Knowing how to be a good mentor is one of the keys to having a successful mentor/mentee relationship. Below we’ll cover nine tips for how to teach, guide and lift up others.

1. Select people whose philosophy is similar to yours

It will be difficult to develop someone whose values are too different from your own. Being a good mentor doesn’t mean you choose just any mentee. You’ll want to make sure your philosophies and general values are aligned. Look for someone whose ideas about management and leadership align with yours, as those areas are critical for helping your mentee succeed—no matter what industry you’re in.

2. Choose people with potential you genuinely believe in

If you don’t believe in them, you won’t give them the time they need. And before long, they will discern your lack of confidence in them. Belief in their potential, on the other hand, will empower them. Some of the nation’s greatest professional athletes have come from tiny colleges that receive no publicity. All those ball players needed was for pro scouts to recognize the potential that the right opportunity could bring out. The secret of mentoring in any field is to help a person get where they are willing to go.

3. Good mentors determine what their mentee needs

Determining what potential leaders need involves looking at their strengths and weaknesses objectively. Their strengths indicate the directions they need to go and what they can become. Their weaknesses show us what they need to help them improve. Encouraging them in their strengths and helping them overcome their weaknesses will move them closer to reaching their potential.

4. Create a safe space

As with all partnerships, mentoring only succeeds if both parties work at it, but it helps if the mentor makes it easy for the mentee to drive the process and achieve objectives. The best mentors learn to listen, help the mentees think for themselves and create the space for this to happen.

Most people agree that nurturing is important to the development of children. However, they often fail to see its importance in the workplace. They assume that potential leaders will nurture themselves. If we as leaders do not nurture the potential leaders around us, they will never develop into the types of leaders we desire. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

When you nurture other people through your mentorship, everyone wins.

5. Good mentors constantly evaluate their mentees’s progress 

People need feedback, especially early in their development. Ben Franklin said, “The eye of a master will do more work than both his hands.” He knew that leaders’ ability to evaluate is their greatest strength. An honest mentor will be unbiased. If necessary, they will encourage a person to stay on course, seek another direction or even enter into a relationship with another mentor.

6. Share your experience

Mentorship is a one-on-one deeper forum where shared experiences are the keys to a higher level of self-awareness. Sharing your experience is a great way to build trust with your mentee. Doing so creates a safe space where they feel encouraged to share their experiences, hurdles and successes. 

Also when you share your stories, which may be your mentee experience or something else you want them to know, the mentees feel connected and valued.

7. Good mentors are inquisitive

Asking the right questions helps to focus on the real issues and things that your mentee needs to work on. A mentor needs to try to separate the noise from the key issues. As a mentor, you should strive to be curious and ask meaningful questions that will lead your mentee on a journey toward self-discovery. Your role is to provide guidance and facilitate learning.

8. Be committed, serious and available to the people you mentor

The development of potential leaders around you will be a reflection of your commitment to them: poor commitment equals poor development; great commitment equals great development.

By personalizing each person’s journey through your devoted mentorship, you are helping them to maximize their potential. You are giving them a chance to discover their true purpose. You also maximize their contribution to you and your organization if they’re already part of your team.

9. Create a life strategy

When coaching people on their careers, mentors should focus on helping their mentees create a life strategy that focuses on passion, lifestyle, values, economics, skill and demand. Thinking strategically about each of these elements lets you create a framework for a solid career map.
Mentoring is a powerful growth and development tool, not to mention it can be just as rewarding an experience for you as it will be for your mentees. Learning how to be a great mentor takes practice and patience, and the more time you have working with a mentee, the more you’ll learn about them and how to develop your leadership skills.

This article was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated. Photo by Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock.com.

The post How To Be a Good Mentor: 9 Tips for Nurturing Your Mentee Relationship appeared first on SUCCESS.

Related: 6 Questions Hiring Managers Should Ask in a Job Interview

It starts by asking great questions during the job interview. Seven business leaders from around the world—members of YPO—reveal the qualities they look for when hiring new team members.

1. What’s your personal brand?

A potential hire’s online persona is important because it gives you a more complete picture of who they are—their passions and soft skills become more evident. It’s not just about the résumé anymore; it’s about your personal brand.

—Sandi Hokansson, president and country manager of Adecco

2. What is one thing that drives you to wake up in the morning?

Think of questions that are outside of the box to give you key insight into who this person is and what type of culture they will succeed in.

—Jilliene Helman, CEO of RealtyMogul.com

3. Are you entrepreneurial?

Find out if they already are self-starters, motivated and driven, which are difficult skills to teach.

