Articles

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a nice article on mentoring in a recent issue (click here to read it). In it, I’m quoted at saying that mentoring “shrinks the big organizations.” This quote means that a mentoring program has the power to cross boundaries within organizations, creating connections across silos and building the organization’s social capital. When links across functions are stronger, the complexity of the organization seems more understandable to both mentors and protégés. When we conduct surveys of mentoring program participants, we often hear the growth of social capital as a great benefit to the program. An example... Read More

by Rik Nemanick, Ph.D. This post is the second in the series The Mentor’s Way, a set of guides for mentors who want to bring out the best in others. One of the things that separates mentoring from coaching is the time scale in which the two operate. Coaching tends to be focused on the here and now, closing immediate gaps and accomplishing short term goals. Mentoring is focused on the long term, the protégé’s journey that may last years. Understanding a protégé’s goals and aspirations will help create a context for more meaningful conversations. Spending the time up front to explore... Read More

by Rik Nemanick, Ph.D.  January continues National Mentoring Month, with the 26th being set aside as “Thank Your Mentor Day.” I encourage you to think about the mentors you have had to this point in your career. They may be old bosses with whom you keep in touch. They may be coaches, teachers, or professors who inspired you. Find an opportunity to thank your mentors for what they have meant to you. When I work with formal mentoring programs, I find that feedback from protégés to mentors is often lacking. As a result, protégés are often much more satisfied with... Read More