During the last two decades, Mentoring
has been acknowledged as one of the important developmental processes
of human resource across the length and breadth of corporate world. All
successful individuals have pointed out how
mentoring has helped them shape their professional as well as personal lives, (Stone pp.155;
2007).
In this period 200 published articles were reviewed on mentoring by Allen
et.al. (2004,2007). The review focuses
on measurement of mentoring, types of mentoring, country specific
understanding of mentoring or the impact of culture
on mentoring. The word mentor originated thousands of years ago. The discourse
given by Lord Krishna to his disciple A0.
Another term that is very commonly used, almost in the same breath, is the
word "coaching". The International Coach Federation has laid down ethical
standards of coaching. It offers a process of
building the profession of coaching that is independent of any school of thought.
"The Economics of Executive Coaching," Harvard Business School Journal, 2002, estimated
that there were at least 10,000 coaches working in business at that time.
Coaching has received much attention in recent years with companies
hiring professional coaches. A study (cited in
Stone 2007; pp 11 and 155-156) of
human resource professionals found that 90% of US companies offered some form of
coaching to top executives for the purpose of leadership development and/or
ensuring success after promotions or hire. Other benefits of coaching are improved
teamwork, improved relationships with peers and reduced conflicts. |
