June, 2007 -by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

This Month's topic: Mentoring

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My New Book on Generation Change Is Available!  My newest title, Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime  for Your Nonprofit is available for review and purchase at the  Fieldstone Alliance website. I'm really excited about the  reaction to this book, and I know that the issues covered in it  are affecting your nonprofit and will continue to in the coming  years. Check it out.  Here's what people are saying about the book: “Helpful ideas for immediate action! Great insight into the different generations in a practical way that lends itself to clear thinking about how to most effectively engage people. Easy to understand and engaging—a pleasure to read.” —Janet Froetscher, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago: “An invaluable guide—it will be a frequently consulted resource. Brinckerhoff’s ‘Six Big Actions’ provide an excellent operational framework to plan for generational change.” —Joan M. Twiss, M.A., Executive Director, Center for Civic Partnerships, Sacramento, CA Take a moment and check out the book--I think you'll see that it applies to your organization.

Websites of the Month

Here are my recommendations for websites of interest on this month's topic: Mentoring

MENTOR's website	www.mentoring.org
The Free Management Library's resources on mentoring.	www.managementhelp.org/guiding/mentrng/mentrng.htm
Some good tips and ideas from the Mentoring Group.	www.mentoringgroup.com

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Mentoring

Mentoring is as old as the human race. We've called it many things, including coaching, counseling, and tutoring, but the idea has remained the same: a long-term one-one-one relationship that transfers skills and information in a mostly informal atmosphere.

I see mentoring in nonprofits more and more, for both staff and boards. It reduces turnover, gets people up to speed more quickly, and crosses both management and generational divides.

Here's a link to the "Ideas" section of my website where I talk about Board Mentoring.

In my new book on generation change, I talk about mentoring as one of my "Six Big Actions. Here's an excerpt:

"Mentoring and open discussion is crucial in solving inter-generational conflict. You need to set up both formal and informal mentoring and discussions to break down barriers between generations. Whether on staff, or in your volunteer cadre, mentoring passes on not only knowledge but also perspective, both of which are crucial. A young person might well wonder why a Greatest Generation grandparent is so frugal (stingy? cheap?), and could look at them negatively. But when they talk to that grandparent and hear their stories of living through the Great Depression, the grandparent’s perspective becomes much clearer.

As a leader and supervisor this takes constant attention, preventive action, and quick response if and when conflict arises. Admittedly, not all interpersonal conflict is based on generational issues (just as it is not always based on race, income, nationality, or high school of origin), but if you aren't looking for generational conflict, you'll  never diagnose it.

Some of these discussions can be formal, but also try to facilitate more informal discussions, lunches, coffees, round tables, and get-to-know you sessions that will open some doors. In terms of more formal mentoring, remember that it should NOT always occur using older mentors and younger mentees.

FOR EXAMPLE: One of my absolute favorite mentoring stories is about Jack Welch, when he was CEO of General Electric. In 1991, Welch and a friend of his were attending a Business Round table meeting. After the meeting, the friend asked Welch if he had time to have lunch. Welch deferred, saying that he had to hurry back to his office for a meeting with his mentor.

“Your what? You don’t mean your mentor…. You’re mentoring someone? Who?” Said the friend.

“No, I have a mentor.” Said Welch, “and he’s twenty-four.”

“No way,” said the friend. Then Welch told the story.

About a year earlier Welch had walked by a workstation where a young employee was working. The screen looked different than anything Welch had seen, so he asked the employee what he was doing. The youngster told Welch he was looking at GE’s competition’s sales and marketing information. “How did you get it?” asked Welch. The youngster shrugged and said, “It’s all online, Mr. Welch. You just gotta go look.”

Welch asked the employee to come to his office the next day. Remember, this was in 1990, and it was not clear that the Internet was going to be much more than a geek thing. But there was a new piece of software called Mozilla, later Netscape, that made access to the Internet much, much easier. The young man came to Welch’s office and spent two hours explaining how the Internet and networking could help GE. Welch immediately assigned him as Welch’s tech mentor, and they spent two hours together each week for a year. At the same time, Welch mandated that all of GE’s top managers find their own technology mentor, and that the mentor be under thirty years of age.

