Bruce Staley

Mentoring Tool # 4 - Transitions This illustration captures the experience of a person in the midst of a major transition such as redundancy, change of job, change of location, etc. The diagram powerfully identifies the elements and stages of the person’s situation. It also provides encouragement by helping the person recognise that what they are experiencing is a normal part of adjusting to major transitions. Once the experience is clarified and acknowledged then the person is more open to developing an action plan that will help the person move forward in character and capacity as they make the transition. This illustration is adapted from Kath Donovan’s book, Growing Through Stress , which I mentioned with Mentoring Tool #1. As the title of the book suggests the illustration is useful when a person is clearly stressing as a result of their circumstances. I generally take my time while I’m sketching the diagram to maximise the impact. I use words beginning w...

Mentoring Tool # 4 - Transitions This illustration captures the experience of a person in the midst of a major transition such as redundancy, change of job, change of location, etc. The diagram powerfully identifies the elements and stages of the person’s situation. It also provides encouragement by helping the person recognise that what they are experiencing is a normal part of adjusting to major transitions. Once the experience is clarified and acknowledged then the person is more open to developing an action plan that will help the person move forward in character and capacity as they make the transition. This illustration is adapted from Kath Donovan’s book, Growing Through Stress , which I mentioned with Mentoring Tool #1. As the title of the book suggests the illustration is useful when a person is clearly stressing as a result of their circumstances. I generally take my time while I’m sketching the diagram to maximise the impact. I use words beginnin...

Mentoring Tool #3 The time management matrix developed by Stephen Covey is another powerful mentoring tool. Essentially time management is a misnomer, the real issue is managing oneself. Time cannot be managed, each of us is given one day at a time to live. We decide how we are going to use each day. The matrix as shown provides a valuable focus for a mentoring discussion particularly around the QUALITY quadrant. The matrix can be sketched on a piece of paper or on a paper serviette around coffee. Organising around the QUALITY quadrant involves four decisive actions: 1. Identifying your key roles 2. Selecting two or three important goals related to each of these roles 3. Scheduling time in the week ahead to achieve the goals 4. Adapting daily A fifth decisive action is delegation. Effective delegation is a high-leverage action. It opens up growth opportunities for people and the organisation. Adapted from Stephen R Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989, The Business Libr...

Mentoring Tool #3 The time management matrix developed by Stephen Covey is another powerful mentoring tool. Essentially time management is a misnomer, the real issue is managing oneself. Time cannot be managed, each of us is given one day at a time to live. We decide how we are going to use each day. The matrix as shown provides a valuable focus for a mentoring discussion particularly around the QUALITY quadrant. The matrix can be sketched on a piece of paper or on a paper serviette around coffee. Organising around the QUALITY quadrant involves four decisive actions: 1. Identifying your key roles 2. Selecting two or three important goals related to each of these roles 3. Scheduling time in the week ahead to achieve the goals 4. Adapting daily A fifth decisive action is delegation. Effective delegation is a high-leverage action. It opens up growth opportunities for people and the organisation. Adapted from Stephen R Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989, The Business Libr...

Mentoring Tool #2 This next illustration is a powerful tool to capture and convey the essence of the experience of a person under stress. The illustration, which is based on a spiral, can be used in conjunction with Mentoring Tool #1 or on its own. Step One: After listening to the the person’s situation I ask if I can sketch out what I think they are experiencing. The pictorial appearance of their experience generally generates further discussion and verification that the sketch is an accurate reflection… Step Two: I pause for a few moments then ask, ”What would it take for you to breakout of the spiral?” and insert the arrow breaking out of the spiral. Again it is important to pause and not offer solutions rather allow time for the person to suggest their own ways of breaking the cycle… The interesting aspect of this illustration is that while the downward spiral may have occurred over time once an action plan has been identi...

Mentoring Tool #2 This next illustration is a powerful tool to capture and convey the essence of the experience of a person under stress. The illustration, which is based on a spiral, can be used in conjunction with Mentoring Tool #1 or on its own. Step One: After listening to the the person’s situation I ask if I can sketch out what I think they are experiencing. The pictorial appearance of their experience generally generates further discussion and verification that the sketch is an accurate reflection… Step Two: I pause for a few moments then ask, ”What would it take for you to breakout of the spiral?” and insert the arrow breaking out of the spiral. Again it is important to pause and not offer solutions rather allow time for the person to suggest their own ways of breaking the cycle… The interesting aspect of this illustration is that while the downward spiral may have occurred over time once an action plan has bee...

MENTORING TOOL # 1 I have found it helpful to build up a tool kit of illustrations in my consulting work with people in leadership and management. My view is that management responsibility provides is an arena where the character of people is tested, revealed and shaped. Therefore the responsibility of the mentor extends to facilitating character and capacity building. Character and capacity are inter-related in terms of the management and leadership function. The power of mentoring illustrations is in their simplicity. Their purpose is to capture and convey the essence of the manager’s or leader’s experience at the time. Once the experience is clarified and acknowledged then an action plan can be developed to help the person move forward in character and capacity. Some of the illustrations I will mention in the coming weeks have been adapted from other sources and where possible I will acknowledge the source. This first illustration is adapted from Kath Donovan’s book, Growing Through...