For many leaders, the phrase “long-term planning” conjures visions of still-hazy projects and three and five-year roadmaps.

But what about even longer-term planning? As in, what will happen to a motor vehicle agency after its current leader retires?

“Nobody just wakes up and knows everything about being a leader or administrator through osmosis. It just doesn’t happen,” says Rhonda Lahm, director of the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). “So the way that you keep organizations healthy, lively and thriving—which I believe ours is— is to make sure that there’s a leadership continuum. And for that to happen, you have to develop people and have them learn skills along the way.”

In other words, a strong mentorship culture plays a crucial component in building and sustaining organizational health. Agencies that emphasize leadership development not only set themselves up for the long term, but also add strength and resilience in the present by training a cadre of leaders beyond the current executive suite. And when team members across the organization sense that they’re valued and that their leaders are grooming them for future success, good things often happen.

DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS

For example, early in her career at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), Adrienne Diaczok often refrained from challenging the prevailing sentiment at meetings, even when she had serious concerns. But her mentor, MVA Administrator Chrissy Nizer, encouraged her to assert herself.

“She said, ‘Don’t be intimidated just because somebody has been [at this] a year longer than you. You have the ideas, and you know what you’re doing,’” recalls Diaczok, now the MVA’s chief customer engagement officer. “Having her show that kind of confidence in me just really made me blossom.”

Nizer’s investment in Diaczok creates a stronger MVA today while building the agency’s senior leadership pipeline for the future. It’s a cycle that Nizer learned long ago from her own mentor, Anne Ferro, a former MVA administrator and former AAMVA president & CEO. According to Ferro, mentorship should be part of every leader’s job description.

“Demonstrating a commitment to mentorship is an important quality for anybody who’s in a leadership role. You’re showing that your job, in part, is to help grow people,” Ferro says.

FORMAL VS. ORGANIC MENTORSHIP

Some organizations foster mentorship through formal, structured programs, something Ferro advocates because it “sends an important message that this is how the organization continues to get stronger and more effective.” Yet in many other cases, mentor-mentee relationships happen organically. Friendships develop between colleagues, and leaders take an interest both in getting to know the people on their teams and in helping them advance in their careers.

That’s how it was for Nizer and Ferro, as well as for Nizer and Diaczok. Yet organic mentorship doesn’t mean passively waiting around to see if a relationship happens to develop. Prospective mentors can signal through their approachability and willingness to make a personal connection that they’re amenable to helping junior team members sort through on-the-job issues and calibrate their career trajectories.

For example, Marc Hall, one of Lahm’s mentees in Nebraska, noticed when applying for a job that Lahm seemed genuinely interested in his success. Hall had followed a similar career path to Lahm, with both working for the Nebraska State Patrol before transitioning to working at the state DMV.

Hall didn’t get that first job, but later, when he was hired on as a DMV training specialist, he was again impressed by the approachability of Lahm, the agency’s leader.

“It was, ‘If the door is open, come in and let me know what can I provide.’ And her door was always open,” Hall recalls.

Hall took Lahm up on the offer, approaching her for advice on issues such as how to address an underperforming employee.

“I always left her office feeling like, ‘Hey, I can do this,’” recalls Hall, now the DMV’s training coordinator.

Lahm, meanwhile, identified a potential future star for the agency. She says Hall “has the potential to be a really dynamite leader. And when you have somebody that has that thirst for making themselves better, that opens the door for a mentor-mentee relationship, because they’re willing to learn.”

SUCCESSFUL MENTORSHIP: DIALOG, NOT DOWNLOAD

A willingness to connect personally is a hallmark of strong mentors, according to John Batiste, chief of the Washington State Patrol.

“It’s critically important to not just be somebody who acts as a supervisor, but also be a person who really takes a personal interest and gets to know [a prospective mentee],” says Batiste. “It makes them feel more comfortable coming to you with questions, concerns or seeking advice. It’s about relationship building.”

“It’s critically important to not just be somebody who acts as a supervisor, but also be a person who really takes a personal interest and gets to know [a prospective mentee].”

John Batiste
Chief of the Washington State Patrol

That sort of interpersonal investment is stock-in-trade for Spencer Moore, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS), “a natural leader whose leadership style is mentorship,” according to Angelique McClendon, general counsel at the DDS.

McClendon, one of Moore’s mentees, watched as Moore cultivated relationships with employees across the state. Eventually he convinced her of the value of taking time to cultivate relationships with stakeholders and officials even when those relationships required investment beyond her role’s formal duties and expectations.

“That’s one of my favorite parts of the job now,” McClendon says.

Another of Moore’s mentees, Kecia Bivins, Georgia DDS director of operations, turns to Moore for advice regarding everything from lawnmower recommendations to how to market and trademark an apparel business. His generosity with his time ultimately influenced Bivins’ own approach to leadership.

Based on her workload, Bivins “could literally just work from my desk all day. But [Moore] has taught me to take a moment to go have that conversation with someone, or take a walk around both buildings,” Bivins says.

That leads to a different challenge of mentorship: the delicate balance between imparting the mentor’s wisdom and experience versus a back-and-forth that factors in the mentee’s unique personality and circumstances. Moore and Bivins don’t have the same leadership style, and while he’s shared with her the benefits of making one-on-one personal connections, he’s also empowered her to build camaraderie in ways that reflect her personality, such as through department-wide celebrity lookalike lip-sync contests or galas to celebrate standout employees.

“Sometimes she pushes me in directions that I don’t necessarily feel the most comfortable,” says Moore. “But I don’t always have to lead from the driver’s seat. Sometimes I can just be in the car.”

“I found Spencer to be open to suggestions, a quick learner, a critical thinker and a natural leader,” says Moore’s mentor Gary Butler, a former NHTSA employee.

Moore says his agency is stronger as a result of his willingness to let his team lead rather than always imposing his own style. It’s an approach that reflects a level of humility that seems common among successful mentors—perhaps because they recognize that not only do their colleagues and organizations benefit from mentorship, but they do, as well.

Says Maryland’s Nizer: Mentorship “is both about investing in you as an individual, and also finding that push-and-pull, so that both of us wind up getting stronger.”