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Companies are now convinced that business as usual is incompatible with survival in turbulent times. When it comes to change the question today is not if but how. Having appreciated the need for change rather well companies have poured crores of rupees and enormous executive time in training interventions and organizational restructuring. At the end of it all however a nagging doubt remains: Is all this investment producing a positive net present value or does the return on investment justify these corporate efforts? Most high-level training programs are a necessary investment but they are not sufficient to produce visible and long-term change. A necessary precondition for organizational change is that it must begin at the very top if it is to sustain organizational survival. The very top means unequivocally people on the Board. Unfortunately many directors feel that change is for people down the line. No matter what training program or methodology adopted, results are never going to be commensurate with investment if only the management team downwards is involved in change programs. In fact, the investment would in most cases be a complete waste.
The half-life of all these programs can be measured in hours because back on the job the trained changed managers are confronted with the unchanged attitudes style and behavior of the directors, or business owners, this is often in direct conflict with the concept and tools they have just learned in the training program.Take the case of a large company where the entire top team is just back from a pricey training program-cum-seminar on implementing the horizontal corporation. The managing director however has not attended the program and is still presiding over a hierarchical personal fiefdom. Is it any wonder that the change program is bound to fail? Similar is the case of a director technical who simply does not listen when others talk. So his understanding of problems is very different from the reality. It is no surprise that the empowerment program in this company was a non-starter. In such situations, at best motivation will dissipate and at worst vicious cynicism will take root. The role model must model the role. Often leaders only hear what they want to hear from the organization. And yet, the lack of a feedback mechanism perpetuates errors and multiplies negative synergy. If this is true, who will bell the cat(s) and tell the owner directors that they need to change first if their organizations are to survive?This is where the corporate management mentor (CMM) could prove to be a lifesaver. The CMM can provide personal and organizational feedback to the directors and at the same time, could lead them through a finely nuanced personal and professional change program called the Corporate Mentoring Program (CMP). Briefly, a CMM visualizes the director's role as a synthesis of the personal and professional personas are inextricably interwoven for directors just as it is for everyone else in the organization. In fact, the CMM forges a close personal relationship with the director(s) and considering that directors often suffer agonizing dilemmas in strategic decision making, a CMM can, given his multidisciplinary background and varied experience, assist in the process of such decision making by being a listener, questioner and visualizer.The objective of the CMP is to improve profitability and ensure organizational survival. It is a delicately sequenced process including among others, a series of workshops covering organizational strategy mission and leadership over a period of not less than 12 months. Typically the CMM is on hand within the organization for three to five mentor days every month. Perhaps the most interesting component of the CMP is personal mentoring. During these intense sessions the director is led through structured introspection and personal feedback is offered in a non-threatening manner, personal growth plans are also made to chart the future evolution of the director concerned. The concept workshop is an integral part of the CMP in which the CMM engages in discussion/teaching of concepts, tools, skills, attitudes, procedures and policies that can make a positive contribution to the director's effectiveness as well as the organization's profitability. The CMP methodology has six stages: Mission workshop, learning leadership, strategy workshop, monthly review, concepts, personal mentoring. Needless to say the CMP can succeed only if directors make a strong commitment not just to change in general but specifically to personal learning and change.
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Source: Madhavmohan.com
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