You ask: Some years ago I mentored a young graduate on my company’s fast track scheme for high flyers. The relationship was a successful one and the individual concerned is now running our IT support team. He is very ambitious and although our mentoring relationship has officially finished we keep in touch.
When we last met this individual asked for my advice. He had apparently agreed to take on some additional research for the CIO on the proviso that it would lead to a promotion, if completed successfully. The research was completed successfully but in the preceding 9 months reporting lines have changed. Consequently IT now reports into Finance. The CFO was appointed from outside the organisation and in my opinion is struggling in the role.
My dilemma is that the CFO has launched a new IT strategy based on my ‘ex-mentees’ research paper but is claiming at his own. Up till now I have merely acted as a sounding board for my ‘ex-mentee’, there has never been a need for me to take any direct action on his behalf. However in this matter I do believe that some senior ‘clout’ would help but it’s a delicate situation and I am not sure how to proceed. I am concerned that any direct intervention from me may cause more harm than good. I’d be interested in your take on this situation.
Janet answers: It’s good to see a mentoring relationship working as it’s supposed to. And as this does appear to be a tricky situation your ‘ex-mentee’ is certainly going to value being able to use you as a sounding board in the immediate future. I think that’s where your real value lies – ensuring that your ‘ex-mentee’ shares his thoughts and intentions with you before he takes any action. In fact it might make sense to look at it as a reinstatement of your formal mentoring relationship until this situation is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. It might also assist you in any dealings with your new CFO.
Some questions I would want to ask before moving forward would be:
One thing that we must not forget is that picking up a new role, especially a senior one, is tough; no matter how carefully one explores the ‘lay of the land’ at interview (or how honest your potential employer is about current issues). Despite any surprises one might discover once in role the pressure to ‘make a difference’ is huge. If this individual was taken on for his financial prowess and not his engineering or IT expertise then I can understand how you might perceive that he ‘is struggling in the role’.
With regard to the perception that this new CFO is ‘claiming’ your mentee’s research paper as his own, I think I would want to explore whether this is actually true. It seems unlikely that a financial professional, new in role, would have the time to digest a technical paper and believe that he could implement it successfully without utilising the expertise around him. If he does, then he really would be a liability to your company. Is it more likely that, in ‘getting his feet under the table’, he found the paper and has not appreciated its origin – especially if your mentee’s name was only on the title page and that has now been lost?
I wonder whether your CFO realises that he will be asking your mentee, as IT Support Team lead, to implement his own strategy with no recognition of that fact. The guy would have to have zero man-management skills to knowingly do this. I think this is something that you would be best placed to explore from the outset as this will have a major influence on how you tackle this issue going forward.
If it’s clearly a misunderstanding then the situation will solve itself and you can take a back seat. If it’s something more underhanded then you must get involved to ensure that your mentee get the best possible outcome without jeopardising his career. That might not be particularly palatable for your mentee and in this case he will have some soul searching to do.
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