We recently talked with an executive director of a nonprofit organization. He believes strongly in mentoring and wondered if he should start a formal mentoring program. He’s new to the organization and recently implemented several procedures including a new approach for the employees to make decisions and work together. Many of the employees are resisting the new ways, which differ greatly from the former director’s approach. As far as he knows, his people aren’t familiar with the concept of mentoring.

Our suggestions to this leader: Hold onto your dream AND move slowly.

If You Do Go Ahead

Let’s assume you decide to proceed. As you develop an overall strategy for mentoring, consider a number of factors: your vision and how to sell it, language, purposes, possible champion(s), types of organizational support needed, level of formality, possible roadblocks, and mentoring “delivery modes.” This month we’ll tackle the first three of these.

1. Develop Your Vision

Think about and then write down the highlights of what you have in mind. Write in the present tense (as if it’s already happening). Rework your statement until it’s as compelling as you’d like it to be.

Example of a Mentoring Vision

Mentoring is what we all do every day at _______. We help each other excel through informal mentoring relationships with one another. We also enthusiastically participate in a variety of formal mentoring initiatives in which people with certain skills, knowledge, and attitudes help others reach their personal and career goals.

Review your organization’s stated core values, purpose/mission, and its priorities for the coming year. How could mentoring not only tie in with but help address these priorities?

Find out what kinds of mentoring are already occurring, even if they’re called something else such as coaching or tutoring. Talk to satisfied participants and make a note of all the benefits they mention. Identify people who could be mentors in your new pilot effort or who could help you sell the concept. Listen to the skeptics as well as those willing to be early adopters.

2. Consider Language

Like all disciplines, mentoring has buzz words. Terms familiar to mentoring experts can mean something different and even strange or contrived to newcomers. Think through the words you’ll use, and explain them.

The term initiative may be more strategic than mentoring program. Another “program” can seem burdensome and undesirable. On the other hand, your organization may like programs by that name. Choose and operationalize other words such as mentor, mentoring, mentee (mentoree? protege?), vision, and others.

Also take considerable care with naming the initiative itself. Many organizations, such as Microsoft, call it the Mentor Program. Others prefer the Mentoring Program. Still others have a mentoring component (no capital letters) within a larger initiative.

3. Identify Specific Purposes of the Initiative

Why are you’re doing this? What purposes will the initiative have? What will be better as a result of all the hard work you’ll have to do?

Planned mentoring is not appropriate for teaching basic skills, solving discrimination problems, overcoming inadequate hiring practices or understaffed departments, or winning over employees who are deeply upset by large issues. On the other hand, planned mentoring efforts can be useful for: orienting new people; preparing leaders; assisting diversity populations with their careers; cross training; and other purposes. Don’t use mentoring as the solution for everything.

Even if you’re a doer who likes to jump in and get things started, take time to think through your overall mentoring strategy as well as the “sub-strategies” for each aspect of your effort. Doing so will help you feel more confident, answer the myriad questions you’ll hear later, and make wise use of your time and resources.