Mentor or manager: what is the difference? A case study in supervisory mentoring

Provides a case study of two supervisory mentoring relationships based on personal interviews with Shelia Dillon, senior vice‐president and division head of the corporate security and compliance division of First Union Corporation, and two of her subordinates. Outlines their mentoring relationships through the experiences of the three participants. Addresses how their mentoring relationships evolved, the career and psycho‐social development opportunities offered to the protégés, the participants’ perception of the difference between a supervisory mentoring relationship and a typical employee/ manager relationship, the perception of how gender influences the mentoring process, and the advantages and disadvantages of a mentoring relationship.