—Jessica Mah, CEO of inDinero 

4. When did you start working?

When you sacrifice play for work to achieve a goal or to get something you really want, such as your first car, that builds character muscle and work ethic. There is an undeniable correlation between someone who has always worked for what they have and “A” players in the workplace.

—Richard Skidmore, CEO of Timberlane

5. Do you like to get involved?

When I’m hiring at the senior level, the fact that someone has the right cultural fit, is a good communicator and likes to get involved is just as important as having the competency to do the job.

—Nik Basran, managing director of The Authentic Food Company

6. Will you take ownership?

I’ve been blessed to have employees who treat the company like it’s their own, so when we go through changes, I know everyone has the company’s best interests at heart.

—Brett Rose, CEO of United National Consumer Suppliers

7. Will you challenge my ideas?

Most people hire those who let them stay in their comfort zone or don’t challenge their authority. But the only way to move forward is to ensure you hire people who are smarter and more knowledgeable than you are. They will challenge you to be a better you.

—Harjeev Kandhari, founder and CEO of Zenises

Related: 4 Qualities of Breakthrough Employees

The post Ask These 7 Interview Questions to Find Your Next High Achiever appeared first on SUCCESS.

For leaders, expressing simple yet sincere gratitude boosts team morale, reduces turnover, increases productivity and helps set the overall tone and culture of your organization. And typically, happy employees lead to a successful business.

Related: 10 Thoughtful Ways to Give Thanks to Your People

As part of YPO’s 10 Minutes From the Top podcast, members of Young Presidents’ Organization shared how they show their teams appreciation—11 ways you, too, can say thank you to the people in your life:

1. Tell people “well done.”

It’s a great thing to say. It’s sincere and meaningful.

—Fred Crosetto, founder and chief energizing officer of AMMEX Corp and AMMEX iSupport

2. Express gratitude.

Say thank you; treat them like friends; talk to them face to face; call them by their names; make them feel part of the company and part of the family.

—Simon Cohen, CEO of Henco Logistics

3. Show compassion.

Achieve a compassionate mindset and live that in everything you do, especially in small ways.

—Mitch Presnick, founder, former chairman and CEO, and current board director of Super 8 Hotels China

4. Be in the moment.

Don’t hesitate. Be honest and appreciate them.

—Asha Saxena, founder and CEO of Future Technologies Inc.

5. Make it public.

Beyond thanking them, it’s about calling them out publicly to thank them.

—Asheesh Advani, president and CEO of JA Worldwide

6. Be authentic.

People know whether you are telling the truth and being sincere, and that is the greatest compliment you can pay to someone. Be open.

—Dick Simon, CEO of RSI Inc., founder of kNOwTHEM Initiative

7. Write a note.

Regularly send a random note to different employees acknowledging their great work and recognizing them.

—Rosa Scarcelli, CEO of Stanford Management

8. Listen.

When I’m touring the store, I’m listening to their comments and ideas, and just showing them that even if we are strict about behavior, we still care and love genuinely.

—Christine Sfeir, CEO of Meeting Point (Dunkin’ Donuts Lebanon) and Treats Holding (Semsom)

9. Get personal.

Take an interest in their personal life, appreciating their performance and appreciating who they are.

—NK Tong, managing director of Al Batha Bukit Kiara Holdings

10. Make time.

Make time for them. I always have activities outside of the office.

—Charles Edouard Barthes, chairman and CEO of EviDenS de Beauté

11. Realize their value.

Treat them as equals. In today’s world, the knowledge and wisdom on what’s best for the company lies with the team.

—Adam Riley, founder and managing partner of Rockjumper Birding Tours

Related: Top of Mind: 6 Ways to Make Others Feel Appreciated 

The post 11 Sincere Ways to Say Thank You appeared first on SUCCESS.

Related: 12 Leadership Books to Add to Your Reading List

These nuggets of advice from nine members of Young Presidents’ Organization range from thoughts on hiring practices to self-empowerment, running fast to drinking beer. You might agree with some things and disagree with others, but it is always enlightening to hear from those who have gone into the fire and come out the other side.

1. Hiring is all about talent.

If you can’t delegate and let those people spread their wings, you can’t build a lasting organization and will be too stressed trying to push everything along while micromanaging. You have to let people make mistakes so they become better at what they do.

—Jason Robbins, CEO and president of ePromos Promotional Products

2. Discipline and consistency.

It’s the same stuff you need to succeed in business that allows you to win races; it’s only through hard work (and a bit of talent) that you can build the confidence needed on race day. The same applies to our professional lives—when we do our homework, when we are prepared, when we know we can offer a good service, that’s when we become successful.

