The competition for bright young agency talent is fierce. Yet many of the mentors that historically helped young talent are now gone. And if talent development is diminished, the future looks bleak. Here are some thoughts on mentoring that may help your agency.

1. The Lost Art of Mentoring
by
Mike Carlton
Long Ago
Stop! Before reading further, take out a pencil and paper and write the names of
the two or three most important mentors you had early in your career. Think a bit
about the impact they have had on your professional life. And possibly your total
life experience.
Also, think a bit of what things might have been like if they had never connected
with you those many years ago. What would your life be like today? And, how
good an agency professional would you be?
The simple fact is that today’s best agency people usually had yesterday’s best
mentors.
Missing in Action
Early in this decade US agencies shrank by 80,000 people.
The perspective of this is stunning! Almost one job in six disappeared. And, so
did the seasoned talent that occupied those jobs. Talent now gone from the
industry.
Some of the first to go were senior agency people. Professionals that were
probably fairly expensive and may have been past their peak in productivity.
Historically, these folks did much of the mentoring of younger agency staffers.
They had the knowledge, the experience, the wisdom, and most importantly, the
time to help young talent develop. The good ones believed in giving back to the
next generation of agency professionals the skill gifts that they had received in
their youth. While their mentoring contribution was not easily quantifiable, it was
of incredible value.
Now, the ranks of those unselfish mentors are dramatically thinned. Is the art of
mentoring being lost?
Mentoring’s Impact
There is little question about the value of mentoring. Recently, a survey was
published in USA Today. It asked the following question:
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2. “How much of an impact does coaching or mentoring have on career success?”
While the response was not surprising, it certainly was clear. 46% said that
coaching or mentoring has a great impact on career success. 45% more said it
had a moderate impact. Only 9% said it had little or no impact on career
success.
Nothing wishy-washy here. The perceived value of mentoring is overwhelming.
Competitive Environment
It’s a tough world out there. Young professional talent is increasingly in short
supply. Attracting, recruiting, training, growing and retaining young professional
talent is the key to the future success of any intellectually driven enterprise. And
advertising agencies have to compete for that talent in a much more difficult
marketplace.
For example, Booz Allen spends 6.3% of total payroll for staff training. Ernst &
Young’s learning budget is $1 million per year. Ritz Carlton requires 198 annual
training hours per employee. And Lockeed Martin will spend a whooping $48
million this year on staff tuition reimbursement.
Do agencies put this much relative effort into the training and development of
their young people? Are advertising agencies lagging in their commitment to
training and developing young talent?
Some used to have formal training programs. But many of these programs were
killed during the recent difficult years. It is not clear how many have been
reinstated. There is recent evidence that management recognized mentoring is
an ongoing activity in about 25% of agencies.
The best young talent will go where they feel they will have the greatest chance
of growing professionally. And their employer’s commitment to their
development will surely play a key role in their career choice.
The Role of Mentoring
But, you may say that most agencies never had much in the way of formal
training programs anyway, but they always had great mentors. And that is true.
The question is that in an increasingly competitive and cost sensitive agency
business environment, if formal training programs are unaffordable can
mentoring fill the gap? And if so, what should be expected of mentoring?
And most importantly, is mentoring itself even affordable?
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3. And if there is little training or mentoring, can the agency industry really expect to
be the choice of the best and brightest young talent? And without that talent,
what kind of future is in store?
Mentoring Defined
The dictionary defines a mentor as: a wise advisor, a loyal friend, a trusted guide,
a teacher and a coach.
These are not typical business terms. They reflect the fact that the relationship
with a good mentor goes way beyond a normal business relationship but rather
to a much deeper personal one.
Thus, when we discuss mentoring we are venturing outside the tidy world of
Dollars and Cents. Mentoring is not, and never has been, something that can be
easily measured or quantified. There is just no place for it on an Income
Statement or Balance Sheet.
Why Mentor?
This then raises the question, just why do mentors mentor? If the relationship is
primarily personal, why do they do it? If there is no economic benefit to them
what is their motivation? What do they expect to get out of it?
Perhaps the best way to answer these questions is to look back at the folks that
mentored you. What was the reason they took you under their wing? And not
someone else?
Then ask yourself what did they receive from it? Certainly there was no financial
reward in it for them. And it took valuable time that they could have been using
on more urgent, and probably more financially rewarding, matters.
So, why did they do it?
The Answer is Really Quite Simple
Mentoring is one of the most natural and most satisfying activities in life. It is
also one of the most frustrating and most difficult.
In many respects it is very much like parenting.
A true mentor, like a good parent, is internally driven and wants the recipient to
succeed. In fact the mentor really wants his young charge to move beyond the
level that he himself has achieved. And in return, self-satisfaction is the mentor’s
only reward.
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4. When you look at it this way one could say that mentoring is an act of
unconditional love.
Love in business? Wow. That’s pretty heavy stuff.
A Closer Look
In understanding why a mentor mentors it appears there are four key dimensions
to examine. First is its naturalness. Second, its satisfactions. Third, its
frustrations. And forth, its difficulties. Let’s take a closer look at each:
1. Its Naturalness
Since the beginning of time, the youth of every species have been taught
by the elders. Nothing is more natural than parenting. Be it the bird
teaching its offspring to fly. Or the human mother patiently reading to her
child.
Every species naturally mentors. It is part of the DNA. It is just how the
world works. The need to mentor is intuitive. And it springs from deep
inside. The source is built in. It requires no advanced degree.
2. Its Satisfactions
Mentoring is a link in the chain of life. Each generation passes on
knowledge and wisdom to the next. As such, mentoring can be viewed as
a way one assures a measure of immortality. The life of each being is
finite. But through mentoring, knowledge, skills, visions and values can
live on indefinitely.
