"Rachel, I'm disturbed when I hear managers delight in bringing new people into their organizations and practicing a philosophy of sink or swim. I don't believe we can hold someone up indefinitely to keep him from 'drowning,' but neither should we consider employees disposable....Sometimes we just have to look back and ask ourselves how we can do better." (p.169). The Art of Mentoring is a universal guide to developing the talents of others. If you're a new mentor or just want to sharpen your skills, you'll find it a source of practical insight and inspiration. It teaches us how to create a partnership of trust and learning for people in today's chaotic organizations. This is the captivating story of Rachel, an internal consultant sent to a small subsidiary. Her challenge: rekindle motivation in the five marketers there or recommend their termination. Her decision: create a culture in which each person has the opportunity and help to succeed. Mentors learn: To begin building a trusting relationship To teach a new employee the 'unspoken rules' of organizations To help someone find her life's purpose and transform her mundane job into a satisfying role To use straight talk to prevent someone from derailing his career To coach on interpersonal skills To use the 'lead, follow and get out of the way' process
The Art of Mentoring covers in detail some of the most contentious mentoring issues: helping employees master the work and unspoken rules, improving their interpersonal skills, dealing with job dissatisfaction, workaholism, cynicism and the lack of motivation at the end of a career. It shows how to create a mentoring culture in a company or a work group. It offers advice in such key areas as how to give feedback to someone who is defensive, how to coach an employee on simple things (like asking for a raise) or more complex matters, as how to help someone overcome a natural defensiveness.
It describes the process "lead, follow and get out of the way," answers the question who should mentor-and who shouldn't, explains what to look for in a mentor and illustrates how important mentoring is at every stage of a career.
