Mentoring Diverse Leaders

Creating Change for People, Processes, and Paradigms

Audrey J. Murrell, Stacy Blake-Beard, Audrey J. Murrell, Stacy Blake-Beard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781317601715
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

Mentoring Diverse Leaders provides up-to-date research on the impact of mentoring relationships in organizations, particularly as they relate to cultivating diverse leadership. Contributions from experts in the fields of psychology, business, law, non-profit management, and engineering draw connections between mentoring research, theory, and practice in both domestic and global organizations. Rather than standing apart from the broader goals and objectives of these organizations, they demonstrate the ways mentoring for diversity actually drives innovation and change, talent management, organizational commitment, and organizational success.

PART I
Creating Change for People

1
G.I.V.E.-BASED MENTORING IN DIVERSE ORGANIZATIONS

Cultivating Positive Identities in Diverse Leaders

Stephanie J. Creary and Laura Morgan Roberts

Mentoring is a widely accepted practice for developing leaders around the world. Mentoring offers instrumental benefits, namely, promoting career advancement into (higher level) leadership positions (Blake-Beard, 1999, 2001; Murrell, Blake-Beard, Porter, & Perkins-Williamson, 2008; Murrell, Crosby, & Ely, 1999; Murrell & Tangri, 1999; Ragins & Kram, 2007). Mentoring also equips people to lead change more effectively within organizations, helping them to learn how to activate power and access resources that promote systemic change (Blake-Beard, 2001; Murrell et al., 2008; Ragins, 1997). In fact, in a survey of diversity management practices in fifty-nine large public and private companies, we found that nearly 60 percent of these companies were using formal mentoring programs to develop leaders from under-represented, non-prototypical groups (hereafter, “diverse leaders”) in the United States and approximately 30 percent of these same companies were using formal mentoring programs to develop diverse leaders in other geographic locations around the world. Yet, in spite of these efforts, developing diverse leaders continues to be a challenge around the world.

One reason why developing diverse leaders is difficult—and why mentoring is so important—is that these leaders face unique challenges in cultivating positive identities at work. Diverse leaders experience challenges having their leadership claims validated and authenticated by others who view them and their leadership as different from the “norm” (Roberts, Cha, Hewlin, & Settles, 2009). Identity construction is central to leadership—in order to mobilize and influence others, a “leader” must be viewed as credible by his/her followers. The act of leadership involves putting forth a claim by asserting oneself as an influential or authoritative actor, which is then granted (or accepted) through the other person’s followership. This claiming/granting process takes place more smoothly for people who fit into prototypical profiles of leaders; meaning, they embody the commonly held or stereotypical characteristics of those in organizational leadership roles. In fact, there has been a shocking convergence around the prototypical characteristics of leadership, which include dominance and assertiveness, as well as demographic traits and characteristics of race (i.e., White), gender (i.e., male), and age (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Ensari & Murphy, 2003; Rosette, Leonardelli, & Phillips, 2008). Leaders from under-represented, non-prototypical groups do not fit the mold of “typical” characteristics and features associated with leaders (Lord & Maher, 1991). For instance, Rosette and colleagues (2008) found that people are more likely to designate White individuals as leaders and to evaluate them as being effective leaders relative to African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American individuals. Even when non-prototypical leaders succeed, they receive less personal credit for leadership effectiveness; their success is likely attributed to external factors (e.g., the rest of the team, external conditions, etc.).

Diverse leaders who struggle to feel validated, authenticated, and credible at work may also find it difficult to understand and manage these negative experiences in constructive ways. For instance, they may internalize and personalize negative encounters, which not only jeopardizes their ability to maintain positive relationships at work, but also their ability to lead well (Roberts, 2007b). Mentorship may be critical for buffering the impact of negative workplace experiences on diverse leaders’ assessment of the organizational climate (for evidence of the positive buffering function of mentoring, see Zagenczyk, Gibney, Kiewitz, & Restubog, 2009). We propose that mentorship serves an additional related function: helping diverse leaders to change negative patterns of thought and action around internal experiences, interactions, and behaviors to those that are more positive and constructive. In other words, mentors help diverse leaders develop greater personal leadership effectiveness even in the face of identity challenges. When mentors engage in leadership development practices (e.g., coaching, strategic career planning, networking) that encourage diverse leaders to G.I.V.E. (i.e., Grow, Integrate diverse identities at work, engage in Virtuous action at work, and affirm their sense of worth and Esteem), diverse leaders will be better positioned to contribute creatively at work from positions of strength.