In this context, it can be said that mentoring imparts a sense of purpose in
a confusing and troubled world. And in doing so, provides an increased
sense of personal worth to the mentor.
3. Its Frustrations
Mentoring is not easy. It is not uncommon for the recipient to not want to
receive it. Think of trying to give wise advice to a teenager. Watch a dog
trying to shepherd her pups. Knowledge and wisdom may not be easily
accepted by youth.
So, gratification cannot be expected to come from the recipient. In fact,
quite the opposite. Yet mentoring endures.
4. Its Difficulties
Ultimately each of us is a product of what we have learned. Some of us
received excellent mentoring early in our agency careers. Some of us
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5. didn’t. So, individual experience with the practice of mentoring varies
widely.
And there is a lot of truth in the old saying that you cannot give away
something that you have not yet received. While mentoring is a learnable
skill, nothing beats the internalization that comes from direct experience
on the receiving end.
Thus, it is quite difficult for some to be able to embrace the concept of
mentoring, much less be effective at it.
The Cost of Mentoring
While most everyone believes that mentoring within an advertising agency is a
good thing, it is not without its cost. Mentoring takes commitment. And
mentoring takes time. Time of senior people that most likely can be used to
more immediate economic advantage on business development or paying client
work.
Thus, agencies are caught in a conundrum. Do you maximize immediate
revenue at the expense of developing talent for the future? Or do you forgo
some money today in order to build the future talent base?
Not easy questions. But clearly if agencies do not develop talent for the future
when other intellectual services businesses are spending heavily in that area the
role of advertising agencies in our society will surely decline.
“Après moi le déluge”
In the late 1700s as social unrest was increasing in France, Louis XV is reported
to have dismissed his advisors concerns about the country’s future with the
famous remark (translated) “After me, the flood.” It wasn’t long until that attitude
cost the French Monarchy their heads.
Could it be that a lot of today’s agency leaders are as myopic? Could it be that
they are sacrificing the future agency talent pool for immediate financial returns?
Or is it mostly just benign neglect?
These are certainly questions worth pondering.
Looking Ahead
“Ok” you say, “I had great mentors. And I want my young people to have great
mentors too. I believe that we should be investing more in our future talent. The
question I have is how to make more mentoring happen in my shop, without
busting the budget doing it?”
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6. So, what makes for an agency with a successful mentoring environment?
Five Pre-Conditions
Because mentoring is so personal and can flow so naturally, not many
organizations have formal, structured mentoring programs. And the “how to”
body of information, while rapidly growing, is still quite sketchy.
Yet when you examine those agencies where mentoring seems to thrive, at least
some of these five pre-conditions generally appear. They are:
1. Part of the Agency’s DNA
Mentoring is a bit like motherhood and the flag. Nobody is against it. But
it is not easy to culturally embed. As a result, many agencies say they
endorse and support mentoring. Yet only a few have made it an important
part of their DNA.
To have mentoring become integral with the agency’s culture it takes
significant commitment from the top. In fact, in agencies in which
mentoring is strong you almost always find senior leaders that are natural,
intuitive mentors themselves. They practice what they preach.
And there is nothing quite like leading by example.
2. The Agency is Populated by People With High Self-Esteem
A good mentor wants her charge to excel. Even exceed the capabilities of
the mentor. This takes people with strong self-belief. People that are not
at all threatened by having their young charge do better than they can.
Remember, like a good parent, the satisfaction of a good mentor comes
from the accomplishment of the individual being mentored. Thus, there is
never any loss of face when a young charge soars.
A sense of pride overwhelms any sense of threat.
3. Mentoring is Expected of those Capable of Doing So
As mentioned earlier, if someone has not been well mentored himself, it is
usually much more difficult for him to intuitively mentor others. So skill
levels in this area can be all over the place. Thus, it is probably unrealistic
to expect everyone to be a good mentor.
But the people who are naturally good mentors, and enjoy it, should be
encouraged to do it. Even more, they should be granted the time it
requires. And they should be rewarded, both psychically and financially
for it.
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7. There are lots of subtle ways of making this happen. Again, the
commitment of senior leaders is key to enabling and embedding this.
4. The Mentoring Process is Celebrated
Good agencies thrive on celebration. And celebration usually assures that
you will get more of what you are celebrating. Essentially, celebration is a
subtle, but very strong, signal from leadership that what is happening is
good. And desirable. And valuable.
Now this is not to suggest that there be mentoring parties. That would be
way too heavy-handed. But consistent recognition of those who mentor,
and the accomplishments of those whose skills improve because of
mentoring, is definitely in order.
This reinforces the entire culture of the agency and the value it places on
talent. And its relentless commitment to assuring that each individual
grows professionally. This in turn makes it much more likely that young
talent will be attracted and stay. And in turn, become positive
ambassadors of the agency’s culture within the community of their
external peers.
5. Resources are Available to Help Improve Mentoring Skills
Teaching mentoring from scratch is not easy. Most good mentors come to
it naturally. But, there are a growing number of tools that can make a
good mentor a great mentor.
Agencies in which mentoring thrives frequently underwrite courses, books,
workshops, seminars, etc. in which their mentors can improve their skills.
It is a proposition in which everyone wins.
Years from Now
Wouldn’t it be nice if years from now someone you mentored today wrote down
your name and set it aside. Then quietly reminisced about how you helped build
her successful career. And silently expressed a long simmering thank you.
Not a bad legacy to leave.
Copyright 2009 – Carlton Associates Incorporated
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