Mentoring Moments

Let me share one of my favorite mentoring moments.

Why? Research shows the best way to learn is to be put in tough situations—better than going to a seminar or reading a Harvard Business Review article.

Very early in my career I was given the opportunity to work with Stewart Smith, one of the two Executive Vice Presidents who reported to Bill Cornelius, the CEO of Union Electric. Stew was responsible for the “soft side” of UE at the time, if you considered customer service, public relations, personnel, marketing, finance, treasury, etc., soft items. His peer was Earl Dille, who managed the “hard side” of the company, dealing with power generation, construction, transmission and distribution.

I spent a summer traveling with Stew on one of his listening tours. We visited UE locations across Missouri. Stew would give a general overview of the company and its business operations but mostly he would take questions from employees of all ranks and sizes. My job was to take notes and drive the car.

Somewhere in the course of almost every meeting, Stew would utter this line:

“I can go for six months on a sincere compliment (pause for dramatic effect) and around here I have to.”

Stew was not a negative person by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he was one of the most positive, pragmatic executives/managers/leaders I have ever known. He wasn’t looking to create negativity or invite a venting session. Rather, he had three objectives in citing this little quip.

• He let everyone in the audience know this wasn’t a perfect company.
• He set an expectation for every supervisor that it wasn’t just OK to pass along a compliment, but doing so was a good thing and expected.
• He let every employee know that someone at the very, very top CARED!

I don’t remember too much about what else we covered at those meetings, but this gem has stayed with me.

How long has it been since you gave someone at work a sincere compliment? Not just a thank you, or nice job, but took the time to explain what they did correctly and what it means to the business and to you personally. A little positive feedback can go a long way!