Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Mentor

Tom had a mentor before the term was popular.

The mentor was a high-ranking executive in a large organization and Tom, being a well-educated and ambitious young manager in the same firm, had much in common with his advisor. They both were athletic and liked the outdoors and their personality similarities were in no way feigned. The word soon shot through the workplace grapevine: "Don't cross Tom. He has a protector."

I never saw any indication that the warning had merit - Tom's opponents in the arena of organizational politics encountered no retaliation - but the flip side of the warning seemed to have greater credibility. Tom's career began to take off.

Special assignments came up and Tom got them. These were jobs in which a person could demonstrate various management skills and Tom, to his credit, did well. He was conscientious and thoughtful and upper management was pleased with his work.

Outside of the inner circle, however, Tom had been labeled a golden boy and that perception devalued each of his achievements. It was so much easier to assume any evaluation of his work had been preordained and that no one would dare to give an honest assessment because of the long reach of the mentor. Some felt the mentor's weaknesses were reflected in Tom.

Tom didn't realize it, but he was acquiring a sizable group of passive enemies. These weren't enemies in the actively vicious sense; they wouldn't go out of their way to harm Tom. But neither would they attempt to help him. Many felt that Tom had cheated them out of some choice assignments and they looked forward to the moment when he would stumble.

And then one day the mentor unexpectedly died.

For a while, conditions didn't change. Tom continued in his job and his level of performance seemed steady. Within the year though, it was clear that the golden boy was no longer golden. The career-boosting assignments no longer arrived. People "forgot" to invite him to meetings. The word began to go around: "Tom was overrated all along. He really isn't as bright as we all thought."

And some of us wondered, "Is that true or is the sudden change because the mentor died?"

He left the organization two years later.

2 comments:

Eclecticity said...

"Coaches have favorites."

Who will/should a coach give the most time to? Those that don't support him/her? Those that don't try. Those that don't give their all? Those that think they don't have anything to learn?

"Coaches Have Favorites" was on a large sign that graced the locker room of a high school swim team. A former colleague's son was on that team and he knew what it meant.

Michael Wade said...

Absolutely. I don't think I'd put that on a sign because favoritism can also be based on things that have nothing to do with whether or not kids hustle or are supportive. I've seen teams in which some of the best performers, according to the hard numbers, were unrecognized by the coach because they were quiet or shy and didn't fit the image of a top performing player. Tom was in a bind. He truly liked the mentor and worked hard in every job he got. The only recommendation I would give him would be, "The situation means that you need to pay more, not less, attention to building alliances elsewhere. Neutralize any favoritism concerns."