Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovalito.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode six forty three. Today we're talking about something
Speaker 2: that separates average leaders from legacy leaders. It's not charisma,
Speaker 2: it's not a fancy title. It's not how loud you
Speaker 2: speak in meetings. It is your ability to multiply yourself
Speaker 2: through mentorship. I call this the mentor multiplier effect. Here's
Speaker 2: the reality. Most leaders manage tasks. Strong leaders develop people.
Speaker 2: Elite leaders build other leaders who can develop people. That
Speaker 2: is the multiplier. If you're only from the front, everything
Speaker 2: depends on you, your calendar, your energy, your decision making bandwidth.
Speaker 2: The moment you get tired, the organization slows down, and
Speaker 2: the moment you leave things start to wobble. When you
Speaker 2: mentor intentionally, you're creating force multiplication. You are increasing leadership
Speaker 2: density inside your organization without increasing payroll. So let me
Speaker 2: explain this clearly. If you personally solve ten problems a week,
Speaker 2: that's good. If you mentor two people to solve ten
Speaker 2: problems each, that's twenty. If those two people mentor two more,
Speaker 2: now you are at forty. That is not theory. That
Speaker 2: is how organizations scale without collapsing. The mentor multiplier effect
Speaker 2: is about leverage. But here's where most leaders get it wrong.
Speaker 2: They confuse mentoring with being liked. They confuse mentoring with
Speaker 2: casual advice. They confuse mentoring with a once a year
Speaker 2: performance review. Mentoring is deliberate, It is scheduled, it is structured.
Speaker 2: It is uncomfortable at times. You're not there to hand
Speaker 2: out compliments. You're there to transfer a judgment, perspective, and standards.
Speaker 2: When I mentor someone, I'm not trying to create a
Speaker 2: mini version of me. I'm trying to create someone who
Speaker 2: can think independently under pressure and hold the line when
Speaker 2: standards are tested. That requires honesty. If you're not willing
Speaker 2: to correct them, challenge them, and sometimes frustrate them, you're
Speaker 2: not mentoring. You're just socializing. The multiplier effect only happens
Speaker 2: when growth happens. And here's another truth. Mentorship protects culture.
Speaker 2: Culture does not survive on posters. It survives on people
Speaker 2: who understand why standards exist. When you mentor someone. You're
Speaker 2: explaining the backstory, you're sharing the scar tissue. You're passing
Speaker 2: down the reasoning behind policies, not just the policies themselves.
Speaker 2: That creates alignment. Without mentorship, organizations drift. Every new hire
Speaker 2: interprets leadership differently, Every supervisor creates their own version of
Speaker 2: the rules. Over time, you end up with ten microcultures
Speaker 2: instead of one unified direction. Mentorship closes that gap. Now,
Speaker 2: let's talk about something leaders rarely admit. Mentorship requires vulnerability.
Speaker 2: You have to tell stories about mistakes. You have to
Speaker 2: explain decisions that did not go well. You have to
Speaker 2: show someone how you think, not only what you think.
Speaker 2: That's uncomfortable for leaders who built their reputation on being
Speaker 2: the strong one in the room. But if you never
Speaker 2: pull back the curtain, your people only see the finished product.
Speaker 2: They do not see the process, and without the process,
Speaker 2: they cannot replicate your decision making. The mentor multiplier effect
Speaker 2: is not about control. It is about continuity. If your
Speaker 2: organization cannot function without you, that is not power. That
Speaker 2: is fragility. The strongest leaders I have met all have
Speaker 2: one thing in common. They can step away and things
Speaker 2: still run smooth. That's not luck. That's mentorship done right.
Speaker 2: Now here's a tactical way to apply this. First, identify
Speaker 2: two people who have leadership potential, not the loudest, not
Speaker 2: the most popular, the ones who show judgment, discipline, and curiosity. Second,
Speaker 2: schedule a recurring thirty minute block every two weeks. Put
Speaker 2: it on the calendar. Protect it like it matters, because
Speaker 2: it does. Third, structure the conversation around three things. What
Speaker 2: decisions did you make recently, why did you make them?
Speaker 2: And what would you do differently next time. That is
Speaker 2: how you transfer thinking. Fourth, give them stretch responsibility, not
Speaker 2: busy work, real ownership with real accountability. And here is
Speaker 2: the critical piece. Let them feel the weight of that responsibility.
Speaker 2: Do not rescue them too quickly, debrief afterwards, ask questions,
Speaker 2: help them sharpen their instincts. That is multiplication. There's also
Speaker 2: a personal benefit to mentorship that most leaders underestimate. It
Speaker 2: sharpens you. When someone asks why you made a decision,
Speaker 2: you are forced to articulate your reasoning. That prevents lazy leadership,
Speaker 2: it prevents autopilot. Mentorship keeps your edge sharp. And let
Speaker 2: me say this clearly, if you are not mentoring anyone,
Speaker 2: you are capping your impact. You can write policies, you
Speaker 2: can deliver speeches, you can hold town halls, but none
Speaker 2: of that replaces one focus conversation where you shape how
Speaker 2: another leader thinks. This is where seven minute leadership connects perfectly.
Speaker 2: Seven intentional minutes a day invested into someone else's growth
Speaker 2: compounds over years. It creates leaders who think clearly, act decisively,
Speaker 2: and protect standards without being reminded. That is the multiplier effect.
Speaker 2: And one more thing, mentorship is not reserved for executives.
Speaker 2: If you're a frontline supervisor, you can mentor if you're
Speaker 2: a mid level manager, you can mentor if you're in
Speaker 2: the C suite, you must mentor. Leadership is not measured
Speaker 2: by how many people report to you. It is measured
Speaker 2: by how many leaders you leave behind. So if you
Speaker 2: want your leadership to outlive your title, start multiplying yourself.
Speaker 2: Pick two people, block the time, transfer what you know,
Speaker 2: be honest, be direct, raise the standard. That is how
Speaker 2: legacies are built, one conversation at a time. And if
Speaker 2: you want more free leadership resources, head on over to
Speaker 2: Paulfallolito dot com click on free Stuff. I have over
Speaker 2: twenty five free leadership documents you can download and start
Speaker 2: using today. This has been the seven minute Leadership podcast,
Speaker 2: and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com