How reverse mentorship can help create better leaders

Employee diversity and inclusive leadership are goals for most organizations today, but how do we get there? Try a "reverse mentorship" program, which sets up junior team members to guide senior staff. Here are 6 tips to make reverse mentorship work, from executive coach and personal development advocate Patrice Gordon.

We've always thought of mentoring

as the older generation
passing down wisdom to the young,

but there's a huge benefit
to flipping that around

and allowing the novice
to teach the master.

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The workforce currently consists
of up to five generations

and it's becoming more diverse

across all spectrums
of underrepresented groups.

But that change
is not arriving nearly as fast

in C-suites and in boardrooms.

Which means there's a growing gap

between leaders and their people

in regards to their
perspectives and experiences.

Our organizations can fall
right through that gap

into the trap of stale
thinking, blind spots

and having policies that could alienate

these underrepresented groups,

not only in regards to age,

race or gender,

but all different kinds of viewpoints.

Reverse mentoring could be an antidote
to that tunnel vision.

But making reverse mentoring work,

isn't as simple as finding a mentor

and pressing go.

You have to be genuinely curious

about learning from that individual.

And you have to be intentional
about the relationship

in order to make it valuable.

I know this because I was asked

just a year into my career
at Virgin Atlantic

to be the first ever reverse mentor

to mentor CEO Craig Kreeger.

I'd met Craig a few times

and presented to him in meetings,

but this, it was a whole
different ball game.

Craig had revealed
that he had no black women

in his inner circle

and he was keen
to understand my perspective

on how to build a more inclusive
culture at Virgin Atlantic.

No pressure.

Here's what I learned

about how to make reverse mentoring work.

Lesson one, make your match thoughtfully.

Find someone who has a pulse

on the key spokespeople
in the organization

to help you make your match.

This doesn't have to be
someone in human resources,

just someone who knows you
and your teams well,

because chemistry really matters.

The VP of people experience chose me

because I was open to sharing my ideas

and also my enthusiasm
for leadership development.

Also make sure

that your mentor isn't a direct report
or part of your team,

because it will be really difficult
to elicit honest feedback

from someone who you also have to review

at the end of the year.

If you're in finance,

find someone creative in marketing,

or if you're in engineering,
find someone in customer service.

This will ensure
that you develop perspectives

from outside of your immediate team

and different perspectives
make better leaders.

Lesson two,

to make things simple,
set some ground rules.

The first meeting should be offsite
in a neutral location.

If you're the mentee,
you should set the agenda.

What is it that you really want to learn?

Maybe you'd like to understand

your mentor's career journey

or perhaps whether
they've had any major obstacles

they've had to overcome,

or maybe you'd like to understand

how specific company policies impact them

either directly or indirectly.

Agree that your conversations together

will be confidential

and whether there are any topics
which are off limits,

such as family life

or specific feedback on individuals.

Lesson three, start with an icebreaker.

I like to think of this

as a long elevator pitch
of your life stories.

Who are you?

Poignant moments in your life.

What are your hopes and dreams?

Pivot to seek differences
and not similarities

because that's the real power
of reverse mentoring.

Craig and I found

that we had formative
experiences in common.

Both of us immigrants,

him a second generation
growing up in the US

and myself first generation

arriving in the UK from Jamaica

at the age of three.

But from there,

our stories are quite different.

Lesson four, beware of role reversion.

There were a few times in our conversation

where Craig slipped
into giving me career advice.

And I had to say,
"Craig this is really interesting

and I'd love to come back to this later,

but in our limited time together,

is there anything else you'd
like to understand from me?"

Now this was quite hard,

but you have to remember that as a mentor

for this very short period of time,

your insights are actually more valuable
to the organization.

Lesson five, make time for reflection.

Agree the key takeaways
from each of the sessions,

either at the end
or through follow-up email

and schedule your sessions

to allow time between for reflection.

We found that three to four weeks
provided a great rhythm.

And finally,

give credit where credit's due.

In the traditional mentoring relationship

the mentor isn't expected
to be given credit.

However, in reverse mentoring

where the mentee actually
holds a lot of the power

accurate credit really counts.

Forward-thinking organizations

use reverse mentoring as one of the tools

to help them build
a more inclusive environment.

And studies have shown

that when organizations
embrace reverse mentoring

members of those underrepresented groups

feel more confident
in sharing their perspectives.

And when accompanied
by a comprehensive diversity

and inclusion strategy,

it leads to higher retention
amongst these groups.

Personally, I found

that my reverse mentoring
relationship with Craig

enabled me to have a sense
of ownership and leadership

in building an inclusive
culture at Virgin.

And for Craig, it showed

that even when you're
at the pinnacle of your career,

there's still more you can learn.