What does the research evidence say?

Whether formal or informal, mentoring programs are common in modern organizations. The goals and types of mentoring programs range in variety. For example, reverse mentoring programs enable junior employees to share their skills and experiences with more senior co-workers. Similarly, group mentoring programs allow several mentees (or protégés) to learn from a mentor and also from each other. Leadership development is another area for mentoring. In this article, we will review mentoring for leadership development from the research evidence, and discuss the key factors in effective implementation.

What is mentorship?

Mentorship can broadly be defined as a professional working relationship between two people who share a common goal. In traditional mentoring relationships, a senior person usually serves as a mentor and empowers a junior person in achieving their goals by sharing their experience and advice. Research suggests positive outcomes both for mentees and mentors who participate in such a relationship. Some benefits for mentees include higher levels of career satisfaction, greater perception of career success, and improved work performance. Mentors also report positive outcomes such as higher levels of personal satisfaction and increased recognition within the workplace. Although these benefits are important, research on these outcomes of mentorship suggests the effects are small to moderate.

Mentoring for leadership development

Researchers identify mentorship programs as a promising tool for leadership development. In these programs, mentors and mentees work on mentees’ leadership skills by informally assessing their strengths and weaknesses as leaders and building confidence in the mentees’ leadership abilities with the help of mentors’ knowledge and experience. Studies in different settings such as education, healthcare, and corporate organizations reported that mentorship could be an effective tool to develop leaders under certain conditions. Some of these conditions are:

Time pressure or lack thereof. For a successful mentorship program, both mentees and mentors must have sufficient time to work on their relationships.

Motivation. Mentees should seek a mentor voluntarily. Similarly, mentors should be motivated to allocate time and resources for another person’s development as a leader.

Organizational support. Organizations must support mentors and mentees in their relationship by providing them with the resources they need such as time and space for regular meetings or knowledge support on executing mentorship programs effectively.

Effective matching. Although the duration of the mentorship programs is usually defined, mentors and mentees should strive for a long-term, sustainable relationship. The key to this relationship is to match mentors and mentees effectively.

Structure. An ideal mentorship program gives room to mentors and mentees. Studies show that some structure such as carefully designed guides or questions can facilitate the dialogue.

 

References

• Allen, T. D., Finkelstein, L. M., & Poteet, M. L. (2011). Designing workplace mentoring programs: An evidence-based approach. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
• Clayton, J. K., Sanzo, K. L., & Myran, S. (2013). Understanding mentoring in leadership development: Perspectives of district administrators and aspiring leaders. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 8(1), 77-96.
• Eby, L. T., & Robertson, M. M. (2019). The Psychology of Workplace Mentoring Relationships. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 7. 3.1-3.26.
• Solansky, S. T. (2010). The evaluation of two key leadership development program components: Leadership skills assessment and leadership mentoring. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(4), 675-681.
• Stead, V. (2005). Mentoring: a model for leadership development? International Journal of Training and Development, 9(3), 170-184.