—Timothy Cosulich director and board member of Fratelli Cosulich and triathlon and Ironman competitor

3. Give back.

The best path to empowerment is through entrepreneurship and that entrepreneurship can be a force for social good. One of the best ways I serve society is through leading a successful, socially conscious business and having a seat at the table for issues that are important to me.

—Julie Smolyansky, president and CEO of Lifeway Foods

4. Welcome failure.

You can’t succeed if you don’t try. You won’t always get what you want, but you’ll learn from each attempt, and you’ll refine your goals and focus.

—Cuan Chelin, founder and chief executive of Super Brands Group

5. Keep your eyes open.

Every two weeks we go out into the field to understand what our competitors are doing and then we come back and talk about it. We take from it what we think we need for that time. We haven’t torn down the studio and rebuilt it, but we have added some things we think are relevant to our brand.

—Jennifer Maanavi, owner of Physique57

6. Value your people.

The hospitality business is all about people; finding the wrong people can cost you a lot of headaches and money and finding the right people are worth their weight in gold.

—John Wong, CEO of HFS Concepts4

7. Trust your instincts.

So often, entrepreneurs get caught up in the idea they need to do things the way their customer expects them to versus the way they personally feel. In 1987 when I first tasted Anchor Steam (San Francisco’s historically distinctive craft beer), I didn’t know there was beer that tasted like that; it was different from anything I’d ever had and that offered me a chance at discovery. From the very beginning, Steve and I made a conscious decision to create a beer for people like us—people who wanted to discover something new.

—Greg Koch, CEO and founder of Stone Brewery Co./Stone World Bistro

8. Be a forever student.

The most advantageous way to learn is to “take yourself to Harvard every week.” During the process of negotiating the sale of my company, whenever I didn’t know something, I would hire somebody and say “Teach me X,” and for three days I would lock myself away and focus on only that aspect of the business.

—Lizanne Falsetto, president and CEO of thinkThin

9. Work hard.

No matter how well the wind blows for you, consistency and hard work are crucial.

—Samir Kayali, CEO of Euroamykasa

Related: The Key to Getting All You Want? Discipline

The post 9 Things Every Aspiring Leader Should Know appeared first on SUCCESS.

Related: 25 Books for Success

We asked members of Young Presidents’ Organization for their top book recommendations and received everything from autobiographies to how-to’s, ancient scriptures to rap-lyric management.

Their responses show there is truly no single path to influential leadership.

1. Strategy Rules

David B. Yoffie and Michael A. Cusumano’s new book, Strategy Rules, examines five timeless lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs.

—Ian Halfon, managing director of Slick Restaurant Group

2. The Breakthrough Company

As an entrepreneur, The Breakthrough Company really speaks to me. It uncovers what it takes to build your startup to the next level and references the value of YPO’s networking and forum, which I found interesting and relatable.

—Ryan Gregg, managing partner of Underground Printing Group

3. The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg discusses how we should, as much as possible, build habits into our day so we don’t spend time making small decisions and can instead focus our energy on decisions we need to make.

—Joelle Goudsmit, president of Dimension-All Formworks and Scaffoldings

4. Creativity, Inc.

I thought Creativity, Inc. was very insightful about building a culture of creativity.

—Kelly Mooney, CEO of Resource

5. The E-Myth

Since I’m a small-business guy, I love Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth. It really helped me understand the concept of working on my business, not in it, and showed me how to set up procedures from day one that would last a decade or more.

—Jason Robbins CEO and president of ePromos Promotional Products

6. Traction

Traction by Gino Wickman helped me run our business much more effectively. It helped us have a clearer mission, accountability, efficient meetings, better interaction and much more. We hired a consultant to help us implement the concepts and it made a huge difference.

—Jamin Arvig, founder and CEO of US Water Filters

7. Talent Masters

Talent Masters by Ram Charan and Bill Conaty is about hiring and nurturing the right talent to grow your business. What impressed me was the lucid writing style and case studies collected from around the world. Good human resources make the biggest difference for a successful venture.

—Ramana Prasad, managing director of Hivelm Switchgear

8. Switch

I really enjoyed Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. It’s about the psychology and science of change and emphasizing change within people. If there is something in yourself or your organization you’d like to change, the steps to doing so may be less intuitive than you think.

—Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments

9. The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The introduction to every chapter in The Hard Thing About Hard Things are lyrics from a rap song that relate to management and leadership. I found it both charming and real. The advice throughout the book comes from captains of industry with proven methods on a variety of topics I struggle with. Many of these founders and leaders have used solutions in the book to solve real problems that speak to me.

