Growing Others
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
Effective leaders grow their team members into more competent professionals.
There are a lot of ways to do this, of course. And one that works particularly well is the “job shadow” approach.
You can bring a younger professional along with you on a client call. Give them a heads-up in advance and communicate your expectations, so that they can be prepared. The instructions might be, “Wear business attire; shake hands with everyone in the conference room when I do; sit and observe; please do NOT jump in to answer any questions.”
Observing a client meeting gives them a template for the interpersonal aspects of your business. They can reference this template when they need to do something like this in the future. In addition, you can use the travel time to and from as “mentoring time,” answering their questions and explaining more of the business, or you can get them talking about their professional aspirations and have a discussion about their career development. Or you might talk about movies/music/sports, which would still build connection.
After a few “just watch quietly” sessions, you might give the junior staffer a small role in a presentation—with well-defined boundaries such as, “When we go there next Thursday, I’ll ask you to explain this part of the project. Use non-technical language and keep it to 3-5 minutes.”
As they grow in confidence and competence—and as they develop rapport with the clients—you might choose to give them larger roles in these meetings. You might get to the point where you make them the primary presenter, while you come along to have their backs.
You can make sure that everyone on your team has the chance to do this—don’t play favorites with the initial “shadow” opportunities. Some people will adapt to the new client-facing role and ask for more, while some will not want more interaction with clients. Bring your “rising stars” into the more active client roles more intentionally, so that you are presenting your best face to the clients and fast-tracking the top performers for career advancement.
(image source: https://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/leadership-quotes-for-inspiration/)