Managers as mentors (was Differences Mgrs vs Editors)

["John P. Brinegar" <johnbri -at- PRIMENET -dot- COM>]

George Allaman wrote:

>Oof. I disagree with one thing. I don't think managers should ever fancy
>themselves mentors. Since the manager's job is to judge the employee and
>their work, a healthy mentoring relationship is impossible. For instance:
>I'm much less likely to display my ignorance if it might affect my chances
>for a raise or promotion. But it needs to be displayed so that I can learn.

Gee!

I just don't see a manager's job a judge of employees and their work. When
I was a manager (a long time ago), I saw my role as that of developing a
team that consisted of myself and those who reported to me. We tried to
work together to accomplish common goals and in the process to grow and
learn. In my judgment, we succeeded quite well. I believe that most of the
former members of this team would agree (if any of you see this, please
comment, personally or on the list).

I never saw myself as a judge of others on the team. I didn't even see
myself as being superior to others on the team. To the extent that they
succeeded, I succeeded. Individual performance evaluations were a joint
effort-this was a significant part of the mentoring process.


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John P. Brinegar, http://www.netzone.com/~jbrinega/
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