Mentoring Leaders

A good exercise for leadership training, teaching, and coaching is self-reflection. Reflection in the context of thinking about and writing about observations and thoughts associated with leadership. I had a class several years ago on leadership in my systems engineering academic program. One of our assignments was to write several paragraphs, several times a week on our daily observations and thoughts associated with leadership. From leadership on the global political stage to the workplace - - the goal was to think and reflect deeply on the topic of leadership. I still have my semester long list - - a very worthwhile exercise.

Another exercise is the calendar test - - reflect on the last 90 days and consider:

• What categories of activities make up your workday?
• What issues have you spent the most time on?
• Whom have you spent the most time with?
• Where did you spend your time (in your office, in meetings, with customers)?
• What reports and information do you spend time looking at?
• What business issues capture your quiet time (keep you awake at night, float up when you are going to and/or from work, or surface in conversations)?

Keen observational skills are also critical. Keep a log over a month and document the following - - Which employees tend to speak up first? Which employees have ideas that others follow? Which employees are listened to the most? Which employees are more bold, engaging, or creative? Which employees volunteer (or shy away from) certain assignments? Who does quiet service? Who works to engage others? Reflect on patterns - - pattens that establish the identity of each employee.