The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships

This book provides mentors the tools they need in order to develop and maintain a mentoring relationship. In order to develop a successful mentoring relationship, it is important that the mentor have a good foundation in the purpose of the mentor/mentee relationship and then how know how to develop the relationship. The Mentor's Guide, by Lois J. Zachary, gives mentors this foundation and provides them with support in developing the mentor/mentee relationship.Lois goes on to provide mentors with the information they need in order to be successful. Learning, according to Lois, is the primary goal of the mentoring relationship. In order for learning to occur, the relationship must be learner centered. The book provides guidelines on creating a learner-centered environment. The book provides information as well as worksheets that help mentors develop their mentoring skills. Worksheets on developing goals and priorities, confidentiality, boundaries, planning, cross-cultural mentoring, assessing the quality of interactions, skill assessment, as well as strategies to develop successful reflections are a few of the worksheets provided by the book.This is an excellent book that provides mentors will the tools they need in order to be successful.

This book provides the best definition of a mentor that I have come across thus far with the statement "...and at there best they inspire us to reach beyond ourselves; they show us how to make a positive difference in a wider world". It is an easy to read reference tool filled with applicable information about how to prepare for and what to watch for during your journey as a mentor. The author does an excellent job of inspiring a can do attitude by giving the reader the ability to use this book as a workbook to be able to work through real life experiences. This book is a must have for anyone desiring to be in a mentoring relationship.

I just finished my thesis on mentoring child care center directors. The Mentor's Guide was the best resource. My thesis quotes many authors but there was non better than Lois Zachary. Her book is the easiest to read and she puts into words what I was thinking. I can't say enough about the wealth of information, ideas, quotes and straight comments that I found useful in this book. If you are embarking on a mentoring relationship this book is a must read. Thank you Lois.

Lois Zachary has made a wonderful contribution to the field of mentoring. Her new book is an "easy read" with wonderful metaphors, appropriate emphasis on relationship building, clear distinctions between old style mentoring versus mentoring as a partnership, interesting examples, and useful exercises. I bought the book out of curiosity rather than truly being interested in the topic. In minutes I found myself fascinated, and I even saw applications of the information to my relationship with my 10 year old grandson!

I thought I knew what mentoring meant, but it wasn't until I read this new book by Lois Zachary that I realized that I didn't begin to fathom the depth of the learning journey as it relates to the mentoring process. This author spells it out every step of the way. For those in the business sector; for those in the business of volunteering; for just about anyone who cares about nurturing others, she covers all aspects of the field. There are strategies, exercises, examples -- anything you will need to get you in the right frame to be a mentor and to "facilitate effective learning relationships." I am very impressed.