{"title":"从下往上学习:当导师重视来自下的见解时,他们会更有效","authors":"Ting Zhang, Dan J. Wang, Adam D. Galinsky","doi":"10.5465/amj.2021.0430","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Although mentorship is vital for individual success, potential mentors often view it as a costly burden. To understand what motivates mentors to overcome this barrier and more fully engage with their mentees, we introduce a new construct, learning direction, which captures the beliefs people have about which individuals within a hierarchy—upward, lateral, or downward—are valuable sources of knowledge. Although most mentors believe knowledge resides higher up in hierarchies, the current research demonstrates mentors are more engaged and effective when they value insights from below. Our first three studies found that downward learning predicted mentor engagement (Study 1) because downward learning-directed mentors viewed mentoring as a worthwhile opportunity for their own learning (Studies 2A-B). A field study examined downstream consequences on mentees’ learning outcomes, finding that downward learning-directed mentors trained more hireable mentees (Study 3). A final experiment established causality while also demonstrating that learning direction is open to intervention: reflecting on a downward learning experience increased mentor engagement, which enhanced the mentorship experience for their mentees (Study 4). We extend theories on learning orientation to learning direction and demonstrate that beliefs about the hierarchical sources of learning are critical to successful mentoring.","PeriodicalId":6975,"journal":{"name":"Academy of Management Journal","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Learning Down to Train Up: Mentors Are More Effective When They Value Insights from Below\",\"authors\":\"Ting Zhang, Dan J. Wang, Adam D. Galinsky\",\"doi\":\"10.5465/amj.2021.0430\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Although mentorship is vital for individual success, potential mentors often view it as a costly burden. To understand what motivates mentors to overcome this barrier and more fully engage with their mentees, we introduce a new construct, learning direction, which captures the beliefs people have about which individuals within a hierarchy—upward, lateral, or downward—are valuable sources of knowledge. Although most mentors believe knowledge resides higher up in hierarchies, the current research demonstrates mentors are more engaged and effective when they value insights from below. Our first three studies found that downward learning predicted mentor engagement (Study 1) because downward learning-directed mentors viewed mentoring as a worthwhile opportunity for their own learning (Studies 2A-B). A field study examined downstream consequences on mentees’ learning outcomes, finding that downward learning-directed mentors trained more hireable mentees (Study 3). A final experiment established causality while also demonstrating that learning direction is open to intervention: reflecting on a downward learning experience increased mentor engagement, which enhanced the mentorship experience for their mentees (Study 4). We extend theories on learning orientation to learning direction and demonstrate that beliefs about the hierarchical sources of learning are critical to successful mentoring.\",\"PeriodicalId\":6975,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Academy of Management Journal\",\"volume\":\"29 1\",\"pages\":\"0\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":9.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-04-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"2\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Academy of Management Journal\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2021.0430\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"管理学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"BUSINESS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Academy of Management Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2021.0430","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
Learning Down to Train Up: Mentors Are More Effective When They Value Insights from Below
Although mentorship is vital for individual success, potential mentors often view it as a costly burden. To understand what motivates mentors to overcome this barrier and more fully engage with their mentees, we introduce a new construct, learning direction, which captures the beliefs people have about which individuals within a hierarchy—upward, lateral, or downward—are valuable sources of knowledge. Although most mentors believe knowledge resides higher up in hierarchies, the current research demonstrates mentors are more engaged and effective when they value insights from below. Our first three studies found that downward learning predicted mentor engagement (Study 1) because downward learning-directed mentors viewed mentoring as a worthwhile opportunity for their own learning (Studies 2A-B). A field study examined downstream consequences on mentees’ learning outcomes, finding that downward learning-directed mentors trained more hireable mentees (Study 3). A final experiment established causality while also demonstrating that learning direction is open to intervention: reflecting on a downward learning experience increased mentor engagement, which enhanced the mentorship experience for their mentees (Study 4). We extend theories on learning orientation to learning direction and demonstrate that beliefs about the hierarchical sources of learning are critical to successful mentoring.
期刊介绍:
The mission of the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) is to disseminate empirical research that rigorously tests, extends, or constructs management theory while enhancing management practice. The journal welcomes diverse empirical methods, including qualitative, quantitative, field, laboratory, meta-analytic, and mixed methods. For publication in AMJ, research must exhibit robust empirical and theoretical contributions, with manuscripts emphasizing the practical relevance of these contributions to management practice. Authors are encouraged to craft original, insightful, interesting, and theoretically bold research that makes a substantial "value-added" contribution to the field's comprehension of a given issue or topic.