The Mentoring of New Leaders through ERP Implementations
When implementing a new ERP system, you build your team with Subject Matter Experts and current leaders. You plan for business process mapping, change management, security, integration, committee membership, etc. But have you ever considered mentoring and building future leaders?
When I first began working in higher education, I was fortunate that my boss took her role of mentoring new leaders seriously. She brought me into the office, sat me on her couch (yes, she had a couch in her office) and asked me, “What do you want to do or be in your career?” My answer was simple. “I want your job.” She looked at me and said, without skipping a beat, “Well, we need to bring you in immediately on this implementation. To be a leader, you need to experience an implementation of this magnitude.”
My first task? Map all the student business processes in their current form. That seemed like such a daunting task at first. However, there had to be a reason she gave me this task because she would never just give me busy work. So off I went to map every process. I started with the very beginning of creating programs and courses ending with a student graduating and sending the information over to alumnae and development. This process allowed me to learn more about the business of higher education.
Due to doing a great job with my first task, I was brought in to take notes at all the deployment meetings. Before long, I was placed as the lead for the creation of the training material and led the classes that taught the institution how to use our new ERP system. I progressed through several positions during this time that led me to learn SQL where I mastered reporting and soon became in charge of writing reports which then led to me leading the implementation of our degree audit system. Soon after the implementation of the degree audit system concluded, I was hired by the vendor to become a consultant.
Before I left, however, my mentor had gotten promoted which led to my last promotion at the institution. What was the job, you ask? Her old job – you know- the one I wanted! That first task, the deep dive into how our institution did the business of higher education taught me so much! It was that first task and countless more that followed, guided by her mentorship and encouragement, that put me on a path that led to the creation of SISSCORP.
That is my story. But what about others? How are we training our future leaders in higher education? If an administrator is growing and learning in his or her career, it can be assumed that leaving is inevitable to obtain another role elsewhere. What is the responsibility of an administrator when departing from an institution? According to May (2020) putting a team in place that can keep the institution running is the only requirement when leaving an institution. This seems a bit short sighted and what is owed to the institution is more involved than just setting up a team that can function without its leader. Mentoring the team and guiding them through challenges, giving team members the opportunity to learn from their leader, and providing opportunities with stretch goals to grow successors is just as important as putting together a good team.
Leaders, both present and future, need mentors. In an article published by Excel Communications, eleven reasons were given as to why leaders need mentors. Gaining new perspectives, developing strengths, having a trusted advisor, motivation, building confidence, and growing your network were some of the reasons listed to have a mentor (Hallett, n.d.). What better place to accomplish this than during an implementation? As an administrator being involved in an implementation, being willing to learn and grow as an accomplished professional displays to a team that everyone can learn or even make mistakes. This is very powerful in encouraging a team when out of the box resolutions are needed. It empowers the team to be creative an unafraid to fail.
This emphasizes the importance of engaging future leaders through participating in ERP implementations. These future leaders are mentored through challenges, decision making, collaboration, cooperation, and even the ability to become mentors themselves. They can have the opportunity, through the implementation, to learn about the institution outside of their office. They should feel empowered to engage, provide feedback, be given stretch goals, and provided a place to learn from both successes and failures. These future leaders are introduced to the policies, practices, and politics that guide the daily activities of an institution. Upon completion of the implementation, if you as a leader have done your job, you have future leaders and mentors that are ready for their next challenge or role, inside or outside your institution.
As you gear up for your next implementation, bring in that excited and eager to learn individual from your office to be part of the implementation. Who knows, you may be working with the next president of a great college or university, a future registrar or director, or even a future founder of a woman owned and led higher education ERP consulting firm.
And to my mentor, Mrs. Dannaway, thank you. There are many of us who owe so much to your mentorship, guidance, and faith in our abilities. May we all be fortunate enough to have this type of mentor in our career.
References
Hallett, T. (n.d.). 11 reasons why all leaders need a mentor. Www.excel-Communications.com. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.excel-communications.com/blog/11-reasons-why-all-leaders-need-a-mentor
May, S. (2020, May 11). Should you change leadership jobs in the middle of a pandemic? The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/should-you-change-leadership-jobs-in-the-middle-of-a-pandemic/