The result? GE was far, far ahead of its competition in being online in sales, service, parts, marketing, and its own intranet.

Take a look at the mentioring resources online and in writing, and give this a try.

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If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

And, remember to take a look at the Mission-Based Management Blog.

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My recommendations for texts and other readings on Mentoring...

Creating Mentoring and Coaching Programs, by Linda Stromei

Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring, by Margo Murray

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How can Tech help you with Mentoring?

Hmm. At first glance it would seem like there's no crossover. Not so fast.

First, while I always prefer face to face mentoring, tech enables longer distance (or meeting when one of the mentor-mentee pair is away). Try NOT to just do this by cell phone or conference call.  IChat allows real time face to face conferencing if you have broadband and a mini-cam for your computer. MacBooks have the camera and the software built in. I've tried this and it works really, REALLY well.

Also, the web allows for both research between mentor-mentee meetings, and easy between meeting reporting...you might consider starting a wiki for this, or a two-way blog. Easy, free, and very useful.

Last, check out the websites listed above for more resources, some of which are pretty cool tech apps.

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

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This summer, I'm doing soley private training and consulting, and not re-starting my public training until the fall. Below you'll see the date, location, and topics of public training I'm currently scheduled to do starting in September. For more information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact person listed in the right hand column, or email me.

For more information on my availability throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm

9/11/07	Cincinnati	Generation Change and Recruitment and Retention	Easter Seals Regional Conference Jackie Hooper jhooper@essmichigan.org
9/26/07	Seattle	Corporate Structure Options for Rehabiliation Employment	NISH Rick Van Hoose Rvanhoose@nish.org
10/03/07	Breckenridge, CO	Generation Change and Nonprofits	United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast Beth Tobias btobias@uwtgc.org
10/06/07	Houston	Nonprofit Stewardship	Colorado Behavioral Council Mary Jo Lagesse mlagesse1234@msn.com
11/1-2/07	Vienna, VA	Workforce Recruitment and Retention	NISH Therese  Stein Tstein@nish.org
11/13/07	Columbus, OH	TBA	Ohio Council of Behavioral Health Care Providers Hubert Wirtz OCWirtz@aol.com
2/26/08	Phoenix	Generation Change and Nonprofits	Faith In Action Conference Ramonda Kyser rkyser@wfubmc.edu

And, if you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

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Future Topics for
The Mission-Based Management Newsletter....

July	Better Cash Planning
August	What if you are a (really) small nonprofit?
September	Generation Change and Technology
October	Crisis Management
November	Generation Change and Marketing
December	Signs of Organizational Trouble
January 2008	Reorganizing Your Board of Directors
Send me your topic suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com

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You asked, so here they are: Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...

	2004	2005	2006	2007
January	Business Development	Strategic Planning	Generation Change	Conflict of Interest
February	Fund Raising	Leadership	Accountability	Generation Change and Your Staff
March	Volunteers	Core Competencies	Ethics and Management	Admin Costs
April	Financial Management	Expanding to New Markets	Staff Satisfaction	New  Tech Ideas for Nonprofits
May	On-line Marketing	Endowments	When Boards Cross the Management/Policy Line	Generations Change and the People You Serve
June	Transparency	Tech and Mission	Staff Rewards
July	Nonprofit Start-up	Sustainability	Saying No to Community Needs
August	Governance	Ethical Benefits	Board and Non-CEO Relations
September	Political Activities	Entrepreneurship	Executive Transition
October	Attracting and Retaining Younger Staff, Board, and Volunteers	Internal Communications	Advocacy
November	Outcome Measurement	Board Recruitment	When Boards Fail
December	Lifelong Learning	Better Budgeting	Conflict of Interest