{"id":6262,"date":"2024-10-08T20:47:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T18:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stretch-coaching.com\/?p=6262"},"modified":"2024-10-08T21:21:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T19:21:30","slug":"discover-the-menotr-in-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stretch-coaching.com\/en\/2024\/10\/08\/discover-the-menotr-in-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover the mentor in you!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My\u00a0<\/strong>Corporate Survival Hacks series draws on experiences of working in local, regional and global life-science communications to offer some little tips for enjoying a big business career. This column reflects on great mentorship in the business world and how to inspire, ignite and pass on your passion, experience and know-how to next generations. <\/b><\/span><\/p>

I’m\u00a0<\/span>typ<\/span>ing <\/span>these notes in-flight to Newark, NJ. What makes me rush there is a retirement reception hosted by Johnson & Johnson\u2019s CEO to celebrate the career and accomplishments of Bill Hait, my former business partner, inspiring leader and personal\u00a0 mentor. <\/span><\/p>

Retiring from the post of chief external innovation and medical officer and, before that, a highly successful stretch as the corporation\u2019s pharmaceutical R&D chief, is no mean feat. And that came on top of a 40-plus year-long career as a medical oncologist and founding director of the New Jersey Cancer Institute, the state\u2019s first specialised clinic for people suffering this most dreadful of maladies.<\/span><\/p>

Learning from the great<\/strong><\/p>

Across my career, I was fortunate to learn up-close from truly outstanding leaders and human beings. Of course, there\u2019s also the opposite in everyone\u2019s workplace: mediocre \u2018role models\u2019 providing plenty of memorable examples of how to not<\/em> build, lead or \u2018engage\u2019 teams, demoralising them and missing business goals as a consequence. Those leaders you are happy to leave behind.<\/p>

However, this blog post is about the former. Those truly impressive business leaders and mentors. The ones who invest in you. The ones who provide open, honest feedback, not driven by selfish motifs, but a genuine desire to help you grow. The ones who have your back when you mess up. The ones you\u2019d go miles out of your way for, to not let them down. Those ones.<\/p>

Have you ever thought about striving to become a truly remarkable leader and mentor yourself? In my view, the strongest legacy a people leader can leave behind are the people they touched. Inspired. Engaged. Helped to prosper, thrive and succeed.<\/p>

It starts with a vision<\/strong><\/p>

What my cadre of outstanding mentors had in common is that each of them put out an aspirational, clear, compelling vision that I could get behind and help deliver. A sustainable vision that didn\u2019t change with every new business cycle. Nothing crazy, unfeasible or overdone; nothing so polished that it reeked of a slick marketing campaign. Just a simple, tangible, meaningful vision that inspires and makes you want to be part of it.<\/p>

They helped me understand what distinct contributions to make to help deliver on that vision. In doing that, they agreed with me clear, specific goals \u2013 yet, gave me the freedom to decide my own approaches to reaching them. They didn\u2019t micro-manage.<\/p>

What makes a great pharma leader?<\/strong><\/p>

My friend Nikolaus Krall, EVP of precision medicine at Exscientia, recently summarised the answer well: \u201cA knack for attracting, inspiring, and developing great talent, an analytical mind, the ability to implement impactful strategies are all traits required by successful leaders in every industry, including the life sciences. However, what makes this industry unique is the enormous breadth of topics that we need to navigate as leaders of modern pharma and biotech. They range from medicine, biology and chemistry all the way to AI, data science, software development, plus regulatory and commercial considerations. This requires enormous versatility.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cTo lead in an industry where projects more often fail than not, one needs a naive and infectious excitement for innovation and the belief in a better future despite all the odds. This optimism, however, must be paired with a healthy strategic sobriety and execution power to not only inspire teams, but keep them laser focused on the ultimate goal of putting a drug onto the market.\u201d<\/p>

Bill Hait role-modelled all the qualities above. In addition, he had a knack for mentoring people in the most unselfish ways.<\/p>

