Customer Reviews

The Mentee's Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You

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If you have been thinking you need a mentor, you must purchase this book! Entering into a mentoring relationship requires thoughtful preparation and Lois Zachary clearly and succinctly outlines the process that will lead to your readiness for mentoring. The book covers important topics from the mentee's perspective: exercises for self-understanding, how to examine your assumptions about mentoring, how to choose a mentor and set your own learning goals,the process you can expect, and even developing an awareness of danger signs in a mentoring relationship. I have been a fan of Lois Zachary's Mentor's Guide and have used it as required reading in the graduate course I teach on Mentoring. But the Mentee's Guide is the companion book I was waiting for - a book that will empower adult learners to seek the mentor they need to enhance their personal and professional growth.

I found the latest book by Lois Zachary (with Lory Fischler) "The Mentee's Guide - Making Mentoring Work for You" to be both thought provoking and practical. Zachary makes a compelling case that persons getting mentored (Mentees)should take an active role in shaping the content and dynamics of their relationships with their mentors. I have talked to a number of business clients and associates for whom you can hear the penny drop as they consider the power of this simple but bold idea.

The very practical part of the book is the structured approach to equip mentees to reflect on their own goals/styles and actively work with their mentors. This book is valuable for a wide variety of purposes and groups, including individual mentees and mentors too. For business leaders and organizations committed to being learning organizations, the principles and tools articulated in the book can be a powerful support to constructively changing how mentorship takes place while also strengthening a learning culture of collaboration and empowerment.

The book is fun and easy to read, with lots of great stories, and is truly chockful of tips, tools, checklists and practical exercises that are helpful to mentees but more broadly to any individual or organization wishing to improve how people learn together.

What a great addition to the excellent mentoring series. This latest book is a clear, smooth-flowing and thoughtful examination of process. Through carefully questions, charts and examples, its step-by-step approach builds skills, confidence, and understanding of goals. A practical book that provides a positive guide to building relationships.

I am in my last semester of college and learned about The Mentee's Guide through an informal mentoring relationship. Before reading this book, I didn't really understand the power of mentoring and how it can facilitate excellence in any aspect of your life. Lois Zachary does a great job of explaining the importance the mentee has on the relationship and how the two can help each other. She gives examples of real life situations and provides helpful worksheets to guide the mentee in not only finding the perfect mentor, but helping the mentee to really figure out what they want to gain out of the relationship. I recommend this book to any college senior or junior who is still confused on the path that they want to take for their future. It will open your mind, test your limits, and provide you with the tools you will need for all aspects of life.

If you have been researching mentoring, your search is over now that you have discovered Dr. Lois Zachary. Dr. Zachary, an internationally recognized expert in mentoring and leadership, has written three books providing resources for organizations, mentors and most recently mentees.

"The Mentee's Guide: Making Mentoring Work For you" combines theory, real-life examples, and practical exercises that will enhance your mentoring relationship regardless of its stage. Whether you are considering finding a mentor, are in a corporate program or are already connected with a mentor in an informal situation, the process will be improved by what you learn from this book.

"The Mentee's Guide" is such an easy read and I found myself so energized by it that I read Dr. Zachary's "The Mentor's Guide" before settling down to explore the exercises for mentees. From a personal reflection exercise through goal setting and agreements all the way to bringing the relationship to closure, working through the exercises will leave no questions unanswered. With this book you will have a mentoring guru at your side throughout the process.

Lois Zachary does it again in The Mentee's Guide. Her previous books (Creating a Mentoring Culture and The Mentor's Guide)have been my bibles in terms of building a mentoring culture at the non-profit organization for which I work. She presents the material for an aspiring Mentee to prepare them for the relationship with their Mentor. She uses a four-fold framework to describe the learning relationship life-cycle: preparing, negotiating, enabling and termination. The exercises in the book are straightforward and help facilitate the self-knowledge that a Mentee needs to fine-tune his or her relationship with the Mentor. I would like to see a future book focus on the success factors and outcomes of a Mentoring program - possibly titled "Evaluating a Mentoring Program". While this is treated in Creating a Mentoring Culture, this topic needs its own book. I highly recommend purchasing all three books.