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The Mentee's Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You
PRAISE FOR THE MENTEE'S GUIDE
"The Mentee's Guide inspires and guides the potential mentee, provides new insights for the adventure in learning that lies ahead, and underscores my personal belief and experience that mentoring is circular. The mentor gains as much as the mentee in this evocative relationship. Lois Zachary's new book is a great gift." -Frances Hesselbein, chairman and founding president, Leader to Leader Institute
"Whether you are the mentee or mentor, born or made for the role, you will gain much more from the relationship by practicing the fun and easy A-to-Z principles of The Mentee's Guide by the master of excellence, Lois Zachary." -Ken Shelton, editor, Leadership Excellence
"With this deeply practical book filled with stories and useful exercises, Lois Zachary completes her groundbreaking trilogy on mentoring. Must-reading for those in search of a richer understanding of this deeply human relationship as well as anyone seeking a mentor, whether for new skills, job advancement, or deeper wisdom." -Laurent A. Parks Daloz, senior fellow, the Whidbey Institute, and author, Guiding the Journey of Adult Learners
"The Mentee's Guide inspires and guides the potential mentee, provides new insights for the adventure in learning that lies ahead, and underscores my personal belief and experience that mentoring is circular. The mentor gains as much as the mentee in this evocative relationship. Lois Zachary's new book is a great gift." -Frances Hesselbein, chairman and founding president, Leader to Leader Institute
"Whether you are the mentee or mentor, born or made for the role, you will gain much more from the relationship by practicing the fun and easy A-to-Z principles of The Mentee's Guide by the master of excellence, Lois Zachary." -Ken Shelton, editor, Leadership Excellence
"With this deeply practical book filled with stories and useful exercises, Lois Zachary completes her groundbreaking trilogy on mentoring. Must-reading for those in search of a richer understanding of this deeply human relationship as well as anyone seeking a mentor, whether for new skills, job advancement, or deeper wisdom." -Laurent A. Parks Daloz, senior fellow, the Whidbey Institute, and author, Guiding the Journey of Adult Learners
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2009
35 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Lois J. Zachary
24 books3 followersLois Zachary is an internationally recognized expert on mentoring and leadership. You’ve likely seen mention of Dr. Zachary’s books, or read her quotes in The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Inc. magazine, T&D, Leadership Excellence, The Chronicle of Higher Education, or other business and leadership news outlets.
Her first book on mentoring, The Mentor’s Guide, was published in 2000. It quickly became the primary resource for organizations interested in promoting mentoring for leadership development and the go-to resource for mentors seeking to deepen their mentoring practice. A second edition of The Mentor’s Guide was published in 2011 and due to continued demand is forthcoming in a third edition (June 2022, Lisa Z. Fain co-author).
With her other best-selling books — Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide (2005), The Mentee’s Guide (2009), Starting Strong (2014, co-authored with Lory Fischler), Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring (2020, co-authored with Lisa Fain), five Mentoring Excellence Pocket Toolkits and more than 100 published articles — Dr. Zachary has created a comprehensive set of tools for promoting mentoring excellence for individuals and organizations.
In addition, Zachary published a collection of poetry and reflection entitled My Mother Has the Finest Eyes, A Collection of Poetry and Reflection (2013).
Dr. Zachary is the founder of Leadership Development Services, LLC and 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 adopted globally by a wide array of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, educational and other institutions — profit and nonprofit.
Dr. Zachary received her doctorate in adult and continuing education from Columbia University. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Columbia and a Master of Science degree in education from Southern Illinois University.
She is a board member of Charter 100, an organization that recognizes outstanding women of achievement, and has held leadership positions on many community and national boards — including the Mentor National Team of the Chicago Public Schools, and the Advisory Council of Arizona State’s University School of Global Management and Leadership. She is secretary of Women Investing in Science and Education (WISH), an organization that works in collaboration with Banner Health to promote women’s wellness and family health through education and targeted philanthropic support.
She is an avid reader and loves and appreciates ballet and music.
Her first book on mentoring, The Mentor’s Guide, was published in 2000. It quickly became the primary resource for organizations interested in promoting mentoring for leadership development and the go-to resource for mentors seeking to deepen their mentoring practice. A second edition of The Mentor’s Guide was published in 2011 and due to continued demand is forthcoming in a third edition (June 2022, Lisa Z. Fain co-author).
With her other best-selling books — Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide (2005), The Mentee’s Guide (2009), Starting Strong (2014, co-authored with Lory Fischler), Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring (2020, co-authored with Lisa Fain), five Mentoring Excellence Pocket Toolkits and more than 100 published articles — Dr. Zachary has created a comprehensive set of tools for promoting mentoring excellence for individuals and organizations.
In addition, Zachary published a collection of poetry and reflection entitled My Mother Has the Finest Eyes, A Collection of Poetry and Reflection (2013).
Dr. Zachary is the founder of Leadership Development Services, LLC and 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 adopted globally by a wide array of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, educational and other institutions — profit and nonprofit.
