Iron Sharpens Iron: The importance of mentoring

Iron Sharpens Iron: The importance of mentoring

By Bob Tousey, MBA, MACM

           When we think of mentorship the biblical verse that often comes to mind is Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) which teaches that “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”. For teams to be strong it is important for senior members of the team to take time to share their experience and wisdom with junior team members. For this to work it is equally important for the junior members to be humble enough to accept the guidance of their mentors.

            The power of mentorship can be seen in Exodus 18:13-22 (NIV). In this passage Moses father in law, Jethro, observed Moses hearing disputes of the people from morning until evening. When Jethro inquired why he was spending so much time hearing these disputes, Moses replied these people have come to me to seek God’s will. Jethro admonished Moses that this was not good, it was too heavy a burden and would wear him out. Jethro then goes on to advise him to find other capable and trustworthy people and allow them to hear the minor disputes pointing out this would free Moses to hear the more difficult disputes. This advice resulted in disputes being heard in a timelier fashion and Moses did not wear himself out by hearing all the disputes himself. Moses was humble enough to follow the advice of his father in law and adopted the system he suggested. 

In a future post I will discuss the importance of delegation as I see too many leaders who fail in this task but today, I will focus on the importance of mentorship which is a valuable developmental tool. Early in my career I was taught that the first responsibility of every leader is to groom his or her successor. This is what keeps an organization healthy and when done properly allows for an orderly succession plan, which prevents chaos when a leader leaves the organization because there is already someone ready and able to fill the outgoing leader’s shoes. It also helps the organization grow. As the more junior members of the organization grow through mentorship, they can begin to assume more responsibilities which free up the senior members of the team to spread their wings a bit by taking on other new and innovative tasks, which can improve the organizations overall effectiveness.

            Too often I see organizations stagnate because of the lack of growth and worse yet fall apart when a leader suddenly leaves and there is no one ready to assume the mantel of leadership. It is important to prepare for the unexpected as it can occur. We must remember that leaders can be tempted away from an organization with more lucrative offers and even if they are not, they can become disabled and or worse yet die suddenly. When this happens there is a big hole to fill when no one has been groomed to take over. So, begin now. Mentor the next generation of leaders. This will keep your organization healthy and more effective for many years to come.