CEOs need mentors too
“What could be more valuable to a CEO than having an experienced and trusted external mentor? Perhaps having two. When Paul Geddes became the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance division, in 2009, he sought the counsel of two prominent board chairmen, each of whom had led a large business over three or four decades. …..The practice may strike some observers as an invitation to confusion. But these executives recognize that even the smartest mentor has blind spots- some of which can overlap with a mentee’s. They also know that having two mentors increases the liklihood of hearing from someone who has dealt with similar complex and novel challenges.The more diverse the challenges, the great the benefit of multiple mentors. One CEO we interviewed, the head of a UK utility, summed up his view: ” The two mentor model is the ideal model. If offered twice the time with one of them, I wouldn’t swap.” de Janasz and Peiperl. Harvard Business Review, April 2015.
Author: Denise Picton
Categories: Leading & Managing, Self Development,