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Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable

ISBN: 978-1-118-76771-9
224 pages
November 2014, Jossey-Bass
Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable (1118767713) cover image

Description

A hands-on and usable guide to making the first 90 days of your mentoring relationship a success

In Starting Strong, mentoring experts Lois J. Zachary and Lory A. Fischler weave a compelling tale that exemplifies the concepts, highlights the dynamics, and outlines the issues involved in mentoring relationships. The authors use the form of a fable to tell the story of a budding mentoring relationship filled with possibilities, problems, and triumphs. The story of Cynthia, a seasoned professional, and her new mentee Rafa, brings to life Zachary and Fischler's wealth of mentoring suggestions and best practices and each episode of the fable is accompanied by reflection questions, key learnings, and strategies that readers can apply to their own mentoring relationships. The authors include a conversation playbook that guides mentors and mentees through six essential conversations that will help them establish a strong mentoring connection, and keep it moving forward.

As organizations face the transition of departing Boomers and arriving Millennials, Starting Strong offers a hands-on and readable guide to create effective mentoring relationships that will ensure the success of that transition. The book:

  • Covers the key components of a successful mentoring relationship including building trust, establishing a comfort zone (and then having the courage to leave it), holding productive meetings, dealing with power dynamics, setting goals, and keeping momentum going
  • Shows how to avoid common pitfalls and overcome mentoring obstacles
  • Applies to any organizational or institutional setting

Starting Strong is more than an engaging story of mentorship, it's a vital resource for understanding how to implement and sustain a meaningful mentoring relationship.

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Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction ix

Part One: The Fable

The Week Before: Questions Before We Start 3

The First Meeting: Powering Up 11

The Second Meeting: Taking Care of Business 35

The Third Meeting: Let’s Get Real 55

The Fourth Meeting: Sorting It Out 77

The Fifth Meeting: Straight Talk 107

The Sixth Meeting: Holding Up a Mirror 127

Epilogue: Five Years Later 151

Cynthia’s and Rafa’s Advice for Mentors and Mentees 159

Part Two: The Mentoring Conversation Playbook

Moving the Conversation from Monologue to Dialogue 165

Strategies for Good Conversation 171

Six Essential Mentoring Conversations 179

Afterword: Starting Strong, Moving Forward 193

Suggested Reading 195

Acknowledgments 197

About the Authors 199

Index 201

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Author Information

LOIS J. ZACHARY is president of Leadership Development Services and director of its Center for Mentoring Excellence. Her innovative mentoring approaches and expertise in coaching leaders and their organizations in designing, implementing, and evaluating learner-centered mentoring programs have been used globally by a wide array of clients, including Fortune 100 companies, government organizations, and educational institutions, both for-profit and nonprofit. She is the author of The Mentor’s Guide, The Mentee’s Guide, and Creating a Mentoring Culture, all from Jossey-Bass.

LORY A. FISCHLER is a senior associate with Leadership Development Services and the associate director of its Center for Mentoring Excellence. She has over twenty-five years’ experience in consulting, training, and coaching clients from a diverse array of organizations, including the healthcare, manufacturing, government, and nonprofit sectors. She is the coauthor of The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You.

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Press Release

July 22, 2014
Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable

Mentoring is a critical aspect of workforce development and in demand now more than ever as organizations face the transition of departing Boomers and arriving Millennials in the workplace. Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable (Wiley, October 2014; $25.00) covers the key components of the first 90 days of a successful mentoring relationship including building trust, establishing a comfort, holding productive meetings, dealing with power dynamics, setting goals and keeping momentum going. It shows those in mentoring and talent development roles, like human resource professionals, corporate and nonprofit leaders, and K–12 and higher education administrators, how to have the six essential mentoring conversations, avoid common pitfalls and overcome mentoring obstacles. Each episode of the fable is accompanied by reflection questions, key learnings and strategies that readers can apply to their own mentoring relationships.

 

Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable weaves a compelling tale that exemplifies the concepts, highlights the dynamics and outlines the issues involved in mentoring relationships. The authors use the form of a fable to tell the story of a budding mentoring relationship filled with possibilities, problems, and triumphs.

  

 Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable

By Lois J. Zachary and Lory A. Fischler

Wiley / 978-1-118-76771-9/ October 2014

For more info, visit www.wiley.com

 

 

 

About Wiley:

 

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and Web sites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley’s global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The company’s Web site can be accessed at www.wiley.com. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

 

About Jossey-Bass™:

 

Jossey-Bass, a Wiley brand, provides tools, services and publications that inform and inspire those committed to developing themselves, their organizations and their communities. Jossey-Bass’ publications feature the work of some of the world’s most respected authors in leadership, management, business, nonprofit, K–12 and higher education, and public health.

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