Formal leadership mentoring and motivation to lead in South Korea

Formal mentoring helps protégés overcome perceived leadership role barriers. Thus, the number of protégés in leadership positions may be increased with good mentoring that will enhance their motivation to lead. In this paper, we examined the extent to which formal leadership mentoring influences protégés' motivation to lead via increased leadership self-efficacy. Data were collected from 174 mentor-protégé dyads in nine organizations in South Korea. We found that motivation to lead was related to formal leadership mentoring through enhanced leadership self-efficacy. In addition, mentoring quality and motivation to learn played important roles in elaborating this mechanism in positive ways. Contrary to our hypothesis, female protégés were less likely than male protégés to reap benefits from formal leadership mentoring. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.