– The purpose of this paper is to posit formal mentoring as cost-effective strategy for both developing leaders within an organization, as well as increasing organizational competitive ability in today's economy.
– The paper presents two case studies originally presented in a webinar which the author, a US-based subject matter expert in the field of mentoring, cohosted with a UK-based subject matter expert in the field of leadership development.
– Formal mentoring offers a uniquely suited approach to leadership development because of its ability to capitalize on knowledge that is both internal and specific to the organization, develop as broad or as targeted a group as necessary, and be tailored to meet any organization's goals and objectives. Together, these points can be leveraged to make an organization more competitive – not only in strength of existing leadership, but in readiness of ability to develop leaders for the future.
– These are two case studies that examine the success of mentoring as a leadership development method within two large organizations.
– Formal mentoring for the purposes of leadership development can be leveraged to great competitive advantage in large organizations.
– Mentoring for leadership development has the effect of improving and solidifying company culture, as well as engaging employees through career and leadership development activities.
– While using mentoring as a leadership development method is not a new concept, these case studies provide examples of how it can be practically applied, and to what ends.
