„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

from outside the organization not only can negatively affect morale and organizational
loyalty but also can introduce new people who conflict with the organization’s culture.
Introducing new managers or employees into an organization is analogous to the
introduction of new strains of bacteria into the body: Some strains can strengthen the
immune system, but others can be dangerous. Similarly, in some cases new people in an
organization can be a very positive influence, but in others the results may be
catastrophic to the culture.
Obviously, the process of promoting from the ranks involves much more than
choosing and promoting the most talented technical specialists. Talented line workers
may possess high levels of skill in their areas of technical expertise, but such
competencies are quite different from those required to create and manage teamwork
within a work group. The process of developing competent leaders requires an
awareness of the organization’s personnel needs as well as mechanisms for developing
managerial potential and ability (Sveiby & Lloyd, 1987).
Mentoring programs recognize that on-the-job experience and coaching are
valuable ways to develop managerial capabilities. When people in organizations are
asked to indicate the ways in which they learned most, they rarely mention university
courses, management seminars, or on-the-job training. Rather, they mention on-the-job
experience. This finding coincides with research indicating that effective leaders are
most often “able to identify a small number of mentors and key experiences that
powerfully shaped their philosophies, personalities, aspirations, and operating styles”
(Bennis & Nanus, 1985, p. 188).
Mentoring also offers obvious benefits for protégés. A young, new employee, for
example, forms an occupational identity and relationship with other employees during
the initial stages of his or her career. This is the period during which questions of
competence and ability to achieve future occupational dreams are most salient. The
employee must learn how to function effectively within the organization by developing
technical, interpersonal, and political skills as well as a sense of competence in his or her
work. The necessary skills and a sense of competence are acquired primarily through
interaction and feedback, and mentoring can be extremely useful in this acquisition
process.
In addition, mentors benefit from the mentoring experience. During mid-career the
more experienced employee is likely to be reappraising accomplishments and
reassessing goals. Entering into a mentoring relationship with a new, ambitious worker
provides the senior employee with an opportunity to redirect his or her energies into
creative and productive endeavor. It also provides an opportunity to participate
vicariously in another person’s resolution of the challenges associated with a succession
of difficult career stages. In addition, if the protégé is young, the mentor can help that
young person to meet the challenges of early adulthood. A related benefit is that the
protégé may enable the mentor to see issues, situations, and conditions in a new light.
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer