Blog - ICW Consulting Group

Group Work and Dialogue – NCORE May 31, 2012

Ilene, Placida Gallegos and Steve Schapiro recently presented “Group Work for Racial Justice: Transforming Self, Group & Systems” at the NCORE conference in May. If you are interested in viewing the presentation or the book chapter they co-wrote on the same subject, please email jmartin@icwconsulting.com to be added to the Dropbox folder. The files are too large to embed here.

An Ecological Systems Perspective on Mentoring at Work: A Review and Future Prospects

Abstract

After nearly 30 years as a subject of inquiry, mentoring remains a mainstay in the organizational literature, as relationships are arguably more important than ever to employees’ personal and career growth. In this paper, we take an ecological perspective to situate and review topical areas of the literature with the intention of enhancing our understanding of how mentoring outcomes for prote ́ge ́s and mentors are determined not only by individual differences (e.g., personality) and dyadic factors (e.g., the quality of a relationship)—both of which represent the most frequently examined levels of analyses—but also the influences of the people from various social spheres comprising their developmental network, the larger organization of which they are a part, and macrosystem factors (e.g., technological shifts, globalization) that enable, constrain, or shape mentoring and other developmental relationships. Our review examines multi-level influences that shape mentoring outcomes, and brings into focus how the study of mentoring can be advanced by research at the network, organizational, and macrosystem levels. To help guide future research efforts, we assert that adult development and relational schema theories, Positive Organizational Scholarship, a social network perspective, signaling theory, and institutional theories can help to address emerging and unanswered questions at each ecological level.

The full text is available in this .pdf: Annals Ecological Mentoring

The Landscape of Mentoring in the 21st Century

Excerpt from Ch. 27: The Landscape of Mentoring in the 21st Century
The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and Practice
Belle Rose Ragins
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Kathy E. Kram
Boston University
Sage Publication
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Landscape of Mentoring in the 21st Century
Kathy E. Kram Belle Rose Ragins

As the authors in this volume have consistently demonstrated, the garden of mentoring has evolved over the past 25 years, and the landscape of our discipline will be quite different in the 21st century. Through our research and practice, we have uncovered new explanations for why some relation- ships continue to grow and flourish, while others become stagnant or dysfunctional. Our vision of mentoring has expanded with the emergence of new forms and hybrids—such as peer mentoring, cross-gender mentoring, cross-cultural mentoring, mentoring circles, and e-mentoring. Our conception of mentoring has evolved from an acknowledgement of “constellations of relationships” to an emphasis on “developmental networks.” Equally important, the work in this volume highlights how environmental conditions that surround mentoring— globalization, increasingly diverse workforces, flattened hierarchies, team-based organizations, new technologies, and a persistently rapid pace of change—influence the nature and potential of mentoring at work.

A New Mindset on Mentoring: Creating Developmental Networks at Work

April 15, 2009

Kathy E. Kram and Monica C. Higgins
A New Mindset on Mentoring: Creating Developmental Networks at Work
Copyright Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. All rights reserved. Reprint 50431

HUMAN RESOURCES

A New Mindset on Mentoring: Creating Developmental Networks at Work
By Kathy E. Kram and Monica C. Higgins

Kathy E. Kram is a professor of organizational behavior and a distinguished faculty scholar at Boston University’s School of Management. Monica C. Higgins is an associate professor focused on leadership and organizational behavior at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

FINDING a mentor is not the solution to an executive’s career advancement, professional development, or satisfaction in contemporary work settings; nor is assigning formal men- tors to high potential employees the solution to building a high performance, learning organization. With today’s fast-changing technology, increasingly global, multi-cultural, and team-based work environments, no one mentor can possibly provide the guidance, exposure, and opportunities that are so essential to effectively manage current job challenges or prepare for future leadership roles. So, what is the alternative?

Discovering Our Purpose Through The Eyes Of Our Constituents

The Jewish Community Relations Council Summit

Background
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia was created in 1939 in response to the rise of anti-semitism in the United States and in Europe. Over the 60 plus years of its existence, it’s mission has been to serve as the community relations arm of the Jewish community in the Delaware Valley in order to:
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