Dr. Zachary received her doctorate in adult and continuing education from Columbia University. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Columbia and a Master of Science degree in education from Southern Illinois University.
She is a board member of Charter 100, an organization that recognizes outstanding women of achievement, and has held leadership positions on many community and national boards — including the Mentor National Team of the Chicago Public Schools, and the Advisory Council of Arizona State’s University School of Global Management and Leadership. She is secretary of Women Investing in Science and Education (WISH), an organization that works in collaboration with Banner Health to promote women’s wellness and family health through education and targeted philanthropic support.
She is an avid reader and loves and appreciates ballet and music.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 21, 2023
In my work, which includes running a mentoring program, I have often bemoaned how much of the formal literature and research on mentoring focuses on the mentor. There has been a dearth of material to address the mentee's role. Dr. Lois Zachary, one of the leading voices in the field of mentoring, has also written much about mentors, but here she turns her attention to the mentee, and the field is better for her efforts.
The Mentee's Guide walks a prospective mentee through preparing to be mentored, the process of being mentored, and on to closure. Zachary begins with asking the mentee to consider why they wish to be mentored? What developmental goals do they hope to achieve? From there, she moves on to selection criteria. What characteristics or traits are essential in the mentor, and which are merely desirable? Then she moves on to approaching potential mentors, setting mentoring agreements, and doing the work of mentoring itself. At the end, she discusses how someone might transition from mentee to mentor and how the roles differ.
Laid out like a workbook, this oversized volume resembles a lab manual. Each chapter includes exercises, graphs, charts, and places to take notes. The book is meant to be used, not merely read or consumed. It's designed to be a practical tool. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I were actually seeking a mentorship of my own right now. Diving into the exercises and reflection questions would make the experience of this book far more powerful and meaningful. Zachary provides an outline, but the content must come from the mentee.
Much of what Zachary writes here mirrors my own (anecdotal) findings about what makes mentoring work. For that reason, I didn't find the book particularly innovative or revelatory. On the other hand, it was quite affirming to see that her research validated my own, more informal, findings. And for someone who has not spent much time thinking about the mentee's critical role in the success of the mentoring relationship, this is a great primer. It's probably essential reading for anyone who is running a mentoring program.
The Mentee's Guide walks a prospective mentee through preparing to be mentored, the process of being mentored, and on to closure. Zachary begins with asking the mentee to consider why they wish to be mentored? What developmental goals do they hope to achieve? From there, she moves on to selection criteria. What characteristics or traits are essential in the mentor, and which are merely desirable? Then she moves on to approaching potential mentors, setting mentoring agreements, and doing the work of mentoring itself. At the end, she discusses how someone might transition from mentee to mentor and how the roles differ.
Laid out like a workbook, this oversized volume resembles a lab manual. Each chapter includes exercises, graphs, charts, and places to take notes. The book is meant to be used, not merely read or consumed. It's designed to be a practical tool. In fact, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I were actually seeking a mentorship of my own right now. Diving into the exercises and reflection questions would make the experience of this book far more powerful and meaningful. Zachary provides an outline, but the content must come from the mentee.
Much of what Zachary writes here mirrors my own (anecdotal) findings about what makes mentoring work. For that reason, I didn't find the book particularly innovative or revelatory. On the other hand, it was quite affirming to see that her research validated my own, more informal, findings. And for someone who has not spent much time thinking about the mentee's critical role in the success of the mentoring relationship, this is a great primer. It's probably essential reading for anyone who is running a mentoring program.
July 14, 2024
This was ok. Not a lot of a-ha moments from me and I wished there was more science-backed actionable steps I could take.
November 2, 2016
It has a lot of great prompts that help you set goals and a vision. There are questions that I've been thinking. About for years without a clear response. The prompts in here helped bring it into focus.
October 29, 2020
Many people who are dedicated to their own development recognize the power of finding and working with a mentor to speed their progress and skill growth. Many organizations have built formal and informal approaches to urge and support mentoring within their organizations.
All of this is wise – as mentoring can be a very powerful tool.
Yet most of the focus for those individuals and organizations is on the mentors – finding the right one, and even in the case of some organizations, providing training for them so they can be more productive.
Read more...
All of this is wise – as mentoring can be a very powerful tool.
Yet most of the focus for those individuals and organizations is on the mentors – finding the right one, and even in the case of some organizations, providing training for them so they can be more productive.
Read more...
April 24, 2020
Good book as it relates to actual examples on how to create documents with a mentor, like setting the groundrules, or setting goals. Easy read with realistic, real life examples.
February 21, 2015
This is an amazing book that answer all the question you have while being involved in mentoring program. In my career path in a big company I had a lot of questions, yet, even having an amazing boss, those questions are hardly can be answered by him. How to ask questions? What to expect from mentoring? What are the privacy questions? etc... This book answer ALL of those questions and even more. This book help you to plan the career, to see the career path in a more global perspective.
January 17, 2015
A great reference book if you are mentoring other teachers. A must read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews