Chapter 8Leadership 273mentor A senior employee who
sponsors and supports a less-experi-
enced employee.Bell Canada
http://www.bell.ca4 Can a person be an
informal leader?One of the major issues facing Honoré when he arrived in Louisiana was how to evacuate
the Superdome, where more than 20 000 people had gone to the storm. Once there, they
became stranded when the New Orleans levees broke. With no electricity, and little food and
water, Mayor Nagin complained bitterly that no one was sending the buses needed to get the
people relocated. Honoré’s junior officers did not provide much hope that the job could be
done quickly—they told him it would take days. Honoré was not prepared to wait that long, and
24 hours after he gave orders he managed to clear the Superdome and put people on buses to
shelters in other states. How is it that people who are not officially in charge can also be effec-
tive leaders?Transformational leadership theory focuses on heroic leaders, leaders in the top eche-
lons of their organizations, and also on individuals rather than teams. The following sec-
tions aim to explain how leadership can be spread throughout an organization through
mentoring and team leadership. Even if you are not a manager or someone thinking
about leadership in a corporate situation, this discussion offers important insights into how
you can take on a leadership role in an organization.
Moreover, in today’s flatter organizations, you may well be
expected to show leadership characteristics, even if you are
not a formal leader. The work of Lieutenant General Russel
Honoré illustrates this point. Although he was a leader in the
army, he had no formal authority to take charge in New
Orleans. That was the job of politicians. Still, he saw what
needed to be done and did it.
As you consider the ways that roles can spread to people who are not managers, be
aware that not all organizations engage in this practice, and even within organizations, not
all managers are happy with sharing their power with those under them. Gifted leaders
often recognize that they actually have more power if they share power. That is, sharing
power enables them to build coalitions and teams that work together for the overall good
of the organization. There are other managers, though, who fear the loss of any power.
Mentoring
Many leaders create mentoring relationships. A mentoris often a senior employee who
sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee (a protégé). The mentoring role
includes coaching, counselling, and sponsorship.^59 As a coach, mentors help develop
their protégés’ skills. As counsellors, mentors provide support and help bolster pro-
tégés’ self-confidence. And as sponsors, mentors actively intervene on behalf of their
protégés, lobby to get their protégés visible assignments, and politic to get their pro-
tégés rewards such as promotions and salary increases.
Successful mentors are good teachers. They can present ideas clearly, listen well, and
empathize with the problems of their protégés. They also share experiences with the
protégés, act as role models, share contacts, and provide guidance through the political
maze of the organization. They provide advice on how to survive and get ahead in the
organization and act as a sounding board for ideas that protégés may be hesitant to
share with their direct supervisor. Mentors vouch for a protégés, answer for them or in
the highest circles within the organization, and makes appropriate introductions.
Some organizations have formal mentoring programs, in which mentors are offi-
cially assigned to new or high-potential employees. For instance, Montreal-based Bell
Canada introduced Mentor Match in late 2002 to bring together senior and junior
employees. The mentors meet one-on-one for about an hour a month, to build a stronger
understanding of leadership and organizational knowledge for the younger employ-
ees.^60 However, in contrast to Bell Canada’s formal system, most organizations rely on
informal mentoring—with senior managers personally selecting employees as protégés
or junior employees asking senior employees to mentor them.
Can anyone be