Jack, a smart young finance professional, was on a fast track to becoming a CFO. With a solid education in accounting and finance and a career start with one of the top auditing firms, he was already regional finance director at the age of 35. His personal target was to reach CFO level by the time he turned 40.

However, while he was considered technically brilliant, he struggled with a number of issues in his new role. He found it difficult to engage his direct reports, all experienced managers, many of whom were older than him. He was heavily challenged by the business heads when he tried to demand compliance or address cost or investments running over-budget.

Jack decided to speak to the HR director to get advice on how to move forward. The HR director proposed that Jack attend an integrated leadership development programme for future CFOs that included extensive mentoring by a very experienced CFO from another, non-competing company.

Jack found the time with a seasoned CFO particularly useful. Not only did he gain new perspectives on his challenges and vital tips from his mentor on how to address them, but the mentor also connected him with other senior finance professionals in her network.

The mentor reported that working with a talented young finance professional was also inspiring for her. In fact, she found that she also learned a lot and gained new perspectives on how to address certain challenges differently in her CFO role.

For a mentoring programme to be most effective, mentors should learn some essential coaching skills and processes. The mentoring programme needs to be planned and initially supported by HR until it gets up and running.

Mentoring can be arranged within or across organisations. Both approaches have their pros and cons. If mentors are sufficiently qualified and if each party takes it seriously, mentoring can be a highly enriching experience for both mentee and mentor.

This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as A guiding hand.