Workplace mentorship for aspiring leaders has been shown to improve job satisfaction and performance by providing opportunities for professional advancement. To date, few published studies have explored mentorship for college and university professional staff, with such staff defined as higher education employees who are not faculty or classified as clerical, facilities, or food services workers. Unlike faculty, there are fewer opportunities for professional staff to be mentored in higher education. While some formalized programs exist (e.g., American Council on Education [ACE] Fellows), a limited number of applicants are admitted each year. The studies which have been done found that women and minorities, who have had mentorships, benefit personally by developing friendships and professionally through garnering advancement opportunities. This study built upon prior research by looking specifically at how senior administrators, defined as individuals holding a title of dean or higher, utilized mentorship to retain and promote higher education professional staff. Semi-structured interviews with senior administrators were completed, and analyzed using a phenomenological paradigm to answer two research questions: What perceptions do senior administrators at colleges and universities, who have benefited from mentorship, have about the role mentorship plays in cultivating professional staff talent? What strategies do these senior administrators employ to facilitate mentorships to benefit the development of professional staff? Findings yielded five themes: (1) mentorship is a form of talent development; (2) mentorship relationships are built on trust and take time to develop; (3) mentorship requires intentionality; (4) diverse personal characteristics of the mentor and protege affect the mentoring relationship; and (5) mentors provide ways and means to foster growth. Implications for staff retention and talent development are discussed and recommendations provided. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]