organization. It was not happening, so he moved on to another organization. He indicated that some of the other employees followed suit and moved on, to other more positive organizations. He also mentioned that the open-door leadership style that I supported, had a new twist where one now had to knock before entering the manager’s office, as the door was usually closed.

When we analyze all of this we see that the change that needed to take place at the leadership level did not take place. Changing a culture, to one that creates a learning and development environment, takes a lot of work. The negative culture that exists today, did not happen overnight and will not be changed overnight either. The journey to a more positive culture can only happen if it begins at the top.

I did a couple of presentations this past week to some great people on Mentor Programs and Mentor Cultures. We talked a lot about how the implementation of either one of these initiatives can go south on an organization. One of the key challenges was the aspect of “corporate support”. It is really important that the journey begins with the full support of senior executives/owners of companies and that they emulate the right behaviours as they begin to implement either or all of these initiatives. The folks whom I presented to, fully understood the need for either a mentor program or a mentor culture.

We discussed how important it was to engage the Baby Boomers at this particular time, so that they can transfer their business knowledge to the future leaders within the company. We always hear the comment about “knowledge is power” and that some do not want to transfer that knowledge for fear of no longer being needed. I recommend to these folks, that they need to view this as a chance to leave their legacy in the organization. How exciting and rewarding it would be to see someone grow personally and professionally, with the support that you provided before you begin the retirement chapter of your career! Convincing these valued contributors of their importance and the legacy that they could leave, starts at the top.

It is becoming really clear that creating the right culture for your organization is one of the most important challenges that you need to be meeting head on, right now. If you don’t then you will be facing recruitment and retention challenges, lost productivity, increased negativity and a high level of disengagement at all levels within your organization. You can do this! Embrace the “power of mentoring” and remember “can you afford not to?”