Why you need a mentor to help you succeed as a leader

In the soft autumn sunshine last week at Gleneagles, before the first tee-shot of the 2014 Ryder Cup had been hit, the European team captain Paul McGinley deployed his first weapon. It was an unexpected one. Back in his native Scotland Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, appeared in the dressing room and gave a characteristically rousing team talk. It left Rory McIlroy, Europe's star player, in a self-confessed "trance". Later, after Europe's American opponents had been smoothly despatched, McGinley's ploy was hailed as a masterstroke of organisation. A young generation had been inspired to victory by a wily old warhorse who knew, far better than anyone else, how to win a sporting contest.

McGinley's tactic in the sporting world mirrored what is happening in businesses across Britain. Older employees, highly regarded for their leadership skills, are increasingly being used as mentors for a younger generation.

Mentoring is particularly prevalent in graduate schemes, where talented recruits are paired with experienced managers who help them tackle scenarios and set goals as they climb the professional ladder. Mentoring takes various shapes. It could be one-on-one or in groups; extensive week-long bursts or long-term initiatives. They not only pass knowledge down from one generation to another, but also keep young recruits feeling invested in the business. When M&S noticed that a high proportion of graduates were resigning after finishing their programme they implemented a mentoring scheme. It involved senior managers mentoring recent graduates and it resulted in a 70% drop in graduate resignations and an increase in internal appointments to senior roles.

But not all mentoring schemes are so successful. Derek Bardowell of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, who has managed mentor programmes in the past, has a word of caution: "Many people do it [mentoring] quite badly. They think that you can toss two people together. One happens to be doing well in their career, the other is young and aspiring. The idea is that they will click. But it should be a lot more nuanced than that. Much more tailored to the person."

If the mentor and mentee do not click, the result can be a costly waste of time and money. For Clare Astley, who works as a MBA professional development manager at Cass Business School, more young professionals should take control of the situation themselves. "It's good to find your own mentor," Astley says. "You can go onto LinkedIn and find someone who is doing the job that you want to do. If you give them a good introduction, perhaps go for a coffee with them, and be honest with them, perhaps they might be open to taking you on."

This idea of using social networks to pinpoint prospective mentors is something new. For Astley it is a valuable channel that not enough young workers are exploiting. "Not enough people do it," she says. "People think that it is off limits so they don't even consider it as an option. But people do enjoy passing their knowledge on. It's all about doing it the right way though."

For Sarah Wallis using social media to find a mentor has been a positive experience. She had been working as a playwright in Leeds for a year when she saw a link on Twitter, advertising The WoMentoring Project, an initiative set up to help women in publishing.

"At the time I was a bit disillusioned," Wallis says. "I felt I was banging my head against a brick wall. But I had a look at the website. I saw that the novelist Julie Mayhew was offering mentoring on radio writing and I applied."

Wallis was taken on by Mayhew for a three-hour package of mentoring. "The first hour was on the phone," Wallis explains. "We talked about what I wanted from the mentoring and then she invited me down to Maida Vale to listen to her latest radio play being recorded. I spent the whole day there. We got on very well and I met her producer. In the end she read four of my scripts. I would have been happy if she had read one."

For Wallis the mentoring has had a positive effect on her career. "Julie was someone who was open to my experience, someone who has made it through the brick wall."

For Clare Astley, Wallis' experience through social media is a template for what others can hope to achieve. Astley thinks that something as simple as sending a LinkedIn message or replying to a single tweet can spark a long professional relationship. "The mentoring could continue for a year, perhaps more if you are looking to move into a leadership position," she says. "It depends on what the mentor and mentee want, but it can become a close, intimate, long-term relationship, and a great advantage in your career."

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