Mentorship is different<\/strong><\/p>

What differentiates a mentor from the usual suspect business or personal coach? A coach typically aims to help you from an impartial, external perspective. They lead you to think through tough challenges, desired improvement, achieving ambitious goals through a series of questions and interventions. The purpose of the conversation is to help you think differently and try out new ideas to resolve previously unresolved problems. However, a coach is practically never intimately familiar with your business environment; they won\u2019t know the realms at your workplace, the players, nor will they know you, really.<\/p>

Mentorship is different. It best comes from a person deeply embedded in and familiar with your work environment; a person with experiences of relevance to assist you in solving your challenges. Someone who knows you, your strengths and struggles. Someone committed to helping you grow and succeed. They would advise from their perspective and expertise, provide examples, share thoughts and recommendations. A mentor is not impartial \u2013 they have your interest in mind! They will advocate for you, hold up the mirror right into your face, critique you constructively. They\u2019re like a well-meaning parent \u2013 but with a healthy detachment, who knows when to back off and leave you to draw your own conclusions.<\/p>

They are close enough to know what makes you tick. Yet, distant enough to respect your personal space and decisions.<\/p>

Integrity matters<\/strong><\/p>

Call me old-fashioned: it does matter to me how a person conducts themselves, their business and personal relationships, and how they treat people. The saying \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care<\/em>\u201d rings true.<\/p>

As Nikolaus added: \u201cIntegrity and humility are key. The responsibility that comes with putting new molecules into patients is enormous. In particular, when we consider how complex the human body is and how little we still know about its biology.\u201d Period.<\/p>

Effective mentorship, too, is grounded in integrity, humility and mutual trust. Nothing destroys trust faster than unethical behaviours, arrogance, pulling rank, other improper conduct or inappropriate decision-making. I found mentors most effective who I could look up to and rely on to make ethical, fact-based decisions, weighing all aspects, but eventually going by data, not favours.<\/p>

Listen up<\/strong><\/p>

Although mentorship can be about sharing own experiences, opinions and guidance, it\u2019s usually helpful to listen first \u2013 a lot. As it\u2019s hard to offer helpful guidance before knowing what the exact situation is and all contributing factors. How can you help reach a meaningful outcome based on an incomplete picture?<\/p>

To establish a good basis, the mentor needs to ask relevant questions. Looking at a situation from diverse angles is essential as the mentee often isn\u2019t in a position, alone, to reflect on their problems in an impartial, 360-degree manner. Or they probably wouldn\u2019t seek mentorship.<\/p>

And sometimes, to break pre-conceived patterns and conclusions, and to open new paths to successful resolution, it can be critical to intervene strongly. A good mentor, however, will only unpack that direct intervention \u2018tool\u2019 sparingly. As they know that sustainable action is best triggered \u2013 and followed through \u2013 when it feels sound from the mentee\u2019s own perspective, not anyone else\u2019s push or pull.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Top tips to engage in successful mentorship\u00a0<\/span><\/h4><\/div>
  • Learn from outstanding business leaders, not average or mediocre ones<\/li>
  • Strive to become a remarkable mentor yourself<\/li>
  • Leave a legacy of talented people you touched, inspired, engaged<\/li>
  • Set a clear, compelling vision that people can get behind and help deliver<\/li>
  • Help people understand their distinct contributions<\/li>
  • Agree specific goals, but don\u2019t micro-manage along the way<\/li>
  • Mentor people unselfishly \u2013 it\u2019s about their growth, not yours<\/li>
  • Keep your mentee\u2019s interest in mind, have their back<\/li>
  • Hold up the mirror, yet critique constructively<\/li>
  • Be close enough to understand, but distant enough to respect<\/li>
  • Integrity, humility, and mutual trust matter<\/li>
  • Make ethical, fact-based not favour-based decisions<\/li>
  • Listen carefully<\/li>
  • Ask relevant questions, looking at situations from diverse angles<\/li>
  • When justified, intervene strongly, but know the mentee will only follow through sound actions from their own perspective<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This column reflects on great mentorship in the business world and how to inspire, ignite and pass on your passion, experience and know-how to next 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