Strategies for Positive Outcomes of Negative Mentoring Experiences at Workplace: Protege Perspectives

Mentoring literature is skewed towards positive experiences, and we have limited knowledge about negative mentoring experiences (NMEs) and the value such experiences bring to protégés. Hence, scholars have sought more research on the case of NMEs including their outcomes for protégés. This qualitative study, conducted with 12 protégés in India, bridges the above gaps and makes significant contributions. First, it pioneers in informing us about the strategies adopted by protégés in handling NMEs and extends the literature by discovering relational outcomes from NMEs for protégés. Second, it suggests a new expanded model of mentoring, with dimensions beyond the classical phases of mentorship postulated by Kram (1985 , Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organisational Life). Third, it extends the NME literature beyond the Western models and introduces Indian values in handling NMEs. This article suggests avenues for further research on the new models of mentoring and the applicability of Indian management principles in mentorship practice.