The 7 E’s of Mentor Leadership

I recently finished reading Tony Dungy’s book, The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently. It gave me new insight on what it means to be a Mentor Leader and how to effectively go about influencing lives for the greater good.

Tony defines Mentor leaders as individuals that seek to have a direct, intentional, and positive impact on those they lead. He went on to say that “At its core, mentoring is about building character into the lives of others, modeling and teaching attitudes and behaviors, and creating a constructive legacy to be passed along to future generations of leaders.”

I’ve had multiple opportunities to be both a mentor and a mentee. As such, I can appreciate the topics covered from both ends of the spectrum and agree with the support that mentees need and what mentors need to be conscience of. The biggest take away from his book was definitely the 7 E’s of Mentor Leadership, which are Engage, Educate, Equip, Encourage, Empower, Energize and Elevate.

 

Engage – It’s impossible to mentor from a distance. Building relationships with the people around you is imperative for having a positive effect on their lives. As a Mentor Leader, we have to walk alongside those we lead, and love every step of it.

Educate – Mentor leadership is all about helping others become the best they can be, it is the built on a foundation of teaching, helping and guiding. I was reminded of how important and effective taking a hands-on, one-on-one approach is in making that difference in a person’s life.

Equip – In essence, as mentor leaders, we need to ensure that an individual is physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared to accomplish a given task. Often times people are thrown into situations and expected to “swim”.  This one goes hand in hand with Educate. We not only have to provide the tools that they need to be successful, but also show them how to use it.

Encourage – Encouragement is the fuel that powers our efforts to engage, educate, and equip. People need affirmation and encouragement. Saying “Good Job” or acknowledging someone’s efforts, simply put, make them feel good.

Empower – True empowerment is preparation followed by appropriate freedom. At some point you have to let your mentee loose and watch them do their job.

Energize – Great leaders energize, motivate and inspire those they lead.

Elevate – The ultimate goal of every mentor leader is to build and grow other leaders for long-term, sustainable success. This was one of the biggest E’s I took to heart. In many of the relationships that I have provided some form of mentorship, I’ve challenged individuals to strive for excellence in the same way I did. The problem with that was that I didn’t challenge them to surpass me. To elevate your peers means to help them reach their God-given potential, even if it means preparing them to replace you. 

This coolest thing about being a mentor leader, is witnessing the success of the people you’ve elevated. It’s not about getting credit; it’s about helping everyone be the best they can be. A friend of mine once told me “It’s your journey, I’m just along for the ride.” In the same sense, we all need to buckle up and enjoy the ride. 

Like many elements in life, there is always a deliberate effort or approach that yields great results and creates that difference. Mentoring is no exception, it has to be deliberate. We need to Engage with those that we are blessed to lead. Once we’ve engaged them, we’re able to Educate and Equip them. Throughout that process, it is essential that we Encourage, Empower, and Energize in order to finally Elevate the people around us.