Ahead of the Curve with Dr.

Lisa
Kahle-Piasecki
Mentoring is a multifaceted concept studied across various disciplines
and organizational contexts. In the maiden release of Ahead of the
Curve: Exploring the Minds Shaping Tomorrow’s Education and
Business Realities, NABP catches up with Dr. Lisa Kahle-Piasecki to
learn what it is like to research in such a field.

Mentoring is widely recognized as a valuable tool for enhancing performance in both

educational and workplace settings. It has been linked to improved self-regulation, teaching
practices, academic success, and career development. Mentoring can significantly impact
various performance indicators, making it a critical component of professional growth and
development strategies.

This, however, does not mean that mentoring has remained without challenges; research
also indicates that the success of mentoring programs depends on their careful implementation
and support. As such, researchers remain hard at work to ensure that questions within the field
are answered.

The North American Business Press recognizes this; as such, we seek the insights of,
and check in on, some of NABP’s partners who work in the field. Here, we check in on Dr. Lisa
Kahle-Piasecki, who currently works as an Associate Professor of Management at Heidelberg
University.

New Challenges
Dr. Kahle-Piasecki worked previously as a director of communications and, for a time,
was involved with staff training for new technologies being implemented in the workplace. This
led to her developing a deep interest in the effects of mentoring on individuals.

“Going into teaching, writing, and doing research is very different and a rewarding career
change for me.”

As an academic, Dr. Kahle-Piasecki’s choice of focus was inspired by a desire to

understand change, as it “is crucial, [and] can help navigate the workplace and educational
settings better." One such change is the ever-growing influence of current technologies,
facilitated by the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR has brought about a
persistent technological presence in all aspects of everyday life, which is bound to integrate into
mentoring, as much of the information we currently use to mentor is scattered in islands across
the vast sea of the internet.

Fortunately, experts like Dr. Kahle-Piasecki have stepped up to the task as mentors learn
to work with this new emergent technological shift.

"I've always had [an] interest in technology. We have a unique opportunity [in higher education]
to help not only students, but also the workforce in development."

In the Face of Technological Change

Dr. Kahle-Piasecki chose to focus on technology’s effects on education and workforce
development to combine her interests in technology, international management, and small
businesses with her passion for mentoring, which she has mentioned stems from her
experience working on a mentoring research project during her Ph.D.

"[These projects] got me interested in mentoring as a performance tool. That's what I explored in
my dissertation and subsequent research."

This focus is made apparent in some of Dr. Kahle-Piasecki’s pertinent publications in

NABP, as the principal author in a paper titled “A Comparison of Mentoring in Higher Education
and Fortune 1000 Companies: Practices to Apply in a Global Context” published in the Journal
of Higher Education, Theory, and Practice, Dr. Kahle-Piasecki emphasized the expansion of
mentoring beyond traditional face-to-face relationships to include non-traditional forms
supported by technology. She also noted the shift towards non-traditional relationships and the
increasing support of technology in mentoring initiatives (Kahle-Piasecki & Doles, 2015).

Further focus can be seen in Dr. Kahle-Piasecki’s paper titled “GMAT, GGPA, and
Conscientiousness as Predictors of Career Success,” published with her co-authors in the
Journal of Management Policy and Practice. In it, they explore the predictive validity of the
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Graduate Grade Point Average (GGPA)
for career success, proposing that both measures reflect cognitive ability and are essential for
success in managerial positions (Miao et al., 2017).

Of course, career success is not just measured in aptitude scores and educational merit;
Dr. Kahle-Piasecki recognizes this and places adaptation to technological change as one of the
employees’ most essential traits in succeeding in tomorrow’s emergent work environment.
However, she cautions against recklessly embracing current technological trends without
understanding the inherent risks that come with them, as described in her paper titled “Up in the
Cloud: Managers, Employees, and Security Training for Cloud Computing to Avert Cyber
Threats” published in the American Journal of Management, which emphasizes employees’
frequent use of cloud computing for its benefits without fully understanding its associated risks
(Kahle-Piasecki et al., 2017).

External Challenges
From Dr. Kahle-Piasecki’s admission, shifting her career to focus on such issues
requires more than just time and attention. Balancing opportunities and commitments with a
chosen career path would already be particularly challenging for any individual; this fact is
brought to the forefront for Dr. Kahle-Piasecki given her need to care for three children.

"One challenge is having so many options and knowing what to commit time to. [...] Balancing
work and life, especially as a female with children, can be overwhelming."

Despite this, she remains inspired and passionate about teaching and finds reward in
guiding students on their learning journey. After all, to Dr. Kahle-Piasecki, teaching pulled her
into higher education. “[...] Helping students on their learning journey is rewarding," she said,
and that it was paramount for mentors to connect academic concepts to real-world industry
trends.

Navigating Change
Dr. Kahle-Piasecki's passion for mentoring is crucial in a modern world that remains
complex and ever-changing. To her, understanding and adapting to change is crucial in the
workplace for one to be open to new opportunities and collaborations—and this starts in the
classroom. This goes double for people like her who are responsible for guiding a new
generation of leaders and innovators, as it “keeps [her] growth [continuous] as both a professor
and a researcher.”

As a final note, Dr. Kahle-Piasecki notes the avenues NABP has presented to her in
allowing her to grow herself in the academe further and encourages like-minded experts to
share their work to the world: “[Keep] doing what you are doing, and [continue to share] your
research.”
References
Kahle-Piasecki, L., & Doles, S. (2015). A Comparison of Mentoring in Higher Education and

Fortune 1000 Companies: Practices to Apply in a Global Context. Journal of Higher

Education Theory and Practice, 15(5), 74–79.

https://www.proquest.com/openview/d99889a17bcbf6562193cdb6fdf4b747/1

Kahle-Piasecki, L., Ritzman, M. E., & Ellingson, D. (2017). Up in the Cloud: Managers,

Employees, and Security Training for Cloud Computing to Avert Cyber Threats.

American Journal of Management, 17(7). https://doi.org/10.33423/ajm.v17i7.1703

Miao, C., Kahle-Piasecki, L., & Qian, S. (2017). GMAT, GGPA, and Conscientiousness as

Predictors of Career Success. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 18(1).

https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JMPP/article/view/1784

https://zbib.org/ddc92d5a29f94b0f806ac44457975b36