Ellen Ensher, 2/22/07
Title:
She Wrote the Book on Mentoring
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Ellen Ensher received valuable advice when she was an LMU undergraduate. Today, the faculty member, author and protégé-advocate returns the favor.
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When Ellen Ensher was an LMU undergraduate student pondering her future, a professor offered his time, advice and assistance. Ensher accepted the offer and from that simple beginning, a career was built. Today, Ensher is an associate professor in the College of Business Administration, as well as co-author of the book, “Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Protégés Get the Most Out of Their Relationships.”
"My first mentor was Dr. Charles Vance," Ensher says, referring to the LMU management professor. "He was somebody who introduced me to organizational psychology, which I later got my Ph.D. in. He introduced me to the idea of pursuing human resources as a career." Vance also connected Ensher with Jeanne Hartley, the consultant she calls "my other really important mentor.”
Fast forward to September 2005, when “Power Mentoring” was published. In the book, Ensher and her co-author, Susan Murphy, interview 50 mentors and as many protégés, inquiring about and commenting upon what makes the relationships work. “The book is a bridge between what we know in academia and what practitioners can actually do to improve their daily work lives,” Ensher says.
At LMU, Ensher teaches a core human resources class and her students read excerpts from her book. They’re most skeptical, Ensher says, about the concept of reciprocity – "that the protégé gives as much to the relationship as the mentor.” Those fears are unfounded, the professor says, citing in part the "thank you" notes she's received from mentors delighted to hear from her students.
Ensher says she’s benefited from the advice of teaching, consulting and motherhood mentors. In true LMU fashion, Ensher is likewise aware of giving back. Ensher’s LMU protégés often begin as research assistants. One, Ensher says with obvious pride, has been promoted six times; another is pursuing a doctorate.
One-on-one mentorship relationships aren't the limit to Ensher's good works. Students taking her training and development class are currently creating workshops for four Los Angeles community service organizations –- each recommended by LMU's Center for Service & Action.
"The students all will have this tremendous real-world experience, they'll have enhanced their skills, they'll have learned the theories and concepts," Ensher says. "And the agency will walk away with a project they really needed to have. That's something I'm really excited about."