Mentoring and Followership: Exploring the Impact of Dyadic Symbiosis

Current research data list correlations between mentoring and success and the positive effects on mentoring performance. A literature review highlights that mentoring in the leader-follower dyadic relationship significantly impacts effective leadership, succession planning, organizational support, and career development (Lester, P.B., Hannah, S. T., Harms, P.D., Vogelgesang, G.R., & Avolio, B. J., Mentoring impact on leader efficacy development: A field experiment. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 409–429, 2011). While the result of mentoring is well researched and often reports positive outcomes for followers, limited research exists exploring how developmental activities and relational processes influence the leader and follower, respectively. This chapter explores how mentoring is a construct that positively impacts the development of a mutually beneficial dynamic for both the leader/mentor and follower/protégé.