Harness The Power Of Growth

December 25, 2007

The Mentorship Approach With Teams & Groups

There is a risk involved in helping your team members grow and develop. They can grow beyond their position. They can grow beyond your business or organization. I experienced this personally as co-owner of a child development center.

I had employees who wanted to improve their skills working with children. They took college courses and ultimately got degrees in education or child development. With their degrees it wasn’t long before they were looking for next-step opportunities on paths that moved them away from our center.

I had other employees who aspired to business ownership and wanted to learn about business management. As they worked in the front office and gained skills, they reached a point where they wanted a greater challenge. Some left to work in a larger business. Some took steps towards starting their own business that often meant leaving to work in a different career field.

It was sad when people moved on, especially when I had enjoyed knowing them and working with them on a regular basis, watching their skills develop and their enthusiasm grown. It was also very frustrating to see the more enthusiastic and qualified employees moving on, knowing the people who replaced them would not be as skillful or as involved with their work.

But over time I realized that the enthusiastic and skillful people who moved on did not start out as talented as they were when they left. And the new people would not stay novices and their interest would increase if they connected their work to their future development. Of course for some it was just another job, but for those who really got involved it was much more.

I realized I got many months, often a few years, of creative involvement and committed effort from people who saw their job as a path to growth. Those dedicated to early or elementary education were thrilled to be able to work with children and observe the developmental progress and curriculum and activity planning they were learning in theory. Those who wanted to learn about business management could do so in a friendly environment where the business decisions were mostly straightforward and less challenging than a more complex organization.

Those employees were getting a lot out of their work experience that was moving them towards long-term goals. The energy and dedication they focused on their goals produced energetic, dedicated team members. They were natural leaders, they were inclined to be helpful, and they were the people most connected with the overall mission of our center.

I was often thinking months ahead to the point when an employee would resign and move on. It was a challenge to find qualified people to replace my experienced team members. But the synergy they brought to our programs, and the significant benefit they had in the lives of the children in our care, made it worth the challenge.

Posted in The Mentorship Approach With Teams & Groups, Zine 3: December 2007, Zines in 2007