Reverse Mentorship 
There is still a culture that thinks today’s youth are wasting their time on smartphone devices and tablets. Well think again, as today’s gadgets are tomorrows livelihoods, already it is very clear that digital natives will rule the world, hence any golf club leaders should be taking clear notes from them.
It has been a tradition that we learn from those with experience and wisdom all sensible stuff, as you make your route through the education of life. The workplace creates mentorships whereby an older colleague would coach a younger employee, sharing the tricks of the trade. Career pathways are drawn, networks created and solutions discussed.
Finding myself in a position with all round golf management experience, it is a privilege to be in a position to share and influence new talents that are emerging within the industry, although I have now changed my whole approach as modern mentoring breaks with the traditional methods, whereby it now requires flexibility and compromise from both sides, hence the notion of reverse mentorship is a far more productive learning methods for both parties. In order for reverse mentorship to work you need three things.
- Let go of your ego, and be prepared to learn from someone with substantially less experience. Forget about prejudices, be humble, and open your inquisitive mind.
- Define your expectations and discuss what you want to achieve. If you aim to learn basic use of information technology then say so. If you want to go further talk about it. Mentorship is definitely a two way street. The likelihood is you will both end up learning something new.
- It is critical that you trust each other; you must be able to step outside your comfort zone and listen and share opportunities that will fit and potentially the future learning steps.
There are many benefits to reverse mentorship. It brings older and younger generations together in the workplace. It breeds new leaders while it disrupts old, often inefficient traditions. It is a win-win set-up where everyone learns something new.
Although many Golf Club businesses have made huge strides in adapting to change within how they govern their clubs, alas there are still many who lag behind and have misoneism attitudes for their future pathways.
Golf Club’s will be very wise to take a leaf out of this book, of modern mentorship and adapt this diverse approach into their future plans.