The Impact of Transformational Mentoring
Dr. Victor S. Sohmen, Project Management Program
Associate Clinical Professor
College of Engineering, Drexel University
SYNOPSIS
Students in our graduate and undergraduate
programs (face-to-face, blended, or online) need
transformational mentoring to maximize their
learning experience, tap deeper into their potential,
and nurture positive memories of their academic
experience. Indeed, protégés benefit immeasurably
from transformational mentoring experiences,
including: enhanced leadership abilities; higherorder thinking skills; creative problem-solving
ability; greater productivity, technical and scholastic
competence; enhanced professional confidence;
prudent interpersonal relationships; and imbibing of
the mentor’s imparted wisdom. Transformational
mentoring is fueled by transformational leadership,
emotional intelligence, and a deep-rooted sense of
mission. The mentor needs to have a vision and
passion for the transformation of protégés in their
ephemeral charge that is consciously geared to
outlast their own lives, and to outshine their own
competencies. The goal here is to highlight the
importance of transformative mentorship in our roles
as teachers, and for students to recognize the
benefits of being active and inspired protégés
throughout their higher education experience.
THE ESSENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL MENTORING
Transformational mentoring is succinctly captured in the words of Sir Winston Churchill
who asserted: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we GIVE.”
ORIGIN OF THE TERM“MENTOR”
MEANING OF THE TERM “TRANSFORMATIONAL MENTOR”
The term "mentor" has its origins in Greek
mythology. It comes from Homer’s The Odyssey.,
wherein Odysseus asked his friend Mentor to help
watch over his son Telemachus while Odysseus
was away at the Trojan War. Twenty years later,
the goddess of wisdom Athena disguised herself
as Mentor to provide Telemachus crucial advice at
the start of the epic story: to investigate what
happened to his father.
The term “transformational mentor" combines
the best of loyal, respectful, and constructive
mentorship and transformational leadership.
Thus, the transformational mentor is one who
infuses: idealized influence; inspirational
motivation; intellectual stimulation; and,
individualized consideration (Bass, 1985).
Thus, role-modeling, motivation, creativity, and
caring are key aspects of this noble calling.
FACETS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL MENTORSHIP
ADVICE TO THE STUDENT-PROTÉGÉ
Every interaction with your mentor is a chance to
learn and grow. Absorb these choice experiences
and reflect on your progress critically. Then ask the
mentor for feedback at every step of the way as you
adjust to new and constructive paradigms and
mental models (Johnson-Laird, 1983). Remember, it
is a key process of growth and respectful friendship.
The transformational mentor’s goal is to help you
develop skills, knowledge and wisdom to enable you
to exceed your own expectations—so utilize your
mentor’s expertise and role-modeling by forcing
yourself to grow, even through the hard parts of your
journey. Having a transformational mentor can be
like jet fuel on a flame in your quest for personal and
career success. With the help of such a trusted
friend, you will be able to achieve your goals in
accelerated time by avoiding potential pitfalls your
mentor has either experienced, or learned to avoid.
INTRODUCTION
IMPACT OF A TRANSFORMATIONAL MENTOR
Beginning a career in any professional field is a
challenge, and ,mentoring is critical to launching a
student’s career. A mentor is a role-model who is a wise,
loyal advisor, or even a teacher or coach (Carnegie
Mellon, 2003).
Learning, character-building, and
creativity are the primary purposes of the mentorprotégé relationship. The mentor also benefits from the
relationship by contagious passion for what matters most
to the protégé, increasing creativity, and experiencing
professional growth and continual renewal of knowledge.
A transformational mentor can reposition the
protégé where he or she is capable of going, and
can dramatically shorten the learning curve by
providing
timely
advice,
motivation,
and
inspiration. The driving mandate and passion of a
transformational mentor is to profoundly transform
the life of the mentored student and place him or
her on a trajectory of success, service, and
continual transformation. Thus, the protégé also
becomes a transformational mentor. The legacy of
replicated transformational mentorship is a thriving
community of amazing world changers!
Mentoring is also a voluntary relationship, with mutual
expectations resulting in healthy, inspiring, and rewarding
outcomes. The extent of formality or informality of the
mentoring relationship is dependent on the parties
involved,. Mentoring is a way to pass on what we know,
and it works both ways--finding someone who can teach
the ropes and then showing the ropes to someone
else. Thus, mentorship is ideally a relaying of learning
and inspiration from one person to another.
Transformative mentoring goes beyond the shortterm benefits of mentoring, to long-rem changes that
enable the individual protégé to exceed their own
expectations, and in the long run to also become a
transformational mentor and leader (Bass, 1985).
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Victor S. Sohmen, Associate Clinical Professor
REFERENCES
 Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Free Press.
 Carnegie Mellon University (2003). Mentors and colleagues. Pittsburgh, PA: The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence.
 Johnson-Laird, P.N. (1983). Mental models: Toward a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Project Management
3001 Market Street, Suite 100
One Drexel Plaza
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215-571-3890
Fax: 215-895-0962
Cell: 267-441-7007
Email: vsohmen@drexel.edu