Apr 10, 2014 | coaching, critical thinking, leadership
Mentoring — while a popular buzz word in the halls of corporate America today — is actually a very old concept, referring to a teaching technique previously reserved for the few and the special. However, in response to the fast pace, intense competition and complexities of business, mentors and proteges alike, have significantly diluted the mentoring process into something that lacks the power, impact and effect it once implied. To reinvigorate your own mentoring program, and plan for its possibilities and limits, it’s critical that you approach the process through a different lens. Let’s start with a basic definition. Building an impactful mentoring program or being an effective mentor is a delicate dance, more complex than the standard, yet unofficial definition of the term, making mentorship synonymous with brain-dumping information, fixing people, or making connections. While leaders are often fine with the teaching / advising function of mentoring, the true impact is made when the mentor adopts the Indo-European derivation of the word, meaning “to think.” The best, most enduring gift Mentors can give their proteges is to get them to think. Effective mentors teach, yes, but more importantly, they question and challenge their protoges to deploy the knowledge they’ve gained, see patterns, connect the dots, make inferences and solve problems. If you’re reading this and your own mentoring relationship or mentorship program appears to lack the power and results you initially imagined, remember that the best, most sustainable, and most applicable learning is experiential. Encourage your leaders in mentoring roles to: Ask more questions; – Avoid being overly prescriptive – Expect the protoge’s interest, commitment and energy to match...
Jan 17, 2014 | critical thinking, gender roles in business, leadership, women
2015 Update: After reading this article below, take a peak at my updated article, “The ALL Gender Solution,” which you can find here. I refuse to allow the dtkunplugged digital presence to digress into a place of complaints absent solution, so I won’t go into how long I’ve been creating a blended leadership model to serve us well as we face the global realities of the 21st Century. However, it was in early 2013 when I started to hear my words return poignant echoes, with significant reach. And it has been gratifying to see the conversation finally getting out of the “yes, but” phase and into this “yes, and” phase, where progress can be made. While some may still be stuck in very old thinking and argue to the contrary, men and women are different. We have different wiring and different innate strengths, but the blending of the best of each will can only create something that’s better than the sum of the parts. This blended leadership model — which is an important part of what I call the Two-Gender Solution — has always been my objective in the work I do both individually and corporately. It’s what I believe will ultimately generate the best results all around. This new, men/women inclusive conversation is critical and it requires an inclusive vision from the top, especially in male-dominated industries and sectors. But, while engaging/recruiting evolved men in power is certainly key to initiating change, change will continue to be slow… Unless… We rightfully have trained a lot of attention on how we can better socialize our daughters to prepare them...
Aug 14, 2013 | coaching, critical thinking, leadership, Uncategorized
For my entire career, I have known that one of the most critical values I offer organizations is being able to marry the 10,000 foot, future-facing view with a boots on the ground approach. In a business world that works quarter to quarter, the larger, more contextual view is often lost, and with it — an organization’s ability to plan deliberately, work lean and succeed in the short and long term. So, I was relieved when I read Elaine Varelas’ article in Chief Learning Officer on June 3, 2013. She titled the article “How to Keep the Next Generation of Leaders“ and while I encourage you to read it at your leisure, her most applicable point — simplified — was the need for leaders who take a long-term view. I agree that this 10,000 foot view is critical for retaining talent, but it is equally critical for navigating change, shifting a culture, and maintaining (or building) profitability. I’ve included a snippet of my original comment to the author below, and would love your thoughts. What do you think businesses miss when they lead and manage by the quarter vs. taking this long-term approach? “We live in a time where the only thing that’s certain is uncertainty. Evolved leaders must know how to maintain and communicate vision and also be agile (and hubris-less) enough to course correct in real time, all while creating an engaged workforce.”–...
May 3, 2013 | leadership, women
One of the most common refrains I hear from my clients who are professional and executive women is that they aren’t being offered the proverbial “seat at the table.” In some cases, this is meant metaphorically and alludes to their wanting to be heard. Often, though, it’s meant quite literally, as they grouse about not being invited to meetings or other events they deem substantively or politically significant. This, they feel, is a huge roadblock to their being taken seriously, recognized for their contribution or given a try at the brass ring. That this is still an issue is remarkable, really, when you consider that women enter so many professions at parity with men and actually graduate college in greater numbers. Couple that with women’s enormous purchasing power, our core strengths now deemed critical for success in the 21st century and the demonstrated benefit companies derive from women’s serving on corporate boards. It’s astounding that we’re still waiting to be asked. The result: we occupy only 17 percent of the positions at the top. Seventeen percent, across industries and even in Congress. So, what’s happening? Women are either not putting themselves in the mix or are bailing, that’s what. For some, it’s to do the noble work of raising a family. Some go back, some don’t — their choice. But for many others, bailing represents a real and ready escape, just at the point in their careers when they should persevere. I know. I bailed. But why? After awhile, the frustration of not getting the seat, and more to the point, of not dealing with what’s really in the...
Dani Ticktin Koplik —
Leadership consultant, executive coach, change agent and passionate professional development expert and speaker. You can learn more about Dani and her clients by visiting dtkBio page. 