Mentoring in Business: Executives and Directors

This paper presents a three‐stage career model for business people aiming for a directorship, and outlines the evolving concerns individuals face as they progress towards the top of their profession. It reflects the old ‘Captain of the ship' anology of directorship with a more open model called here the personal reflective space’ (PRS) model. Formal, paid and professional executive mentoring, it is claimed, encourages executives to face up to their own needs for continuous performance improvement in the context of the needs of the business concerned and all the people working in the business. Professional executive mentoring is so difficult because it demands that the mentor and executive work simultaneously in intellectual, emotional and business contexts. Leadership in business today, it is argued, is concerned as much with caring for others (reflecting the role of mentors in the caring professions such as teaching and nursing) as with the legitimate and traditional concerns for productivity.