I have had some thought provoking comments about my website, where it says that ‘we inspire people to become the leader they want to be led by’.
Not unreasonably, some have said you should be the leader that your team wants to be led by.
However, the former statement came from someone who inspired me to establish ALMAC and help people with their leadership full time.
That person was a talented leader in the NHS who I was mentoring during the COVID pandemic when NHS leaders were under huge pressure and were provided support by a cohort of Army mentors.
This particular leader was having problems with her line manager: not being led at all well and not being given the freedom and resources to lead her team properly. Nevertheless, she did seem to be making progress in both regards.
However, at one of our mentoring conversations she took me aback by announcing that she had resigned. Surprised doesn’t begin to describe my reaction.
She was thoroughly professional, clearly talented and totally dedicated to her team and her patients. She was a very good leader, focused and knew what she needed to achieve. But this wasn’t enough. Being subject to bad leadership had taken its toll and tipped her over the edge.
Her closing comments to me were that our mentoring relationship had made her realise that, in her current role, she wasn’t being led as she wanted to be, and she wasn’t able to lead as she wanted to.
It is those final words that stuck with me. They highlighted not only the adverse effect of poor leadership but also the positive power of mentoring. And those words were the beginning of the ALMAC journey.
