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

Translator: María Suárez Seijas Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

Sempre pensamos que a mentoría

as the older generation passing down wisdom to the young,

é trasladar coñecementos dos máis vellos aos novos,

but there's a huge benefit to flipping that around

pero hai un gran beneficio en darlle a volta

and allowing the novice to teach the master.

e permitir que o novato lle ensine ao mestre.

[The Way We Work]

[Como traballamos]

[Made possible with the support of Dropbox]

[Patrocinado por Dropbox]

The workforce currently consists of up to five generations

Os traballadores proveñen de ata cinco xeracións

and it's becoming more diverse

e cada vez son máis diversos

across all spectrums of underrepresented groups.

entre todos os rangos de grupos minoritarios.

But that change is not arriving nearly as fast

Pero ese cambio non chega tan rápido

in C-suites and in boardrooms.

ás salas de xuntas.

Which means there's a growing gap

Por iso hai unha fenda crecente

between leaders and their people

entre os líderes e os empregados

in regards to their perspectives and experiences.

en canto ás súas perspectivas e experiencias.

Our organizations can fall right through that gap

As organizacións poden caer a través desa fenda

into the trap of stale thinking, blind spots

no pensamento rancio, ou nos puntos cegos

and having policies that could alienate

e manter políticas que poden afastar

these underrepresented groups,

a eses grupos minoritarios,

not only in regards to age,

non só pola idade, raza ou xénero,

race or gender,

but all different kinds of viewpoints.

senón polos diferentes puntos de vista.

Reverse mentoring could be an antidote to that tunnel vision.

A mentoría inversa pode ser un antídoto contra esa visión estreita.

But making reverse mentoring work,

Pero facer que funcione

isn't as simple as finding a mentor

non é só atopar un mentor

and pressing go.

e seguir adiante.

You have to be genuinely curious

Cómpre curiosidade auténtica

about learning from that individual.

por aprender desa persoa.

And you have to be intentional about the relationship

E cómpre querer ter esa relación

in order to make it valuable.

para que sexa valiosa.

I know this because I was asked

Seino porque me preguntaron

just a year into my career at Virgin Atlantic

un ano despois de traballar en Virgin Atlantic

to be the first ever reverse mentor

se podía ser a primeira mentora inversa

to mentor CEO Craig Kreeger.

para o director executivo Craig Kreeger.

I'd met Craig a few times

Vírao algunhas veces

and presented to him in meetings,

e presentárannos en reunións,

but this, it was a whole different ball game.

pero isto era outra historia.

Craig had revealed that he had no black women

El dixera que non tiña ningunha muller negra

in his inner circle

no seu círculo próximo

and he was keen to understand my perspective

e interesáballe entender a miña perspectiva

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

para crear unha cultura máis inclusiva na empresa.

Sen presión.

No pressure.

Velaquí o que aprendín

Here's what I learned

about how to make reverse mentoring work.

sobre como funciona a mentoría inversa.

Lesson one, make your match thoughtfully.

Primeiro: elixe a túa parella con coidado.

Find someone who has a pulse

Busca a quen estea ao tanto

on the key spokespeople in the organization

dos portavoces clave da organización

to help you make your match.

para que che axuden.

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

Non teñen que ser de recursos humanos,

just someone who knows you and your teams well,

só alguén que te coñeza a ti e ao equipo,

because chemistry really matters.

porque a química é moi importante.

The VP of people experience chose me

O VP de people experience elixiume

because I was open to sharing my ideas

porque eu quería compartir as miñas ideas

and also my enthusiasm for leadership development.

e polo meu entusiasmo por desenvolver liderados.

Also make sure

Asegúrate tamén

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

de que o mentor non é un subordinado ou parte do teu equipo

because it will be really difficult to elicit honest feedback

porque será difícil obter unha crítica sincera

from someone who you also have to review

de alguén a quen tes que avaliar

at the end of the year.

á fin do ano.

If you're in finance,

Se estás en Finanzas,

find someone creative in marketing,

busca alguén en Márketing,

e se estás en Enxeñaría, busca alguén en Atención ao Cliente.

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

Isto asegurará que desenvolvas perspectivas

This will ensure that you develop perspectives

externas ás do teu equipo directo,

from outside of your immediate team

e perspectivas diferentes fan mellores líderes.

and different perspectives make better leaders.

Lesson two,

Segundo:

to make things simple, set some ground rules.

para facilitar as cousas, establece regras.

The first meeting should be offsite in a neutral location.

A primeira reunión debe ser fóra, nun espazo neutro.