—Jenene Ronick, founder and CEO of Luxury Attaché

10. Our Iceberg Is Melting

In Our Iceberg Is Melting, John Kotter has thoughtfully and cleverly explained his model for effecting major and sustainable organizational change through a compelling and accessible parable. He tells the story of a young penguin who believes his clan’s iceberg is melting and will collapse with everyone inside it. The young penguin masterfully builds support to move to another iceberg by executing Kotter’s eight-step change management strategy. As I’ve worked on systemic change to the broken U.S. healthcare system, I found this book instructive and engaging.

—Richard (Rick) Kimball, founder of HEXL

11. Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta

Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta is a very spiritual book based on ancient Indian philosophy. The focus is on karma and the significance of one’s actions. It provides spiritual guidance that can be applied to the modern workplace. For example, it encourages focusing on the work and task at hand, not on results. It is something I always tell my team to do; positive output will happen, but they need to focus on input first.

—Shailesh Chaturvedi, managing director and CEO of Tommy Hilfiger India

12. Daring Greatly

I found Daring Greatly to be eye-opening and thought-provoking on the power of vulnerability.

—Kelly Mooney, CEO of Resource

Related: The 5 Best but Unheard-Of Success Books

[fl_builder_insert_layout slug=”amazon-affiliate-disclaimer”]

The post 12 Leadership Books to Add to Your Reading List appeared first on SUCCESS.

For business leaders—even the most successful ones—leadership itself presents daily challenges with consequences that can affect many people. Often the right path is not obvious or the easiest solution, but the lessons learned are invaluable and the experience is a rite of passage.

Related: 7 Personality Traits of a Great Leader

We asked 11 members of Young Presidents’ Organization, “What is the most important leadership lesson you have learned?” for examples.

1. To Engage

That the fastest road to success isn’t about assembling smart people and working hard, but rather engaging people in a bigger ideal than themselves and positively engaging people to work as a team.

—Richard (Rick) Kimball, founder of HEXL

2. To Listen

Learning to listen, because it means quieting the mind.

—Sanjay B. Kucheria, CEO of Trinus Corporation

3. To Improve (Always)

Whatever level you reach, getting better should never stop. We need to constantly invest in improvements and learning.

—Shailesh Chaturvedi, managing director and CEO of Tommy Hilfiger India

4. To Keep Calm

Although you have to trust people, you must be prepared to expect any kind of negative situation and keep calm and focused on your goal.

—Laura Asilis, president of Travelwise

5. To Let Go

Learning to let go and trust my team—full stop. The most difficult part for me was transitioning from trying to do everything myself to becoming a better delegator. As we scaled Grindr, I have learned the most important aspect of delegation is finding competent people—and not settling.

—Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr

6. To Focus

A lesson I learned a few years ago is how to scale back to one’s core competencies. In the nonprofit sector, there is a pervasive belief that each organization has to be all things to the clients they serve. But in doing so, we dilute the quality of the direct services we provide.

—Suzanne Klahr, CEO of BUILD

7. To Be Objective

From the very beginning I have led from the heart more than the head. This has paid off in the larger scheme, but I have received my fair share of hard knocks. It took a while for me to learn the value of measured decision-making and objective analysis of difficult situations.

—Lavina Valiram, managing director of Anaika Collections S/B

8. To Scrutinize Ideas

Falling in love with an idea before testing it—what you love might not be the case with others (and especially your target customer).

—Adarsh Radia, founder of Telenomics

9. To Inspire

My mentor was talking to me about how leaders must be inspiring to other members on their teams. Quite a lot of leadership is about the energy that we bring to the table, and the energy of the leader is the energy that mobilizes and inspires the team to go forward.

—Joelle Goudsmit, president of Dimension-All Formworks and Scaffoldings

10. To Be Balanced

Managing the balance between motivating/coaching/influencing on one hand and being demanding and managing performance on the other.

—Samer Halawi, CEO of Thuraya Telecommunications

11. To Disrupt

You cannot be a leader and make tough decisions without upsetting some people. If you are going to make improvements or initiate change or do anything at all unique or innovative, it is going to be disruptive for people. Some people will appreciate you for it, but there are just as many who will want to blame you for it. Once I realized that I couldn’t be the leader I need to be and be everyone’s friend, things got a little easier.

—Michael Sanderson, CEO of Sanderson Stewart

Related: 4 Inspiring Quotes From the Most Influential Leaders of All Time

YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) is the world’s premier network of chief executives and business leaders connected through the shared mission of becoming Better Leaders Through Lifelong Learning and Idea Exchange. YPO provides 23,000 peers and their families in more than 130 countries with access to unique educational and networking experiences designed to support their business, community and personal leadership.

The post 11 Leadership Lessons You Didn’t Learn in School appeared first on SUCCESS.