Mentoring in the Service Sector
This manager has a successful track record within the organisation and is respected by her team and suppliers. The new boss, however, is another matter. He seems to have a point to prove, behaves inconsistently to subordinates and changes his mind regularly. The manager's confidence is beginning to waiver.
Over a six month period, with monthly face-to-face mentoring meetings and regular calls, the manager defined and successfully implemented clear goals. She changed the way she responded to her manager. She reframed her beliefs about her new boss by seeking information and focusing on the positive. She learned that she could not necessarily change his character, but she could seek political allies to help her deal with any new situation more effectively. She learned techniques to deal with the excesses of his behaviour so that her confidence in her own decision-making soon returned. This will never be a perfect relationship, but the manager now relies on her judgement and interferes less.