Customer Reviews

The Heart of Mentoring: Ten Proven Principles for Developing People to Their Fullest Potential

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There is a lot of talk about mentoring these days. In fact every time I turn around there is another resource on the subject. What I've found is the majority of resources on the subject focus on the skills a mentor needs. Further, most of the resources don't help the one looking for a mentor identify what to look for in a mentor. If skills and simply pairing people in mentoring relationship is all that is required for an effective mentoring experience, why are there so many people still looking for a mentor and so many would be mentors not mentoring? This book helped me over-come all this by getting to the root of mentoring, that it isn't a matter of skill initially. Rather, it starts with the proper perspective of mentoring, and being mentored or as the title conveys, it starts with heart. This book has helped me, more than any other mentoring book, to be effective in all my mentoring relationships at home, at work, and in the community. I highly recommend it!

This book is so applicable because it truly does go to the heart of mentoring which is investing in others at the same time you are being given back in return. This book could even be called, the heart of ALL relationships. I like what the back says "The secret to living....is giving". It truly is the secret and has completely changed the way I approach business as well as personal relationships.

This book really captures the essense of a successful mentoring relationship. Anyone who leads, coaches, manages or influences others should read this book - a few times. The principles have literally changed my life and have given me the understanding and confidence to now help others. After all, the legacy any of us can hope to leave can only be measured in the lives of other people.

As a business owner, I have applied the principles in this book to all of the business that I have owned and found them invaluable. Other business development books always gave me a list of "do's" and "don'ts" which would work for a short while and then we would move to the next "flavor of the month." Finally, I learned that real organizational change comes from the inside out. Mentoring enabled me to do that and my business reflected that change. My profits started climbing as well as the retention rate of my employees. It all started with the principles in the Heart of Mentoring. If you are looking for a checklist of things to do, don't buy this book. If you are looking to make an organizational change for the better-buy it.

this book has truly changed my life as I have applied it not only to myself, but also to all of the other relationships in my life (spouse, co-workers, children, friends, relatives, etc.). If you are looking for a book that will change your life for the better, help you to reduce stress and start you on your way to giving your life to something that truly matters, get this book and start applying the principles!

I was looking for a book to describe a structure, do's and don'ts, and general guidance for developing a business oriented mentoring relationship/program. I found the book lacked any specificity to the business world as opposed to general living. Worse, I found that by reading the first sentence of each paragraph, I got the idea, rather than spending time going into each repetitive example. On the chance I was too negative about the text, I loaned it to an associate who is heavily involved with mentoring and he also found the book to be redundant with rather obvious recommendations. Purchase another text if you are looking for a guide to mentoring in the business world.

I must say that this book was kind of a let-down for me. I started this book with high expectations but I quickly realized that this book did not run too deep in its thoughts and it seemed to make many obvious points. I was also disappointed that a book from NavPress would lack spiritual content. It also seemed as if the author used this book as a commercial for his company which focuses on mentoring, which I guess is his prerogative as the author.

On the positive side, I will say that if you have never been involved in mentoring, either as a mentor or as someone being mentored, this book would be a great place to start as it gives the basics of the process.

I do like the way that Stoddard ends the book with his advice on how to get started with a mentoring relationship. His advice is, "Just do it." Yes, it is simple, but some people need this kind of simple push to get started.

This book would be great to use with a group of co-workers as a way to break the ice with them if you're interested in building relationships at the office. But, if you're looking for some deep and meaningful discussions with a small group at church, this is not the book for you.

This book as excellent to read. Easy to comprehend. Full of information and personal experience. I couldnt put it down.

This is a helpful overview of mentoring and would be beneficial to those who are beginning to think about mentoring or have been mentoring people for a while but have become frustrated by the experience. The author shows that mentoring is less about rocket science (technique) and more about heart science. The book reveals that mentoring, at its core, is sharing one's life with another. It is first and foremost listening and then it is sharing - not just success stories but whopping failures.

I used this book as a text for a mentoring class I taught this fall, and enjoyed it well enough. I didn't get to choose it as a text and might not have if I knew more about it. What the book says it wants to do, and does well, is lay out general principles for people committed to building into the lives of others. Stoddard's conviction is that there are no hard-and-fast rules to mentoring, so you'll be disappointed if that's what you're looking for. But it's a good head-check and heart-check for those considering this worthwhile activity.