Managers as Mentors 2 Ed: Building Partnerships for Learning

by Chip R. Bell

In today's workplace, where skills and knowledge can become obsolete overnight, the ability to mentor is key to attracting and keeping the best talent. In Managers as Mentors, Chip Bell shows how to become a trusted and valued mentor to business associates. His approach is crafted around the mnemonic ""SAGE"" -- surrendering, accepting, gifting, and extending. A hands-on guide that takes the mystery out of effective mentoring, this book helps managers establish trust, create a safe haven for risk taking, give feedback and support, and ensure the transfer of knowledge.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Management

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

The author of 24 books, Chip's newest book, "Inside Your Customer's Imagination: 5 Secrets to Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions,” launched September 2020.

He is also author of bestsellers:

"Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles”

"Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences Through Innovative Service"

"The 9 1/2 Principles of Innovative Service”

"Take Their Breath Away" (with John Patterson)

"Managers As Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning" (with Marshall Goldsmith)

“Customers as Partners"

"Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service" (with Ron Zemke)

“Magnetic Service” (with Bilijack Bell)

He has served as keynote speaker, consultant, and trainer on innovative service to such major organizations as GE, Microsoft, Nationwide, Marriott, Lockheed-Martin, Cadillac, Ultimate Software, KeyBank, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Caterpillar, Eli Lilly, Verizon, Best Buy, USAA, Hertz, Accenture, Home Depot, and Harley-Davidson. He is a keynote speaker on topics such as customer loyalty, partnering with customers, and creating innovative service experiences. Global Gurus has ranked him for the last eight years in a row among the top ten keynote speakers in the world on customer service, with two years in the top slot. 

He was a highly decorated infantry unit commander in Vietnam with the elite 82nd Airborne and served as a guerrilla tactics instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School. His training programs have won awards including a Stevie Award in 2018.

He has appeared live on CNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV, NPR, ABC and his work has been featured in Fortune, Businessweek, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Success Magazine, Real Leaders, CEO Magazine, and Fast Company.

To book Chip as a speaker or consultant, visit www.chipbell.com

Reviews

[Jordan Munn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has around 220 pages, but 27 chapters, which means the book never gives itself much of an opportunity to go deep. After a while, it starts to read like soup of scattered mumbo jumbo, but there are still some good lines and points strewn throughout.

[Lyn Midden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads. I am a manager for a busy medical office. This book gave me lots of good advice and direction for improving my leadership skills

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides the foundational knowledge for mentors and proteges. It also provides possible challenging scenarios (such as a mentor who is younger than the protege) and provides scripts that the mentors can use to address the protege's concerns. The purpose of a mentorship is for the protege to attain certain knowledge and/or skills through guidance from the mentor. It's not about an older person imparting wisdom or lecturing to a younger person.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My reading focuses on either leadership, learning, or human behavior. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to find all three topics woven together in a significant way in one place. "Managers As Mentors" is one such of those rare and valuable places.

In all honesty, they had me at their definition of mentoring: Mentoring is learning, not teaching. For those of us who care about developing effective leaders, this difference is crucial.

Then they start talking about ingredients like "a true partnership philosophy" and "power-free facilitation of learning", and now I am really hooked.

This is not your father's mentoring model, where the older and more powerful person guides the naive youngster through the corporate culture. This is leadership development between equals in a mutual learning environment.

I look for three things in a book:

Readability: Bell and Goldsmith have the ability to write in a natural and engaging style. Their concepts are clearly stated and amply illustrated. Great little learning stories are sprinkled throughout each chapter and makes reading much more enjoyable than some other books I have encountered.

Clarity: Those little learning stories also provide for easy understanding of the model that Bell and Goldsmith espouse. We all know the value of storytelling, but we do not always see good examples. The authors make learning about as painless as it gets with their ability to state what they believe in a direct and interesting way.

Value: Whatever the book is providing has to be of immediate use to me. This book creates instantaneous moments of insights, what someone else called "multiple AHA moments". Several are worth mentioning so you will look for them as you read this book, which you must do:

The SAGE model includes four elements: Surrendering, Accepting, Gifting, and Extending. These four research-based core mentoring competencies are significantly different from the more traditional mentoring models.

A Mentor Scale tool based on the FIRO-B is also provided, along with amplification of the three elements which it measures: Sociability, Dominance, and Openness. This self-report will really get your reflective skills going, as you consider the implications of the results for your own mentoring activities.

There's much more of value in this book, but you have to discover some things yourself;) Now doesn't this make you want to read "Managers As Mentors"? I know I will be returning to this book frequently in the future.

Disclaimer: I confess that I received a copy of "Managers As Mentors" for review as part of the book's relaunch. I do not review books which I do not honestly enjoy and find of value for those who would lead others. "Nuf said.

