By Ellie Eckhoff | Vice President
Part of my role at ClearRock is strategic business development. Over the years I have had mentors that have helped me develop the skills to do my job effectively. As the Mentoring Marketing Chair for The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), I have been able to pay it forward by helping to mentor other business women.
In the ten years that HBA has offered mentoring, over 800 women have worked together to discover how opportunities and challenges in their careers today encourage them to set career goals for tomorrow and take real steps to achieve their goals.
In 2015 we kicked off a program titled, “Leaders as Multipliers.” The groups received the book Multipliers-How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman.
Throughout the eight month program, the Mentor Circles discovered just how powerful mentoring is as a multiplier of talent. Through peer coaching and mentoring, over 100 women benefited from the advice and experiences of their peers.
The HBA developed a Competency Framework that lines up well with the disciplines of Multipliers. For example, one characteristic of the multiplier leader is being a Challenger; someone who makes people stretch … HBA calls this “facilitating change.” One of the best things mentoring can do is to lay down a challenge and generate a belief in what is possible. Here are a few other examples of HBA Competencies as having a Multiplier Effect:
Business and Industry Acumen: One mentee admitted that until she participated in the program, she didn’t realize that knowing how her business operated was as important as being a scientific expert, especially when looking to be promoted. She learned with her group when and how this plays a role in a successful career. She decided not to pursue a MBA, but is taking classes and leading work projects that compliment her scientific knowledge with strong business acumen … a winning combination.
Determined to Achieve: Testimonials were shared about how conversations with mentoring groups resulted in tactical plans and concrete ideas for delivering on goals and navigating change. A show of hands demonstrated that a dozen new jobs or promotions resulted from this year’s work.
Builds New Relationships and Teams: A discipline of a multiplier is being a Talent Magnet. A number of participants put effort and focus in expanding their networks. Many learned to build mutually beneficial relationships. One person was told by someone not on her team, “I want to work with you because you know how to develop talent.”
Fosters Innovation: As groups work together, trust develops, and this leads to innovative and personal development.The ability to have deep conversations, ask hard questions and challenge one another results in broader thinking and more confident decision-making. One mentee mentioned that the mentors challenged her to “Lean In” when she unintentionally was considering leaning out.
Find out more here about the HBA Boston Chapter Mentor Program.
