MENTORING AND ITS IMPACT ON LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN

Mentoring and Its Impact on the Leadership Development of Women

Table of Content

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION1

Statement of the Problem1

Purpose of the Study1

Research Questions1

Need for the Study2

Design of the Study3

Research Design3

Literature Search3

Limitations & Delimitations of the study3

Reliability4

Validity5

Ethical Concerns5

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW7

De?ning Leadership7

Think Leader, Think Male7

An Alternative Perspective8

Leader Development10

Perspectives Towards Mentoring15

Characteristics of good mentoring practices16

Good mentors as formative leaders20

Good Mentoring And Teacher Leadership21

CHAPTER III: CRITICAL ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION23

Dimensions of Analysis23

Gender And Mentoring Style25

Mentoring27

Strategy 1: Procedural coaching31

Strategy 2: Corrective31

Strategy 3: Approving32

Strategy 4: Advising32

Strategy 5: Indirect coaching33

CHAPTER IV: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS34

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

This paper explores the way people 'do mentoring' in the workplace. Using examples from our extensive database of interactions, recorded in a number of workplaces, the analysis identi?es a variety of discourse strategies used by those in positions of responsibility in mentoring colleagues. The mentors in our corpus draw from a wide repertoire of strategies, ranging from those which focus on procedural aspects of career advising, through corrective and appreciative comments, to supportive advising, and indirect coaching. Although mentoring has traditionally been associated with men, the examples demonstrate that women leaders do mentoring too, and the analysis suggests that some do it very well.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the research is to analyse the exploratory look at how mentoring is accomplished indicates that 'feminine' strategies are well represented among those available, and appear to be very effective. It is suggested that successful women leaders contest or 'trouble' established gender boundaries and thereby expand the very concept of what it means to be a leader. Through their discursive practices, they give the legitimacy of power to a range of discursive strategies, including some conventionally regarded as feminine. Thus, it is argued, the process of constructing one's identity as an effective leader becomes increasingly compatible for women with that of constructing a socially coherent gender identity.

Research Questions

Research is based on the following questions;

Successful women leaders contest or 'trouble' established gender boundaries and thereby expand the very concept of what it means to be a leader.

Identity as an effective leader becomes increasingly compatible for women with that of constructing a socially coherent gender identity.

How do people 'do' mentoring?

What distinguishes effective from ineffective mentoring?

What kinds of mentoring strategies are used by good leaders?

Does mentoring, like other aspects of leadership, encompass a range of styles, including features which are conventionally associated with gendered interaction?

Need for the Study

From a socio-pragmatic point of view any useful de?nition of leadership must take account of a wider range of characteristics and capabilities than those recognised in the more traditional leadership literature. The de?nition of effective leadership which we have adopted in our research thus takes account of a person's communication skills, as a crucial com- ponent in advancing desired organisational outcomes (Holmes et al., 2003; cf. Hackman and Johnson, 2000). We focus on the discourse of effective leaders and de?ne it as follows: consistent communicative performance which, by in?uencing others, facilitates acceptable outcomes for the organisation (transactional/task-oriented goal), and which ...