The Case To The Line Manager

It is surprising how little attention is paid to the line manager as a stakeholder in the mentoring relationship, yet he or she can make or break it. All too often line managers only see the downsides of having a direct report mentored - the mentee will be taking more time away from his or her work for mentoring meetings, and what are they saying about me? The latter is a very valid concern. As a good working estimate, at least 90 per cent of mentoring pairs spend some time discussing the mentee's relationship with his or her boss. This seems to hold broadly true at all levels, from new recruit at the lowest levels to chief executive.

Where the line manager sees the positives, however, it benefits everyone. When the mentee can discuss relationships with his or her boss and other working colleagues within the mentoring meeting, it allows the mentee to put his or her own and other people's behaviour and expectations into perspective. The mentee develops, with the mentor's help, better strategies for tackling issues around these relationships. If the mentee has a difficult conversation to initiate, he or she can practise it first with the mentor. As a result, relationships between the line manager and the mentee, and between the mentee and other colleagues, can be substantially improved.

The line manager also has access to a second opinion. If he or she feels the mentee is not understanding or committing to something important, the line manager can recommend the mentee to take it up with his or her mentor. It sometimes happens that the line manager sees this as a great opportunity to dump all that troublesome development stuff on someone else. This is a wasted opportunity that could be used for investing more time in the coaching role and raising the performance of the whole team.