One of the most impressive abilities on Star Trek was Spock’s amazing “mind-melding” power.  WOW! He could just place his fingers on someone’s head and get the information he needed. Flash-forward (or is that backwards?) to our 21st Century and discover that many organizations have actually accomplished their own mind-melding powers.  In these organizations practically everyone is capable of the “mind-melding” … the power of sharing ideas with others. These organizations have mastered the techniques of sharing information and their employees have maximized the organization’s knowledge, leadership skills, effectiveness and profitability. They have accomplished the super-power, achieving tremendous results from developing an organizational Mentoring Culture.

There’s no doubt about it, Mentoring Cultures are learning on mega-vitamins. Mentoring Cultures make the most of the years of experience, the technical savvy and the ingenuity of all workers. Mentoring Cultures have no hierarchy, no walls, no blinders, no borders. Mentoring Cultures connect everyone and multiply collective knowledge for leadership development, seamless communication, and bottom-line profitability.

Profitability
Organizations that open the doors for employees to reach out to each other for mentoring skills recognize that their Mentoring Culture maximizes how quickly employees learn from each other. A Fortune 50 company calculated the return on their Mentoring Culture at n ROI ratio of 1:400. Where it used to take a three-year training program to qualify employees for billable projects, as a result of their Mentoring Culture’s maximized learning, employees now qualify for billable projects in 12-15 months. Other companies cite their ROI ratios from 1:50 to 1:1000 through:

These bottom-line results are achieved because the learning among employees is exponential and limitless. Learning keeps happening and happening every day throughout these organizations. Employees reach out to each other to give and get mentoring daily. As a result, learning in all areas is constant and continuous.

 

Leadership
How often have company leaders wished they could “clone” themselves? Traditionally, most organizations have a hierarchical chain of decision-making. In many cases, this “chain-of-command” process is slow and even worse, doesn’t really develop leadership skills. A Mentoring Culture allows leadership behaviors to be developed throughout the organization. Employees learn leadership skills, behaviors and business considerations through open communication of business goals, objectives and resources.  Employees learn by watching and emulating other leaders. Employees learn by discussing how good business decisions are made and how to make good future decisions.  Organizations that develop these leadership skills and behaviors within a Mentoring Culture recognize:

Communication
“Who said that? Why weren’t we told? Who made that decision?”  Sound familiar? Traditional methods of communication, in spite of all our technology, often don’t get across the full depth, meaning or complete understanding of messages, situations and over-all daily happenings to employees. What’s left is whisper-down-the-lane, the grapevine, or the water cooler. And every time “it” is repeated, it is invariably altered…just a bit. This leads to miscommunication, misunderstandings and sometimes, very costly mistakes. Mentoring Cultures use valuable communication skills as their core engine to keep everyone on the same page and moving forward in the right direction. Employees work together at developing their communication skills and mentor each other to keep their skills sharp and effective. Messages, information, decisions and operations are clarified, verified and completed with efficiency and accuracy. Communication throughout the entire organization is open and understood, so that all employees recognize their value to making the organization successful.  Employees in Mentoring Cultures:

Mentoring cultures have systemic value for all aspects of every organization that is greater than the sum of the parts.