Although mentoring has been practiced for generations on both informal and formal bases, the practice has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a means to encourage gender, racial, and socio-economic diversity in leadership of all types of organizations.
In Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward, Learn, Leverage, Lisa Z. Fain and Lois J. Zachary offer a three-part model for taking advantage of this process to develop leaders in contemporary settings:
- Part One: Learn Forward into Differences
- Part Two: Learn from Differences
- Part Three: Leverage Differences
There are three key foundational ideas for this model. First, differences can be leveraged to build successful mentoring relationships. Second, mentoring takes intentional planning, hard work, and commitment to effective communication. Third, the learning that comes from mentoring is a two-way street--it benefits the mentor as well as the protégé, providing learning for both.
Embedded in the book are three narratives of mentoring relationships. Each narrative reflects different challenges in the mentoring relationship and effectively address cultural difference, gender equity, and power differential. These are really case studies that reflect both the difficulties and successes that occur in mentoring relationships. They depict the perspectives of both mentors and mentees.
The book engages much recent research on such topics as emotional intelligence, cultural competency, mindset, and feedback by applying such concepts to the coaching model. I found it very practical and informative. The model will be useful in initiating a mentoring process and training the participants.
(This book will be released on February 25, 2020.)
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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