How to make it: The value of ‘coachment’
This National Mentoring Day, every leader should remember that, in business, you can’t do it alone, says Richard Harpin
You probably don’t realise it but today is one of the most important in the business calendar. At least it is for me. Because National Mentoring Day and what it represents can turn this country into an even greater entrepreneurial powerhouse.
When I sold Homeserve for £4.1bn two years ago, it was beyond what any of us imagined when we launched in 1993. But that success wouldn’t have been possible without the advice and guidance of those I sought out to become mentors. At key moments, they inspired me to reach further and avoid pitfalls because in business, you can’t win on your own.
In particular Nigel Morris, a Brit who made it big in America with his Capital One credit card business. I secured a meeting with him in 2009 because I wanted to accelerate Homeserve’s US expansion based upon his mentoring advice. He helped on where to base ourselves and who should run the show. He never told me what to do but helped me understand what I needed to do. After seven years in the US, we’d got to $10m annual profit; 15 years later, we were making $240m profit a year.
As an entrepreneur and business leader, you might think you’re firing on all cylinders but an experienced mentor can be a catalyst for something greater
As an entrepreneur and business leader, you might think you’re firing on all cylinders but an experienced mentor can be a catalyst for something greater. They’ve made the mistakes and know how to overcome obstacles, they’ve seen what does and doesn’t work, understand how to pull the levers of growth.
In truth, we don’t have enough mentors who’ve been at the top of industry. Sometimes I feel like a lone voice, persuading people with one foot in retirement after decades of hard graft to help inspire the next generation of success stories.
Which is why I’m on a mission.
Demystifying mentoring
First, to demystify how mentoring and coaching work so more people take advantage of them. Second, to encourage more leaders to pass on their wisdom.
The more I’ve benefited from coaches and mentors, the more I realise their potency is greater when combined, something that dawned on me in 2023 when I spent 12 days training as a business coach at the INSEAD business school in France.
At first, it was just a word I scribbled on a notepad in between lectures. Coachment. Now, two years later, I have a Business Leader Growth Programme, a powerful blend of personal business coach, then helping founders and leaders find the right mentor, and also creating peer groups that meet regularly to deliver powerful group learnings.
A coach helps you work through options and gives you their thoughts and advice for you to decide on the right course of action. Then a mentor uses their experience and knowledge to help you make that ‘thesis’ a reality. Neither will tell you what to do but both inspire you to make the right choices. It’s like a medical check-up. An X-ray machine diagnoses the issue (coaching), whilst a consultant analyses results to provide personalised treatment (mentorship).
The final element is a peer group of leaders and entrepreneurs who share experiences, trust each other’s advice and solve problems together. Because we all grapple with the same issues. Just the other week, I hosted a reunion of that INSEAD class of leaders and that’s exactly what we did – shared, listened and learned.
Every week I invite 14 founders and CEOs of mid-sized businesses to my London home to fuel each other’s growth, and I always ask who has a coach or mentor. A few do but hardly any have both. Most leave the session convinced they need to free up the time to have both.
Coaches and mentors are essential for business growth and should be sought as early as possible in an entrepreneur’s career. But it takes a certain type of person to benefit from them. Those who are ‘Level 5 leaders’, a phrase first used by business guru Jim Collins. People with low ego, boundless curiosity and a hunger to learn.
I’ve been lucky enough to coach and mentor many of these types. Now I am ripping up the coaching rule book which says sessions should be private, and inviting in a film crew. My new series, Coach Me To A Billion, will be launching next month on YouTube.
My first filmed coachment session is with Julie Chen of Cheeky Panda, which makes luxury toilet tissue from sustainable bamboo. What you’ll see and hear is Julie rapidly getting to grips with her own issues and opportunities. It’s incredibly satisfying watching people make that step-change in their own lives and businesses simply due to an exchange of ideas and experiences. Together, we press the buttons but they find the answers. Thank you to all of my entrepreneur guests who are brave enough to share themselves and I’m taking a risk hoping that you’ll listen!
And so to the second part of my mission. I want to hear from veteran CEOs, boardroom leaders, business people who have seen it, done it and have the scars to prove it. Who want to pass on their knowledge for a new generation. Instead of another round of golf, how about giving up some time to mentor founders and CEOs running mid-sized businesses who want to accelerate their growth. It would be even more powerful if you trained as a business coach, like I did
Why do we follow the same old rules when approaching the twilight of our careers? Instead of putting your feet up, see it as the moment for a new burst of energy, sharing our experiences so others can surpass our achievements.
It reminds me of that infamous 1914 poster of Lord Kitchener: ‘Your country needs you. And, right now, it most certainly does.
Richard Harpin is an entrepreneur