Three veteran figures are launching a company that will provide
mentors for senior managers in the ad business.
Ms Lyndy Payne, Ms Caroline Marland and Ms Wendy Braverman will launch
the company, called Potential Squared, in January 2001.
The company is based on the proposition that the fast-changing nature of
the communications industry has produced a new breed of MDs, chairmen
and CEOs who can find themselves isolated while facing new demands.
For an introductory fee and about £25,000 a year, the mentor would
work with the manager for about one day a month.
Mentors will be prominent figures from advertising, media and client
backgrounds.
Citing examples of world personalities who have enjoyed the benefits of
a trusted adviser, such as Jesse Jackson whose mentor was Dr Martin
Luther King, Ms Payne explained: "We will introduce an outside mentor,
matched to the director in terms of relevant experience and
temperament.
The mentor will provide understanding, strength and unemotional advice
on a regular basis, as well as in times of panic and emergency.
"Often managers have got where they are by talent and hard work but with
little training for the job, little experience of managing large
companies or dealing with parent companies and shareholders."
Ms Payne has been working on industry projects since leaving the
Advertising Agency Register, which she founded in 1975.
Ms Marland was the first woman to become the MD of a national newspaper
in Britain. She left Guardian Newspapers this summer, after 25
years.
Ms Braverman will continue to run her own head-hunting business, Wendy
Braverman Associates.
