Nurturing previous mentoring relationships

Mentors can belong to the organisation or to the professional domain and be

maintained even if mentor and mentoree are not working in the same organisation.

Both participants changing organisations and those making intra-organisational

transitions reflected on whether they could maintain their prior mentoring

relationships, as these had been useful to them previously in their careers. Indeed,

some of them struggled with accepting that people who had been their mentors were

not playing that role much anymore. For example, Participant 22 commented on two

mentors who he had identified as such in his first Relationships Diagram but in the

second interview he mentioned he could have included them but in a more distant role:

“When I started the exercise, I brought mentors from my previous

work, but then reviewing and being a little bit more realistic, I realised

that they may still have a mentoring role, but maybe I don’t have them

that close.” (Participant 22, Follow-up interview)

Keeping previous mentoring relationships was sometimes hard for participants and

they had to let go. Some factors were identified which eased or complicated the

continuation of the relationship.

a) Fulfilling the role: Whether the mentor was active in guiding and helping the

participant achieve the current transition affected the maintenance of the

protagonist role as individuals need a great deal of career and psychosocial

support. As participants transitioned and received or not the support they expected

from their mentors, this left a mark in the relationship. Participants reflected on the

effectiveness of previous mentors, and some of them agonised about this because

they still wanted to consider these individuals as their mentors but at the same time

recognised that these individuals had not performed their roles appropriately. For

instance, Participant 14 had his former boss as his mentor. When he started

looking for the change, his mentor did not provide career opportunities:

“Maybe from where I had more expectations, from where I expected to

receive more help, from the person who had been my boss for eight

years, I received nothing.” (Participant 14, Follow-up interview).

On the other hand, this same participant had a mentor with whom he was not

interacting much in the new role because they were geographically far from each

other, but who was considered his mentor anyway as he was very present during

the transition hard times:

“He was, not this year with much intensity because I am in Venezuela,

but he is the one with whom I worked in leadership at the university,

and he helped me a lot with this transformation process.” (Participant

14, First interview)

b) Continued professional identity: Depending on the current professional identity

and on possible selves, a mentor could continue to be ‘useful’ or not. For example,

Participant 22 changed his identity and so his previous mentors were no longer a

source of consultation:

Manager or Planning Manager, I had a lot to ask to Carlos and Pedro,

but in my role of wanting to develop projects, it is not them but another

profile that I need.” (Participant 22, Follow-up interview)

On the contrary, when participants maintained their professional identities, their

prior mentors could be useful. For example, Participant 25 had a mentor from an

old job, who supported him in the previous and current role. At the same time,

when it was his time to help, he was there and gave good references for him to

achieve the current transition.

“Because he is a guy who through all this process advised me quite a

lot and he had the commitment with me that as soon as a position

turned up he would consider me. And he was one of the guys whom

when I was feeling badly in the previous job tried to support me. But

the truth is that he is great, and he is one of the references they called

for this position and I know he spoke very well of me.” (Participant 25,

First interview)

Eight participants reflected strongly and positively on being able to maintain their

mentoring relationships and in all cases these two factors, fulfilling the role by

aiding the participant with the most recent transition and a professional identity

match were present. For example, Participant 18, made a lateral transition in the

same organisation, has an emotionally strong and frequent relationship with her

mentor. Her mentor had been formally assigned to her years ago as part of being

recognised a ‘key talent’ in the organisation. She had requested this person be

assigned as her mentor, and she affirmed that most of these formal mentoring

relationships had ended by now but she had kept hers because she was interested

“At some point, several key talents were identified and they all had a

mentor. I think today none of those mentor-mentee relationships are

kept. They were left in nothing. I kept maintaining it because I was

interested, and she as well because of my motivation. So, we maintain

it, I don’t think there is any other in the company being maintained.”

(Participant 18, Follow-up interview)

Now with the transition, the relationship complies with the identified factors to be

maintained:

- Her mentor played an important role in the recent transition by giving

her visibility and coaching:

“She oriented me to some things: the MBA, she was also the link to

start doing some marketing activities, to start introducing me to it…

when this position was opened, she also oriented me.” (Participant 18,

First interview)

- Participant 18’s professional identity remains in the same line, and her

mentor is a useful source of advice and role modelling:

“First, she had passed from marketing to medical and I wanted to pass

from medical to marketing; and because of her character and her way

of handling things, I wanted… She is not a role model for this position

but yes inside the organisation.” (Participant 18, Follow-up interview)