In my last post, I shared one of my 8 leadership lessons about “listening to your Senior NCO.” The Senior NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) is that person you can depend on to tell you the truth about what’s going on in the business and has their finger on the pulse of the organization, whoever that might be for you. This piece of advice is relevant in any organization, not just the military. One of the biggest mistakes an Executive can make is assuming they know it all. I certainly don’t, and I know that every organization has that “Senior NCO” who knows the business inside and out.
I figured I’d keep rolling and share another from my list of 8 leadership lessons.
“Find a mentor”
I got this advice a long time ago when I was a young leader early in my corporate career. The advice was not only to FIND a mentor, but to INVEST time in that relationship whether I needed anything from that person or not. Don’t wait until you need a job. Don’t wait until you have a problem to call your mentor. Meet with them as much as they will let you and pick their brain. Ask them what’s going on in their world. Learn from the things they’re dealing with. The “gray hair factor” is real. I didn’t use to think so, but then I realized: How do you think it got that color?
These 2 men were my mentors.
Dick Schulte was a former CEO-turned-executive coach and taught me the art of self-awareness. He taught me how to know my blind spots as a person and how to “show up” as a leader the right way. I didn’t always do it right, but I knew when I got away from my base. I got the gift of hiring him as part of our team at Optiv for a few years. It was amazing getting to work with my mentor in the same business, not just as an advisor. I miss my coffees and long talks with him. God rest his soul.
John Kelley took me under his wing years ago and taught me the art of connection. He was, and still is, a master at connecting with people on a personal level. It didn’t come naturally to me, so I had to work at it. Leadership is all about connecting with other people: getting to know their story, their family, what makes them tick. Our 3-hour coffee meetings always left me feeling like I was the most important person on the planet, even though John regularly met with high-powered people in high places. I was a peon…. but John always made me feel like I was one of those high-powered people. He was genuinely curious about what was going on in my life, and he remains that way today.
I am a better leader and human for having these 2 men as my mentors.
Who’s yours?