Week 38: The Partner

I have a lot of experience with mentor programs. They can be very effective in helping people develop throughout their careers, but it can be a challenge to find mentors who have the time and are willing to make a long-term commitment. Because of this, only a limited number of people can participate as "mentees".

To address this limitation, I came up with the idea of Coaches Corner. Unlike mentor programs where the same two people meet on a regular basis, Coaches Corner is a group of experienced leaders who offer one-time coaching sessions to any employee in the company.

Putting together a program like this at a large company is a big undertaking. It involves recruiting coaches and setting up a new way for people to find out about coaches and connect with them. It needs marketing materials and communication in every office across the country. It takes months of preparation. I could never do it alone.

Luckily, I didn't have to. A colleague shared my vision for Coaches Corner and made a commitment to work with me to make it happen. Together we ran a pilot test with about 50 people, and from that we learned what was needed for a company-wide rollout. She helped select coaching topics, recruit coaches and write copy for the marketing launch. She worked with a designer (my week 39 thank you note) who developed appealing and effective visuals.

Coaches Corner officially launches this week, and it's thanks to my partner that it's a reality.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash