Mentoring company finds power in group

LOVELAND — Through group mentoring, Amy Burgess, president of WOW’M: The Mentoring Company, teaches and trains corporations to use the talents of individuals within the organization.

Burgess founded, and has trademarked, a leadership development tool called the Mentoring Circle. The tool creates an ongoing learning situation linked to business goals by uniting people and drawing from a pool of knowledge and resources. She created the tool by combining contemporary learning models with traditional mentoring.

Burgess founded WOW’M: The Mentoring Company in 1993. She started the business in Denver, and moved it to Loveland six months ago.

According to her model, a mentoring circle consists of a primary mentor, a facilitator and 12 people being mentored.

The mentor and others in the group help solve business-related problems by bringing in all their resources and knowledge. The goal of the circle is to help those being mentored move forward, both personally and professionally.

“It stimulates everyone to bring in their wisdom,” Burgess said.

But the circle is not about advice, she added. It’s about learning and discovery. The person being mentored holds the responsibility for learning. Focused on self-empowerment, the process can help individuals move from feeling stuck or angry to feeling positive, Burgess said.

She cites one example of a woman who was transformed, through the help of the circle, from feeling like a victim to seeing herself as a respected colleague.

The program lasts about 18 weeks, and groups meet every other week for two hours. The model follows guidelines so that the circle stays focused on mentoring.

Burgess’ rates are based on a per-person fee. The cost is $1,500 for 20 sessions, which breaks out to about $38 a training hour.

Typically, corporations’ professional development funds are limited, and the market is very competitive, she said. Most corporations have training and development programs supported by a few experts. But when the expert leaves, so does the expertise. With group mentoring, expertise roots from all individuals involved. Companies can use the talents in their own halls and maximize what already exists, Burgess said.

Because people in smaller businesses tend to know each other better, Burgess typically works with larger companies. The goal is to incorporate people from different perspectives. This means employees and their supervisors should not be in the same circle.

Adolph Coors Co., Colorado State University and Hewlett-Packard Co. are a few of WOW’M’s clients. And in addition to corporate work, Burgess also holds public mentoring circles.

“I’m very impressed with the program,´ said Caroline Turner, senior vice president and general counsel at Coors.

CSU was her first big client, Burgess said. She started working with the university about two years ago.

“It was hard to market the concept because it is intangible,” Burgess said. “It was a tough first sale.”

The professional development program at CSU is offered to female faculty, staff and administration.

“The program is fantastic,´ said Ellie Gilfoyle, director of the Institute for Women and Leadership. “It creates a network for women to be creative and identify their own business solutions.”

It takes up to three times a person’s salary to rehire and retrain another person, Burgess said. Her program helps retain employees, thus saving companies money, she said. Burgess claims that mentoring circles increase employee commitment to both self-improvement and to the organization and evoke positive action and innovative decision-making.

Benefits of the program to the corporation include maximization of inhouse talent and resources, improvement of employee productivity, reduction in employee development costs, increased clarity of strategic objectives and continuous improvement opportunities, she said.

Benefits to the employee include development of one’s self and team leadership abilities, creative problem-solving, innovative idea development and strengthened interpersonal skills.

Before starting the company, Burgess studied group dynamics. She researched how people learned, and closely examined one-on-one mentoring programs. She found that such programs are marginally successful because they’re driven by chemistry that can often be mismatched, and because they’re so demanding on the mentor.

Burgess has a bachelor of science degree in human services and a master’s degree in business administration. While earning her MBA from the University of Colorado, she specialized in organization development, and, prior to starting WOW’M, she owned several small businesses and worked as a psychotherapist.

Her role in the mentoring company is to prepare for the group talks. She assesses the situation and conducts orientations for both the mentor and for those who are being mentored.

Burgess also serves as the facilitator. Although she is her company’s sole employee, a team of independent contractors works as facilitators for the company. Burgess trains people to mentor and facilitate. She also licenses people to practice the group mentoring model.

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