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

Se es o mentorizado, debes fixar o guión.

What is it that you really want to learn?

Que queres aprender?

Maybe you'd like to understand

Igual queres entender

your mentor's career journey

a traxectoria do teu mentor

or perhaps whether they've had any major obstacles

ou saber se encontraron moitos obstáculos

they've had to overcome,

que tiveron que superar,

or maybe you'd like to understand

ou gustaríache entender

how specific company policies impact them

como algunhas políticas da empresa poden afectalo

either directly or indirectly.

directa ou indirectamente.

Agree that your conversations together

Acordar que as conversas

will be confidential

serán confidenciais

and whether there are any topics which are off limits,

e se hai algún tema prohibido,

como a vida familiar

such as family life

ou información sobre outra persoa.

or specific feedback on individuals.

Lesson three, start with an icebreaker.

Terceiro: comeza con algo que rompa o xeo.

I like to think of this

Gústame pensar nisto

as a long elevator pitch of your life stories.

como unha charla nun ascensor sobre historias.

Who are you?

Quen es?

Poignant moments in your life.

Momentos emotivos da vida.

What are your hopes and dreams?

As túas esperanzas e desexos?

Pivot to seek differences and not similarities

Busca diferenzas e non similitudes

because that's the real power of reverse mentoring.

porque é o verdadeiro poder da mentoría inversa.

Craig e mais eu descubrimos

Craig and I found

that we had formative experiences in common.

que tiñamos experiencias formativas comúns.

Both of us immigrants,

Os dous inmigrantes:

him a second generation growing up in the US

el a segunda xeración que crecía nos EE. UU.

and myself first generation

e eu a primeira xeración,

arriving in the UK from Jamaica

chegada ao Reino Unido desde Xamaica

at the age of three.

aos tres anos.

But from there,

A partir de aí, as historias son ben diferentes.

our stories are quite different.

Cuarto: coidado coa inversión de roles.

Lesson four, beware of role reversion.

There were a few times in our conversation

Algunha vez nas nosas conversas

where Craig slipped into giving me career advice.

Craig dábame consellos no meu traballo.

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

E eu dicía: "É moi interesante

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

e gustaríame volver a isto máis tarde,

but in our limited time together,

pero neste pouco tempo

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

hai algo máis que queiras entender de min?"

Era bastante duro,

Now this was quite hard,

pero tes que recordar que como mentora

but you have to remember that as a mentor

durante este pouco tempo

for this very short period of time,

a túa visión é moito más útil para a organización.

your insights are actually more valuable to the organization.

Lesson five, make time for reflection.

Quinto: deixa tempo para reflexionar.

Agree the key takeaways from each of the sessions,

Acordade cales foron as cuestións clave de cada sesión,

either at the end or through follow-up email

ou ao final ou por correo

and schedule your sessions

e programade as sesións

to allow time between for reflection.

con tempo entre elas para reflexionar.

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

A nós, de tres a catro semanas dábanos un bo ritmo.

And finally,

Por último,

recoñece o mérito cando se mereza.

give credit where credit's due.

In the traditional mentoring relationship

Nunha mentoría tradicional, o mentor non espera recoñecemento.

the mentor isn't expected to be given credit.

However, in reverse mentoring

Pero na mentoría inversa,

where the mentee actually holds a lot of the power

onde a persoa mentorizada ten moito poder

accurate credit really counts.

recoñecer o mérito ten importancia.

As empresas con visión de futuro

Forward-thinking organizations

use reverse mentoring as one of the tools

usan a mentoría inversa

to help them build a more inclusive environment.

para crear un ambiente máis inclusivo.

Segundo algúns estudos,

And studies have shown

cando as empresas usan estas mentorías

that when organizations embrace reverse mentoring

members of those underrepresented groups

os membros dos grupos minoritarios

feel more confident in sharing their perspectives.

séntense máis seguros e comparten as súas ideas.

E se ademais hai unha ampla diversidade

And when accompanied by a comprehensive diversity

and inclusion strategy,

e unha estratexia de inclusión,

it leads to higher retention amongst these groups.

será maior a retención entre estes grupos.

Personally, I found

Creo que a miña mentoría inversa con Craig

that my reverse mentoring relationship with Craig

enabled me to have a sense of ownership and leadership

deixoume ter unha sensación de control e liderado

in building an inclusive culture at Virgin.

na construción dunha cultura inclusiva en Virgin

And for Craig, it showed

E Craig demostrou que,

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

mesmo estando no cumio,

there's still more you can learn.

sempre podes aprender máis.