Some years ago, Jack Welch, then CEO of General Electric, told his senior team to reach into the organization and identify rising young stars and get them to serve as technology mentors to these senior execs. This didn’t mean how to use Microsoft Word, but rather the strategic implications of technology proliferation and its impact on the organization.
In return for this, of course, these young leaders would benefit from the contact with senior people. On a smaller scale, there can be a lot to learn from committing to this so-called cross mentoring within any work environment.
Veteran managers and contributors possess a wealth of information that is sometimes unnoticed or even lost because there is no organized way to share with the emerging generations. At the same time, these emerging generations bring with them native knowledge about technology, the attitudes and expectations of their age peers and lots of other insights organizations need if they are to remain current and profitable.
Cross-mentoring serves as two-way conduit for sharing all this information. Does this need to be a complicated process? No, just identify emerging professionals who display a desire to learn and share. Then match them up with veteran contributors and observe the chemistry.
Will every one of these matches work? No. But it will begin to have an impact on the culture over time simply because of this cross-pollination. Don’t believe me? Try it by yourself for a while and see what happens. Will you grow? Yes. Might there be some discomfort? Probably. But stretching can be very therapeutic. Check the next post for insights into how to set expectations on these relationships and the questions to ask to get started.