Abstract
How is it that mentors teach—that protégé’s learn—that wisdom is shared between a mentor and protégé? This exploratory, qualitative study responds to a call in the literature to better understand what occurs in mentoring interactions by examining storytelling as a mentoring tool. The focus is on how stories can convey meaning, inspire listeners, and transmit wisdom to help protégés grow, learn, and develop in their jobs and careers. Interview data from 39 professionals working in a wide variety of industries resulted in a rich data set of 48 work-related mentoring stories. Hermeneutical analysis enabled us to identify key mentoring functions that are fulfilled in the narrative text of stories. We conclude that storytelling is indeed a powerful tool in mentoring—allowing mentors to calm their protégés, encourage them, help them solve problems, build their confidence, teach them, give them direction, and provide numerous other functions.
Highlights
In the hushed darkness of a chilly night, a fire truck carrying six men rolled toward its Brooklyn firehouse
In our own lives—both professional and personal—they help us set goals, navigate difficult situations, overcome challenges, develop skills, and learn the ropes. How is it that mentors impart their wisdom? How do they act on the influence they have? What do they say to inspire and role model for their protégés? Those questions about how mentors mentor are at the heart of the current research
As Hezlett wrote (2005), “ . . . the literature offers only limited insights on how protégés learn from their mentors . . . ” (p. 512), so there is still a need to examine what and how protégés learn from their mentors
Summary
In the hushed darkness of a chilly night, a fire truck carrying six men rolled toward its Brooklyn firehouse They had just finished up at a women’s shelter, where steam wisping from an iron had set off an alarm. Jump ahead to 2013 and the R-rated hit film The Wolf of Wall Street depicting Matthew McConaughey in a brief role early on in the film as Mark Hanna, mentor to Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). It is Hanna’s questionable advice that transforms Belfort from a young, naïve, newly licensed trader to the vile, scandalous crook that overshadows the screen for nearly three hours (Hill, 2013). The name of the game? Move the money from your client’s pocket into your pocket (Scorsese, 2013)
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