• The mentee can more easily accomplish business, career, and personal goals.   
• The organization can address training issues and spot advancement opportunities.   
• Productivity increases when it enables new hires to contribute more sooner.

Mentoring also can help organizations retain valuable employees, particularly Generation Xers. An article in Workforce magazine called mentoring a "non-negotiable demand" in the eyes of many young, talented professionals today.

How ironic then, that just when mentoring is needed most, opportunities for establishing mentor relationships are evaporating! Hierarchies are dissolving. Workers are changing jobs more often. Many organizations fail to retain veteran executives to mentor newer employees. Overworked managers feel less than enthusiastic about investing time in people who may not stay with the organization long-term.

Will You be a Moses or a Joshua?

Scripture paints a convincing picture to illustrate the value of mentoring, revealing the painful results of ignoring this important dynamic in succession planning. Almost from the beginning, Moses had his eye on young Joshua, sending him as commander into Israel's first battle. At the Lord's urging, Moses groomed Joshua for leadership (Ex. 17:9,14). Eventually, Joshua became Moses' aide (Num. 11:28). The one-on-one time paid off.

Scripture tells us: "As long as Joshua lived, Israel worshiped and obeyed the LORD. There were other leaders old enough to remember everything that the LORD had done for Israel. And for as long as these men lived, Israel continued to worship and obey the LORD," (Josh. 24:31 CEV).

But for whatever reason, Joshua failed to groom a successor. He mentored no one. Combined with a number of other factors, his failure in this regard resulted in that disastrous 400-year (or so) period in Israel's history known as the era of the judges: "This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right," (Judges 17:6 CEV).

Are you leaving leadership in your organization's future to chance? Scripture makes clear this is not an insignificant question. 

More With Less 

Three years ago, Concordia Publishing House recognized a need for an intentional mentoring process to jump-start the professional growth of our middle managers. As we thought about how to do this most efficiently, we decided to try mentoring in a group setting. We modeled our first attempt -- the Alpha Forum -- on two groups we knew well: a weekly gathering of senior management staff, and a monthly group sponsored by a local management association. 

The Alpha forum first met in 1997, led by our president and including several middle managers. In 1998, we added two forum groups, followed by two more in 1999, each headed by a vice president. All five forums are still up and running. Our experience suggests that the learning capacity of mentoring groups grows with time, along with their ability to collaborate. We noticed significant gains in eight to ten months. 

Academic research has confirmed what we have learned for ourselves - group mentoring works. It fosters organizational learning and accelerates the growth of relationships that would otherwise occur only by chance. Participants gain a better understanding both of their organizations and of themselves. 

Learning Leaders 

Each of our senior managers serves as a forum mentor or "learning leader." Before leading a group, they receive eight hours of facilitator training addressing issues like group dynamics, learning styles, the art of storytelling, ways to give effective feedback, and the role of the learning leader. 

We consider this training essential to our model because we want each of the Executive Forums to give all participants -- including the learning leaders -- the opportunity to: 

• Challenge and evaluate their own attitudes and abilities.   
• Discuss challenges and concerns in a safe, nonthreatening environment.   
• Find a sounding board for ideas.   
• Learn nuances of organizational culture, especially what we value.   
• Learn what it takes to be successful in our organization.   
• Find ongoing support and a sense of community.

Nuts and Bolts

Research done by Dr. Beverly Kaye, a pioneer in the group mentoring process, suggests four to 10 participants as an optimum size. She encourages organizations to experiment with both size and format as they tailor the process to meet their unique structure and needs.

Each of our five groups includes eight high-potential middle managers and one senior manager, meeting once a month for several hours. The agenda includes time for Bible study and prayer whether held during workdays or three times a year over dinner. The learning leader shares thoughts and insights. Group members take turns facilitating the discussions on a topic selected by the group, usually issues from a pragmatic perspective.

The Executive Forums operate under zealously enforced rules:

• All participants come as equals, entitled to their own ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. There is no hierarchy.  
• The ideas of others are not to be criticized, judged, or dismissed, but to be explored and understood.  
• Everything said in a forum stays there. Breaches of confidentiality are taken seriously and may lead to removal from the group.

The forums do not function as task forces. Nor do they imply decision-making or policy-making power. Our goal is to learn, grow, form strong professional relationships, try out ideas, and ask questions.

Given the limited time and other company responsibilities, these goals keep everyone fully engaged. Such groups are not meant to be "productive" in the output sense, but function best when they help participants see meaning in and learn from experiences they share together.

George J. Oehlert is vice president of corporate development for Concordia Publishing House. For more information contact him at Concordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63118. Phone 314-268-1133 or email gjoehlert@cphnet.org.

This article is reprinted with permission from the Christian Management Report, a publication of the Christian Management Association. For more information about the report or the CMA, please contact:

Christian Management Association
4655 S. Lakeshore Dr., Ste 2
Tempe, AZ 85282-7127
Ph (480) 838-7773
Fax (480) 838-7775