Leadership Lounge: How Mentorship Can Help C-suite Leaders Turn Headwinds Into Opportunity

At the C-suite level, there are moments that test you in ways your earlier career never did. You face challenges you’ve never come across before. You are expected to make uncomfortable trade-offs with limited information. And you must act decisively without a clear forum to test your thinking first.

In moments like these, you may find yourself asking: “Am I seeing this clearly, or am I too close to it?”, “Are people agreeing with me because I’m right, or because I’m their boss?”, “How do I know if my decision is the right one?” These are not questions you can easily explore with your executive team or CEO. Yet ignoring them carries its own risk.

What often helps is someone who has been through the same fires you now face and emerged stronger. Someone with no vested interest in your career trajectory. Someone who can listen without judgment. That is where mentorship becomes invaluable.

How can a mentor help you navigate the complex environment you’re leading in today?

Kurt Harrison, Leadership Advisor, RRA: The nature of the challenges you face as a leader have fundamentally shifted from episodic crises to a period of sustained uncertainty, which shows no sign of abating anytime soon. You likely rose through the ranks during pretty stable environments, benefiting from a fairly positive macroeconomic backdrop. That has radically changed in recent times. And mentors who have successfully navigated multiple economic cycles can really bring invaluable pattern recognition and provide you with advice and counsel.

Why is it so important you seek an additional, external point of view?

Amanda Foster, Leadership Advisor, RRA: Firstly, mentorship is not remedial. It's developmental and it can help you have an agile, constantly learning mindset focused on the future rather than looking backwards. Seeking an outside mentor can provide you with an outside-in perspective, and a thought partner who can bring that external experience to your situation.

How can a leader build an authentic relationship with their mentor?

Amanda Foster, Leadership Advisor, RRA: At the end of the day, this is a relationship, and the amount of value that both parties get out of this relationship is a function of trust—and trust takes time. So, the first thing to say is that the first couple of engagements may feel formal and not particularly fruitful, but actually when both parties invest in listening on both sides, that relationship warms. Also, be respectful of your mentor's time. These individuals are not doing this for financial compensation. They're doing it to give back. You should come to the conversation prepared.

How can you maximize the value you get from your mentor?

Jeffrey Cheng, Leadership Advisor, RRA: The first thing you need to do is set clear goals—what do you want to gain from the relationship? Secondly, you need to be open and honest. You need to share real challenges you’re experiencing to get relevant and actionable advice. Don't be shy or hide yourself.

About the authors

Kurt Harrison co-leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Sustainability practice. He is based in New York.

Amanda Foster is a leadership advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates. She is based in London.

Jeffrey Cheng is a leadership advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates. He is based in Shanghai.