My ridiculously successful mentor, Jim, told me a long time ago that to build a thriving business, you build it one on one – meaning that every high-performing business is built and sustained by one on one mentoring.
Here are some facts to support Jim’s advice:
77% of companies who have a mentoring program report improved both employee retention and job performance.
Retention rates are significantly higher for mentees (72%) and for mentors (69%) than for employees who aren’t mentored (49%).
67% of businesses reported an increase in productivity due to mentoring.
55% of businesses report that mentoring has a positive impact on their profits.
Mentoring programs are that effective, nearly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies now have them, and you can see why. The research findings above present a very positive case.
Mentoring programs are now not ‘a nice to have’ to tick an HR box, but they’re an essential part of any business to grow and succeed long term.
If you’re not spending one on one time with your key people (the top 20% for starters), you’re not going to maximise the potential of your people and your business and you could actually risk its survival.
Your product is not the product – the product is your people.
My mentor Jim also told me that 90% of my organic growth would come from the internal enlargement of my people – and I, as the business owner, had to lead this, one on one.
One-on-one mentoring is serious.
It changes lives.
It changes culture.
And it changes the direction of teams and businesses.
It’s about growing the right behaviours so your people are more effective in their role.
It’s about growing your people as leaders and not a managers – leaders are effective, managers are efficient.
There’s a big, big difference.
One-on-ones are about growing trust, alignment, unity, accountability, respect, and skills.
They’re for setting clear and realistic expectations to grow engagement in their role and in what you’re trying to accomplish in the business, so it’s not just a job – that it’s something they see value and purpose in.
And they’re also priceless for finding out what’s really going on for your people and the business at the grassroots level, which gives you the greatest opportunity to lead effectively.
One-on-one mentoring – deliberately spending one on one time with your top 20% to grow and develop them in their role and beyond – is seriously effective for growing your business and protecting your legacy.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share with you some of my top tips and strategies for effective one-on-one mentoring as I really want to be of value to you and see your business reach its true potential.
Mentoring your people will really be a game changer for you – even if you just start with one and go from there.
All the best and keep climbing.
Peter (Coxey)
Peter Cox
CEO and Founder
Leadership Dynamics
