The Mentor's Way

by Rik Nemanick

Drawing on the author’s extensive experience training mentors, The Mentor’s Way outlines eight rules for engaging in a mentoring relationship. Nemanick examines the ways in which mentoring differs from managing or leading, and details the various roles of the mentor as a role model, motivator, confidant, coach, and more. Readers will learn how to develop successfully in each of these roles while helping a protégé to develop his or her own skills. Clear and elegant chapters, each prefaced with a real-world example, emphasize to readers that their role as a mentor lies in listening and responding to a protégé’s individual strengths and needs. Special attention is paid to creating a safe space, displaying empathy, and fielding a protégé’s questions while knowing what to ask as a mentor. The author takes the anxiety out of the mentorship journey, accompanying practical insight with chapter exercises that are designed to help readers use their own experiences to identify best practice. Suggested topics for difficult mentor/protégé conversations allow readers to facilitate a stronger, more open relationship with their protégé. This practical guide will provide mentors with the toolkit they need to get the most out of a relationship with their protégés.

150 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2016

Reviews

[Jane Peymen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with good examples. Good few tips and tricks too. Enjoyable short read for anyone interested in mentoring others.

[Tim Durbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased Dr. Nemanick's book as I had been considering a possible career path change at my current employer. Faced with the pro-con assessment of being in management versus returning to a relationship-based role, I began to think about the mentoring I had received in the past from some of my key personal advisors.

Reading this book helped me not only rekindle some important connections in my life, but it served as a great guide for me to reflect on my own path as a mentor. I shared several of the exercises with a few of my employees and encouraged them to incorporate their findings into their development plan and possibly their self-review.

The Mentor's Way is a balanced read, with clear advice and thought-provoking examples. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in a leadership role looking to take on a protege. Dr. Nemanick reminds us that mentoring is a disciplined process and lays out an ascending, natural progression of how to think and act in a manner to empower proteges.

I enjoyed it and believe you will too. Also, I will say that the book helped me with my own decision through some of the lessons about being honest with yourself. When the time comes for me to possibly serve in a mentoring capacity again, I will turn to this book for reminders and guidance.