What makes any mentoring program successful, no matter the size of your company, is this: “A mentorship program needs to have a path to leadership or advancement for the mentees.” That’s what I told writer Katie Morell of American Express Open Forum in a recent article.

Here I would add, the path to advancement needs to be just as clear for the mentors as well. Once you have built that into the design, and back it up with tangible results, your program will be highly regarded by your employees. They will compete to be involved.

In the beginning, though, you can follow some simple steps to start things off in the right direction. Read more here.

I have talked about this distinction so often. In a February posting on Talent Management, writer Valerie Pelan summarizes the work of authors Mark David Nevins and Stephen A. Stumpf who state that talented human capital will be the prime ingredient of future business success. I couldn’t agree more!

They assert that one way current leaders can support future leaders is to commit to an organizational culture that values mentorship and coaching and includes constructive and timely feedback. Coaching is about strategizing ways to handle situations; mentoring is about providing guidance.

Read more at Talent Management.

Recently, I had an a wonderful conversation with Audrey Shah of MO.com. We talked about how I started Odyssey Mentoring & Leadership, my take on the distinction between competent and great leadership and I shared one of the mentoring stories from my upcoming book, “Aspire to Go Higher: Get a Mentor, Be A Mentor,” due out at the end of August.

From the Interview:
“The best leaders should be expected to identify and cultivate leaders and peak performers to keep the organization growing and successful. When I interviewed Sarah Mensah, Chief Marketing Officer of the Portland Trail Blazers for my book, she could point to major turning points throughout her career where mentoring helped her to grow and develop. I live in Portland and often run into members of her staff, they all tell me that Sarah maintains a culture of mentoring that makes them feel honored to work with her. They know they have a future and that they are valued. That is the secret to high employee engagement and productivity.”

“I was lucky because Bob was a natural mentor and sponsor. He was a professional colleague who readily stepped up to become my mentor. This is clearly the ideal of informal mentoring. Bob and I had been working together on a project for the chamber for two years. We met through our jobs, but didn’t work for the same companies. Our relationship began as a situational acquaintance and over time warmed into a collegial friendship and then mentoring.”

To read more click here.

Who will I acknowledge so they feel appreciated down to their toes?

What makes a leader effective? Sound decision-making, knowing how to manage people, taking charge, and inspiring others to achieve goals are a few of the qualities. But helping others develop their full potential is also an integral part of successful leadership.

According to a new Catalyst report, mentoring pays off for both emerging talent and those who invest time in cultivating them. And high-potential talent who have been mentored, coached, or sponsored to advance in their careers are more likely to “pay it forward” by developing the next generation of leaders.

Paying it forward pays back: For both mentees and mentors, we see tangible career advancement. Most exciting is that for mentors and sponsors we see serious compensation growth — up to $25,075 in additional compensation between 2008 and 2010, say the report’s authors.

Why? It may just be that developing emerging talent creates more visibility and a following within the organization for the high-potentials who are doing the developing, and that leads to greater reward and recognition for the extra effort.

Women, the report finds, are even more likely than men to develop other talent. Sixty-five percent of women who received career development support are now developing new talent, compared to 56 percent of men. Seventy-three percent of the women developing new talent are developing women, compared to only 30 percent of men. This finding helps bust the often-cited “Queen Bee” myth that women are reluctant to provide career support to other women and may even actively undermine each other.

Overall, the report finds that high-potentials who are paying it forward today recognize that others once took a risk on them and gave them their chance—and now it’s their turn. The men and women who are more likely to be developing others:

• Received developmental support (59%) vs. those who did not (47%).
• Were sponsored (66%) as opposed to not receiving sponsorship (42%).
• Are in senior executive/CEO level positions (64%) vs. those at non-managerial levels (30%).
• Are more proactive when it comes to their own career advancement (63%) vs. those who are relatively inactive (42%) with regard to their own career advancement.

The report poses key questions for companies to consider. For instance: How is your organization creating a culture of learning and talent development? What will motivate your talent to “pay it forward” to the next generation of leaders? How can more men be encouraged to develop women at their organizations? How can organizations disarm stigmas about spending time with the opposite sex at work?

Mentorship and Leadership training can increase the numbers of high producers and potentials who can and will be effective mentors and sponsors in your organization.

Access the Study at Catalyst

What is important enough to require my complete focus? Will I choose it?

Will I use the small victories that happen every day to outweigh the few that go wrong, that I magnify & chew on too long?

What is fairness? Is it honor, integrity, equality, or beauty? & if life isn’t fair, can we be fair with each other?

Do deadlines empower me or not? If not, what will I do to shift my perspective?

What am I making more important than keeping my word or taking another step toward my goal?