Mentoring: A Promising Strategy for Creating and Sustaining a Learning Organization

Abstract

Continuous learning at the systems level is increasingly essential as organizations of all types face a rapidly changing environment. The potential role of mentoring relationships in creating and sustaining a learning organization continues to be an important area for research. The purpose of this article is to review some of the recent learning organization literature that addresses this topic, provide a specific example of mentoring in action from the author's organizational experience, and present suggestions for future research. Mentoring as an organizational learning process can provide the support system for changes that lead to real improvement. Mentoring relationships vary in the amounts of nurture and challenge involved, but typically include both (Daloz, 1986). Traditional concepts of mentoring have emphasized the role of a senior or expert person who assists in another member's orientation, career development, and acculturation through counseling, advice, and feedback (Darwin, 2000). Darwin contrasts these traditional mentoring concepts with more recent views that focus on collaborative and mutual learning partnerships. This shared learning benefits the entire organization. Mentoring and the Learning Organization: A Review Mentoring has been an important concept in the adult education literature for some time (Daloz, 1986; Hansman, 2000, 2001a, 2001b; Marsick & Watkins, 1996; Merriam, 1983). Its use occurs in almost every imaginable setting with various understandings of the mentor's role. Daloz focuses on adults returning to school and Hansman discusses mentoring in continuing professional education programs. There are mentoring programs for teachers and other professionals, in business and in other settings, as a form of spiritual guidance. Senge (1990), who popularized the concept of the learning organization, defines it as: An organization where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together. (p. 3) Others, such as Garvin (1993), focus on the creation and transfer of knowledge and the required changes in behavior to reflect new knowledge. Gephart, Marsick, Van Buren, and Spiro (1996) capture the essence of a learning organization using the six dimensions of continuous learning at the systems level (not just the individual or team levels): a) knowledge generation and sharing, b) critical, c) systemic thinking, d) an entire culture of learning, e) a spirit of flexibility and experimentation, and f) people-centeredness. These dimensions conceptualize the learning organization as discussed in this article. Relationship and Significance of Mentoring to the Learning Organization Leaders have an important role in creating an environment for generating and sharing new knowledge. Their responsibility as learning leaders and models could be partially fulfilled by encouraging mentoring as a vehicle that visibly demonstrates the importance of continuous learning in the organization. A well-managed mentoring program could certainly help to foster a culture that rewards learning and experimentation. In addition, some of the more innovative mentoring applications not only provide opportunities for continuous learning, but create a structure to capture and share learning and emphasize the promotion of open inquiry and dialogue (Bokeno & Gantt, 2000; Cook & Adonisi, 1994). The emphasis on knowledge creation and shared learning through approaches like collaborative mentoring partnerships tends to support and promote the dimensions of a learning organization more than traditional mentoring. These applications also emphasize the importance of innovation, creative thinking, and encouragement of contradiction as paths toward improvement. …