Mentoring: A model for cultivating leadership competencies in Kenyan women religious

Abstract

Encouraging leadership development in African women religious is an essential strategy to build their confidence to take on leadership positions and execute decisions efficiently in their organizations. Using twelve Kenyan women religious participants of a three-year, Hilton Foundation-supported Sisters Leadership Development Initiative (SLDI) program, this qualitative case study examines the role of mentoring as a strategy to propagate meaningful leadership competencies and transfer of knowledge and skills to the trainees' ministries and communities. Also, the study assesses the best instructional practices used to deliver instruction to facilitate transfer of skills to the trainees' workplaces. The design of the study was drawn from the diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 2003). Methodology consisted of on-site, in-depth interviews and field observations of the skills trainees practiced in their ministries. Findings indicate that mentoring is a fundamental strategy that cultivated both career functions, to carry on leadership duties efficiently, and psychosocial support to improve work performance in mentors and mentees. The mentorship relationship generated a new level of discourse in their ministerial management; they became agents of change, and increased their self-efficacy and personal and professional growth. Using both international and local faculty enhanced instruction and multiple leadership perspectives. The study confirms that on-the-job mentoring programs can be a strategy to encourage women in Kenya to take on leadership positions and can build confidence, self-efficacy and a capacity to respond to complex organizational challenges.