Ask leaders in corporate America today how they got ahead in their organizations, and they will mostly likely tell you that some of their success is due to the help of an encouraging mentor. Mentors help in a multitude of ways. They provide career advice, can provide challenging assignments, and give you needed visibility in an organization. Research shows that individuals with mentors receive more promotions, higher salaries, and report greater career satisfaction. Many organizations utilize formal mentoring programs to provide access to these benefits to a wider range of employees. What makes a good mentor? Academics study mentoring to understand the many benefits of mentoring, to both protégé and mentors, as well as the types of support that mentors provide. This research finds that many of the main functions of mentoring focus on providing career support, but also uncovers that mentoring provides an emotional support through friendship and help in challenging times. Mentors also function as role models. In watching our mentors’ behavior, they may show us how to meet a tight deadline, handle a difficult co-worker, or deal with a demanding client. Ellen A. Ensher, Assistant Professor of Management, Loyola Marymount University and Susan Elaine Murphy, Associate Professor of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College are currently beginning a book on mentoring with the working title Power Mentoring: Learning from Dynamic Duos in Show-biz, High-tech, and Politics. They received an American Fellowship grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to write the book. This book will profile mentoring relationships in three areas: entertainment, technology, and politics. The book will focus on the mentoring relationships of five high-profile mentor-protégé relationships from each of the three selected industries to provide an in-depth understanding of the nature of the relationships. It will describe what attracted each member of the pair to the other, the benefits they have received from the relationship, and any advice they would like to give to would-be protégés or mentors. We are using an on-line survey to rate the "intrigue factor" of various mentoring pairs. We are asking that you go to a website hosted by SurveySuite.

Please choose the area -- technology, entertainment, or politics -- in which you are most interested and rate the pairs on their intrigue. This information will be used to determine the final five in each area.