[Justin Goldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid audiobook to commute with and this third edition of the book provided some practical insights. It was a reminder to really value the opportunity when a mentoring match finds the sweet-spot of a partnership where the mentor is a catalyst in helping their protege learn and develop. At times the term "learning organization" is thrown around loosely in describing organizations that can sense and make sense of the overload of information we are all surrounded in. I came away from this work thinking about how important it is to think about an operation and in how a culture of mentoring fits within organizational life. Are leaders within the organization deliberate in their actions to support the increased proficiency and wisdom of their direct reports? It only becomes clearer that life-long learning is essential to staying competitive in the marketplace and ultimately realizing your potential. This quick read provides useful guidance for prospective mentors and proteges that enhances the likelihood of their building the desired partnership for growth.

[Melanie Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book really insightful with lots of practical tips as well as case studies from senior executives at major studies talking about their mentors. One key takeaway was assessing your own mentor style with regard to socialness, dominance, and openness; the authors offered tips for each trait based on whether you skew more high or low in each. There were also a lot of good tips about asking awesome questions that promote higher thinking, and the overall theme that you can be confident and humble as a mentor with the ultimate goal of helping them to shine on their own.

Will reference in the future.

[Kevin Eikenberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting in the late 1980’s I became a student of adult learning, training and learning in general. In 1996 a book came out written by a guy whose work I was already familiar with. I remember reading that book and as I look at it now, I see how much of what I learned there confirmed my observations and shaped my work moving forward.

The book was called Managers as Mentors.

Read more...

[Carrie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I was hoping to find some information about Mentoring Long distance: Remote learning, especially with the pandemic. But, this book was written before all of this crazy remote learning requirements and pretty much said it isn't possible. Lol

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for reader's advisory. Sets the expectations of both in the partnership; mentorship should be driven by the protégé. Mentor takeaways are to be a caring and active listener and foster learning and exploration, not sharing wisdom.

[Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me many occasions for introspection regarding the way how I want to coach and mentor people.
The most important sections were the ones detailing how to give (or how not to give) advices and how to give and receive feedback.

[Adam Radocz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, but there are so many better books on leadership, management, and mentoring, I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone.

[Robert]

Obtained this at the 2005 Taco Counsel when managing for Hot Tacos a franchise of Taco Bell

[Lucille Maddalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of the genre. Excellent description of Mentoring. A must have for every coach and consultant

[Rebecca Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

love "Managers as Mentors" if for no other reason than it's filled with lots of "the light bulb went on" moments. I also appreciate and applaud the many examples that authors Chip Bell and Marshall Goldsmith use in this third edition of their classic book. "Managers as Mentors" is divided into short, quick, easy-to-read and absorb chapters; the entire book can be read in an afternoon.

I love acronyms, and Bell and Marshall make great use of SAGE in their book. S stands for surrendering, A is for Accepting, G represents Gifting, and E is for Extending. Each of these letters is the focus of a part of their book, and each of the parts has several chapters, with the final chapter of each section being a case study. The book ends with a terrific toolkit. The bibliography and index are helpful and are of the quality usually found in a more scholarly, rather than practical, book. Kudos to Bell and Marshall for those extra steps!

My key take-aways? I've probably been a mentor without realizing it; "Managers as Mentors" will make me more intentional and a better mentor in the future. And on page 142, they write, "If you can only use 2 of these ideas, you are still 2 ahead." Simple, profound and true. Definitely worth remembering!

[Rudy Cordeiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book: every. single. page. From the anecdotes used for illustrations to the principles themselves, I found this book to be an easy read but so rich with content that I took time to make notes and chew on each principle. Mentoring is a subject dear to my heart and part of the reason why I am so involved in Christian Education. Though it's written from the perspective of a businessman, these principles could be applied to a variety of venues. Indeed, the majority of these principles coincide with those of Scripture (just do a cursory study of mentoring relationships in Scripture: Elijah-Elisha, Paul-Timothy & Titus, etc.)
He divides the book into five initial chapters that lays a foundation for the rest of the book, which is divided into four sections: Surrendering, Accepting, Gifting, and Extending (which, together, make the acrostic SAGE). Each step depended on mastering the one before.
I could say so much, but I would simply recommend that you take your time with this easy read and have a pencil handy (or even a notebook) as you learn the "how-to" of mentoring.

[Chris Armer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on mentoring. This book helped me to understand the partnership method of mentoring. Mentoring doesn't need to involve an expert giving advice to a novice. Mentoring can be peers enabling and encouraging one another through great listening and thought provoking questions.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most practical book that all managers and supervisors should read! The authors are captivating of a great examples and simple useful tips. It is one of the best management books I read. I found it was applicable not only at work but also in my personal life.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

very reasonable points about how to mentor within the workplace

[Becky Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains helpful resources for people who want to make a difference with others: case studies, stories, reflections.

I love the style and I love the practical recommendations.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it, challenged by it, employed some ideas, then gave to a co-worker who is slowly working through it.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for anyone who wants to go beyond being a manager and help develop the potential of their staff.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very segmented so it was kind of a hard read. Not something you could just down and read cover to cover.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't bother with 3rd editions, but this one adds top exec coach Marshall Goldsmith to the mix.

[Keith Svetlik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good job of outlining step-by-step process

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated how this book emphasizes asking open ended questions, just being curious and non judgmental and letting people problem solve on their own.