In this chapter, we focus on positive identity cultivation as a key mechanism for increasing personal leadership effectiveness, and describe several ways that mentors can help diverse leaders understand and manage their internal experiences, interactions, and behaviors while navigating challenging experiences at work through G.I.V.E.-based mentoring. We begin with a discussion of positive identity cultivation and how it generates the social and emotional resources that are key to personal leadership effectiveness. Then, we reveal how mentoring can facilitate this process of positive identity cultivation for diverse leaders who face challenging experiences at work. We propose that positive identity cultivation enables mentors and protégés to generate valuable resources for their organizations; therefore, both protégés and mentors benefit from G.I.V.E.-based mentoring. We conclude with our characterization of G.I.V.E.-based mentoring as a form of relational leadership. Hereafter, we explore these ideas in more detail.

Understanding Positive Identity Construction

Scholars in the fields of psychology, sociology, organizational studies, race/ ethnic studies, and gender studies have explored identities extensively (for an interdisciplinary discussion of identity features, see Roberts & Creary, 2011). Though these varied traditions examine different facets of identity construction and identity-related outcomes, common threads weave together a general understanding of identity. In brief, identities are the answers to the questions, “Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? Who are they?” Identities matter because they evoke thoughts, activate emotions, and guide behavior. These cognitions, emotions, and behaviors mutually influence one another to shape our reality. Our identities also help us to understand how we fit into our social world, based on our defining characteristics as well as our relationships with others. Some defining characteristics are personally distinctive qualities, such as being driven and compassionate, but most identities become meaningful through relative comparisons and relationships with other people. For example, role identities help us to understand who we are, within the context of our relationships to other people (e.g., mother of Isaiah, manager of the sales department, mentor of junior-level women scholars of color). Our social identities also help us to understand and appreciate our connections to groups, communities, and organizations (e.g., Native of Gary, Indiana, IBM’er, graduate of The University of Michigan, fan of the Boston Celtics). Our personally distinctive qualities, role identities, and social identities constitute a unique constellation of characteristics and affiliations that shape our perspectives, feelings, and actions. Importantly, our various identities also shape our interactions with others.

In general, identities are co-created and co-constructed through both transformative experiences and through micro-encounters with other people (DeRue & Ashford, 2010; Ibarra, 1999; Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann, 2006). Throughout the course of our lives, we learn about ourselves from interpersonal feedback, and we grow and change through our experiences. For leaders, the process of identity co-creation is especially important, as leaders cannot assert power, authority, and influence in a vacuum. Research by DeRue and Ashford (2010) indicates that the process of leadership emergence and leadership identity development is a process of claiming and granting, as described earlier. Likewise, all identities are also negotiated on an ongoing basis, from day to day, moment to moment, and encounter to encounter. For example, a professor negotiates her identity as “teacher” when she stands in front of the classroom, responding to a question from a student. A newcomer negotiates his identity as “high potential” when he introduces himself on the first day of orientation. An investment banker negotiates her identity as a “financial expert” when she presents her firm’s bid to cover an industry leader’s IPO. A scientist negotiates his identity when he presents his research discoveries at an academic conference. In each scenario, the other parties are evaluating the diverse leader’s identity claims: Can this person lead the initiative? Do I trust their ability? Are they capable of wise decision-making? In this respect, diverse leaders’ identities—and subsequent effectiveness—depend not only on their own self-views, but also on the perceptions that others have of them.

The vast majority of healthy, functioning people want to develop and establish a positive sense of self (for a collection of recent articles that develop these claims, see Roberts & Dutton, 2009). Notwithstanding the small percentage of individuals who have very negative self-views, and seek confirmatory feedback about these negative self-views, most people seek to hold positive self-views (Gecas, 1982), desire to be viewed positively by others (Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989), and, as a result, seek to construct positive identities—those that consist of a self-definition that is favorable or valuable in some way (Roberts & Dutton, 2009). Positive identity construction is the process of (re)defining a personal or collective identity using images, stories, and descriptions that are considered to be positive or valuable in some way.

