Leading in Midlife - the value of Mentors
Barbra Carlisle • October 31, 2025
“Find Yourself a Mentor”: Why Midlife CEOs Need Someone in Their Corner
“Nothing's a linear, straight line. Find yourself a mentor who can remind you of this fact, because you constantly forget it, and you get frustrated and down hearted, trodden or whatever, and you need someone to pick you up.”
– Steve Butler CEO at Pension Potential
Leadership isn’t a straight path.
For leaders of small businesses, especially in midlife, the journey is often full of pivots, pressure, and personal growth. Questions that I hear leaders asking themselves when coaching them include:
- Am I were I need to be? I thought it would have got easier by now
- When should I be looking to exit my business?
- I think I would like to exit in 5 years but I don't trust anyone to keep the business going as well as I do
- I am so busy I haven't got time to think about what next!
Steve Butler’s quote is a powerful reminder that mentorship is not a luxury it’s a lifeline.
- 70% of businesses report that mentoring has positively impacted performance.
- 65% of leaders say mentoring helped boost revenue; 64% saw improved profits.
- 72% of leaders experienced better mental health and work-life balance through mentoring.
- 70% reported increased confidence.
Yet, 25% of leaders struggle to find a mentor, highlighting a gap in access.
These stats show that mentoring isn’t just about advice, it’s about resilience, clarity, and growth.
If you are reading this and think I need a mentor or I know someone who does need a mentor then please do think about the following:
- Find a mentor outside your organisation, someone who can challenge and support you.
- Join structured programmes like Help to Grow: Management, which includes 10 hours of 1:1 mentoring.
- Use coaching to complement mentoring.
I offer:
- 1:1 executive coaching for CEOs and COOs navigating growth, change, or confidence dips.
- Mentorship support through the Help to Grow Programme
- Workshops on feedback, communication, and leadership resilience.
- Leadership Intensives where we really do explore what is holding you up and what is holding you back
👉 Or explore: Confidence in Leadership
Steve Butler shares how leaving school early shaped his leadership journey. We explore stats on non-traditional education paths, coaching leaders.
Discover how confidence grows through feedback, reflection, and bold choices. Learn what sparks new leaders to step up and build high-performing teams.
