How reverse mentorship can help create better leaders | The Way We Work, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Ivana Korom

We've always thought of mentoring

as the older generation passing down wisdom to the young,

but there's a huge benefit to flipping that around

and allowing the novice to teach the master.

[The Way We Work]

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The workforce currently consists of up to five generations

and it's becoming more diverse

across all spectrums of underrepresented groups.

But that change is not arriving nearly as fast

in C-suites and in boardrooms.

Which means there's a growing gap

between leaders and their people

in regards to their perspectives and experiences.

Our organizations can fall right through that gap

into the trap of stale thinking, blind spots

and having policies that could alienate

these underrepresented groups,

not only in regards to age,

race or gender,

but all different kinds of viewpoints.

Reverse mentoring could be an antidote to that tunnel vision.

But making reverse mentoring work,

isn't as simple as finding a mentor

and pressing go.

You have to be genuinely curious

about learning from that individual.

And you have to be intentional about the relationship

in order to make it valuable.

I know this because I was asked

just a year into my career at Virgin Atlantic

to be the first ever reverse mentor

to mentor CEO Craig Kreeger.

I'd met Craig a few times

and presented to him in meetings,

but this, it was a whole different ball game.

Craig had revealed that he had no black women

in his inner circle

and he was keen to understand my perspective

on how to build a more inclusive culture at Virgin Atlantic.

No pressure.

Here's what I learned

about how to make reverse mentoring work.

Lesson one, make your match thoughtfully.

Find someone who has a pulse

on the key spokespeople in the organization

to help you make your match.

This doesn't have to be someone in human resources,

just someone who knows you and your teams well,

because chemistry really matters.

The VP of people experience chose me

because I was open to sharing my ideas

and also my enthusiasm for leadership development.

Also make sure

that your mentor isn't a direct report or part of your team,

because it will be really difficult to elicit honest feedback

from someone who you also have to review

at the end of the year.

If you're in finance,

find someone creative in marketing,

or if you're in engineering, find someone in customer service.

This will ensure that you develop perspectives

from outside of your immediate team

and different perspectives make better leaders.

Lesson two,

to make things simple, set some ground rules.

The first meeting should be offsite in a neutral location.

If you're the mentee, you should set the agenda.

What is it that you really want to learn?

Maybe you'd like to understand

your mentor's career journey

or perhaps whether they've had any major obstacles

they've had to overcome,

or maybe you'd like to understand

how specific company policies impact them

either directly or indirectly.

Agree that your conversations together

will be confidential

and whether there are any topics which are off limits,

such as family life

or specific feedback on individuals.

Lesson three, start with an icebreaker.

I like to think of this

as a long elevator pitch of your life stories.

Who are you?

Poignant moments in your life.

What are your hopes and dreams?

Pivot to seek differences and not similarities

because that's the real power of reverse mentoring.

Craig and I found

that we had formative experiences in common.

Both of us immigrants,

him a second generation growing up in the US

and myself first generation

arriving in the UK from Jamaica

at the age of three.

But from there,

our stories are quite different.

Lesson four, beware of role reversion.

There were a few times in our conversation

where Craig slipped into giving me career advice.

And I had to say, "Craig this is really interesting

and I'd love to come back to this later,

but in our limited time together,

is there anything else you'd like to understand from me?"

Now this was quite hard,

but you have to remember that as a mentor

for this very short period of time,

your insights are actually more valuable to the organization.

Lesson five, make time for reflection.

Agree the key takeaways from each of the sessions,

either at the end or through follow-up email

and schedule your sessions

to allow time between for reflection.

We found that three to four weeks provided a great rhythm.

And finally,

give credit where credit's due.

In the traditional mentoring relationship

the mentor isn't expected to be given credit.

However, in reverse mentoring

where the mentee actually holds a lot of the power

accurate credit really counts.

Forward-thinking organizations

use reverse mentoring as one of the tools

to help them build a more inclusive environment.

And studies have shown

that when organizations embrace reverse mentoring

members of those underrepresented groups

feel more confident in sharing their perspectives.

And when accompanied by a comprehensive diversity

and inclusion strategy,

it leads to higher retention amongst these groups.

Personally, I found

that my reverse mentoring relationship with Craig

enabled me to have a sense of ownership and leadership

in building an inclusive culture at Virgin.

And for Craig, it showed

that even when you're at the pinnacle of your career,

there's still more you can learn.