The Mentors of Rocky Balboa, and the Takeaways for a Leader

The skillset and competencies required to become an effective manager fall into a wide spectrum. There are intangible and unquantifiable behaviors among them that determine the extent of this effectiveness. How successful you are as a manager depends not only on the productivity of your team as a whole or the results you achieve on a project or the cost you saved for the organization; those are the fixed measures of standard. The success of a leader is also judged on the success of those they lead.

A most important, albeit overlooked skill, among leaders of today is the capacity to be a mentor. An often painstaking and demanding role, it exacts one’s time, patience, and dedication. Peer-level understanding coupled with the ability to listen, empathize, and render advice – along with customizing existing training techniques to suit individual need – are central to the idea of mentoring.

One of Hollywood’s most successful movie franchises, Rocky, is not just a saga of the triumph of the human spirit, but also a tribute to the power of an inspiring mentor. There is a ton of takeaways throughout the movies for a budding leader who wishes to exert a positive influence on the professional life of their mentees. 

Recognizing the potential, even if it isn’t readily obvious

Intuition goes a long way in spotting the hidden talents in someone, especially when they are not ‘vocal’ about it. The corporate world often demands one to market oneself to get ahead. For those who don’t or can’t do that, having the right leader as a mentor gives the visibility they need. Mickey Goldmill, unpleasant and dismissive though he is, recognizes Rocky’s potential and admonishes him for wasting it. Goldmill’s quick evaluation of the inexperienced and unexposed entry-level boxer reveals his unusual ability to absorb punches, which eventually works in Rocky’s favor.

The ability to observe, review and evaluate the talents that aren’t obvious requires a patient study of the person’s work, both hard and soft skills. But a timely evaluation and acknowledgement of potential will result in the mentee performing a little extra a little by little.

Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the mentee, and working on them

With hidden potential hide inadequacies as well, which can be measured only by failure. A consistent inability to meet expectations might have a reason on a deeper level. Failing vision in one eye leads to inconsistent performance in Rocky, which he refuses to acknowledge. As his trainer and mentor, Mickey forces him to face his weakness and change his technique. 

A good mentor establishes an effective communication process to get through to the mentee, a process that contains an overview of all of their strengths and weaknesses, appreciation for their efforts and achievements (this is most important to inspire better performance), and a dispassionate yet honest analysis of their drawbacks. 

Recognizing the mentee’s strengths and weaknesses is only the first step towards improvement. A plan must be drawn to eliminate this weakness or building on existing strengths to make the weakness inconsequential. Goldmill’s idea of strengthening Rocky’s right hand, (he is a southpaw) so that his impaired vision doesn’t become an impediment is a perfect example of sharpening out the edges.

Customizing training to suit individual needs

Pre-packaged training sessions/materials are a sure-cut way to address any general requirement. But there are instances that demand improvisation to tackle a weakness that’s dragging someone down. Techniques might have to be adjusted or altered altogether like Apollo Creed training Rocky to develop dancer’s feet or Mickey Goldmill making him chase a chicken to improve his speed.

Eliminating a weakness requires the same approach. With his left hand tied down so that he has to learn to punch with his right, Rocky is able to bring an element of surprise in his match against Creed and also protect his damaged eye at the same time. 

Creed’s dancing technique and Goldmill’s chicken-chasing approach both were customized to meet the requirement of the hour. Apart from offering general domain expertise, training that will address the existing flaws in the mentee’s system, that is customized training modules, is also a prerequisite to influence and inspire.   

Finally, empathize and encourage

A good mentor has the power of focused listening to his/her advantage. The most important tool in understanding what drives the team and what doesn’t is the ability to listen, store, evaluate, and then act as per the need. 

Mickey’s rough motivation to Rocky to overcome his concern about his family; Apollo’s angry outbreak at Rocky to snap out of his grief after Mickey’s death; and Tony Evers’ compelling personal story to inspire Rocky to keep fighting hard, show a mentor empathizing with his mentee to help him put things in perspective, and encouraging him to excel in his career. 

In Steven Spielberg’s words, “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” Achieving this right balance is the key to the transition from a good leader to a great one.