Positive Identity Construction and the Generation of Social and Emotional Resources at Work

Positive identities provide people with essential social and emotional resources for effecting desirable changes within their own patterns of thought and action (for a review of the benefits of positive work identities, see Dutton, Roberts, & Bednar, 2010). By “resources,” we mean “entities valued in their own right” or “entities that act as a means to obtain centrally valued ends” (Hobfoll, 2002: 307). To this end, social resources are “the valuable assets that inhere in the structure, content, and quality of the connections individuals have with others at work” (Hobfoll, 2002: 307). All humans require social resources for vitality; as a species, individuals have a fundamental desire and need for belonging, as they cannot exist in isolation independently. Research on mentoring supports the importance of building social resources (Higgins & Kram, 2001; Kram, 1985), and that cross-race relationships often provide less of this valuable social support than same-race relationships (Hayes-James, 2000; Thomas, 1990). Positive identities help individuals to build relationships across difference in ways that facilitate healthy outcomes and thriving in the workplace and beyond. Positive identities equip people to endure hardship and build relationships with others, who can support them in times of challenge.

Positive identity cultivation also activates and diffuses positive emotions (Dutton et al., 2010). Namely, positive identity cultivation activates positive emotion pathways, which help to broaden and build emotional resources. Like social resources, emotional resources help individuals to access other resources. According to the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001), positive emotions widen the range of thoughts and actions that come to mind, which enables the building of other personal resources including physical and intellectual resources. Positive emotions also enable individuals to cope with negative emotions, foster psychological resiliency, and trigger upward spirals of positive emotions toward enhanced emotional well-being (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001). Through seeing oneself, and being seen by others, in more favorable and/or valuable ways, people experience more positive emotions. As a consequence, they start to notice and embrace more resources that enable them to innovate, create, and even nurture more relationships in the environment that they otherwise would have overlooked (Fredrickson, 2009).

Mentoring Diverse Leaders for Personal Leadership Effectiveness

Mentors are important for helping diverse leaders cultivate positive identities that will enable them to develop greater personal leadership effectiveness at work. Herein, we use the G.I.V.E. model of positive identity construction (Roberts, 2014; Dutton et al., 2010) to reveal four key pathways through which mentors can help protégés develop personal leadership effectiveness. G.I.V.E. stands for Growing, Integrated, Virtuous, and Esteemed selves. Each pathway indicates how diverse leaders might establish a more positive sense of self at work, and lends insight into how mentors can facilitate the process of positive identity construction. Below, we briefly define the four pathways, and then detail each pathway as it applies to mentoring diverse leaders.

Growing: I am becoming more like my desired self (for example, progressing in positive ways at work).

Integrated: The different parts of my identity (such as work roles, demographic characteristics, family status and relationships, and organizational memberships) are connected in compatible and enriching ways.

Virtuous: I possess virtuous qualities (such as courage, wisdom, integrity, humility, and compassion) and I display these virtues at work.

Esteemed: I am worthy of positive regard (for example, I feel positively about my defining characteristics and/or group affiliations, and I believe others understand and appreciate my authentic self at work).

Cultivating Growth

The first pathway reflects the most common emphasis of mentoring—promoting growth and development. Many diverse leaders engage in self-protective behavior, afraid to display their vulnerability, and they therefore miss opportunities to learn and grow from their mistakes or more negative experiences in general (Giscombe, 2015; Roberts, 2007a). Mentors can help diverse leaders establish and/or affirm a more positive sense of self as evolving, adapting, and contributing in positive ways at work. Mentors can help diverse leaders to grow by creating a safe space in which learning and adaptation can take place.

Constructive Developmental Theory (CDT) (Kegan, 1980, 1982) proposes that individuals have the capacity to change, adapt, and attain optimal well-being throughout the lifespan by evolving in their meaning-making systems. Kegan reveals six stages in a developmental process that reflect a person’s ability to balance his or her own perceptions and impulses relative to the needs of others. The incorporative (Stage 0) and impulsive stages (Stage 1) are marked by complete or substantial dependency on others to meet one’s own needs and manage one’s own behavior. The imperial stage (Stage 2) and the interpersonal stage (Stage 3) are marked by greater self-sufficiency, but people in these stages need clear direction and a lot of structure provided by...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Preface: Mentoring and Diversity—Challenges and Promises
• PART I Creating Change for People
• PART II Creating Change for Processes
• PART III Creating Change for Paradigms
• Index