respect. I've trained lots of people who have become far better martial artists than I'll ever be. That's not a threat. That's my job. Those people don't leave or reject me. They become loyal advocates and they look for ways for me to help them even further develop. They become a great resource in my life and in my organization. They grow to fill some of my roles, and that gives me the room and the time to expand my own talents, skills, and abilities. In this type of culture, everyone is progressing. A few years ago, I noticed something very interesting going on. I didn't demand it. I didn't teach it, train it, or even promote it. It just started happening. You see, when my students were working to achieve my level of skill, they addressed me as Sensei. Whenever I recognize a student for surpassing me in some way, that student starts calling me "Master." As the student excels, my role shifts from simply teaching technique to mentoring and coaching that student to even higher levels of performance. As I promote the student, the student elevates me. That's how you build a powerful organization.