The Mentor's Spirit: Life Lessons on Leadership and the Art of Encouragement [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Marsha Sinetar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

When Marsha Sinetar speaks, people listen. Her landmark bestseller "Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow" established Sinetar as a leading voice in the spiritual self-actualization movement. Here, Sinetar unfolds a way to use our inborn "Spiritual intelligence" to see the world and everything in it as a potential mentor--a life-affirming source of guidance and inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Drawing on resources as disparate as St. John of the Cross and Paul Hawken, Oprah Winfrey and Erich Fromm, Sinetar, author of the popular Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow, strikes it rich once again. Her topic is the mentor and, beyond that, the mentoring spirit, which is "almost anything that deepens our sense of the sacred or our understanding or transmits a kind of gladness about life itself." Her prose varies between sheer translucency and an opacity similar to philosopher Heidegger's style, where just one or two readings do not capture all the inherent meanings. For those willing to brave the occasionally rough syntactic seas in this book, the crossing is worthwhile, revealing the psychology of and behind mentoring. A millennium book of guidance on achieving "good personhood," this one's trendy topic, combined with the author's track record, should ensure demand Barbara Jacobs --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Sinetar...strikes it rich once again. A millennium book of guidance on achieving 'good personhood.'"--Booklist

"Mentoring is not a new concept in business circles, but, as usual, Sinetar brings a broader, more original perspective to a familiar theme."--Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564555054
• ISBN-13: 978-1564555052
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,178,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Careers & Business Life
  • #97 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Management

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blew me away! Perfect for the road, June 25, 2003

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mentor's Spirit: Life Lessons on Leadership and the Art of Encouragement (Audio Cassette)

I wasn't expecting much from this tape. The book hadn't impressed me very much and I was thinking, "same old..."
However, as I listened I realized that Sinetar really has uncovered new ways to view mentoring. She distinguishes mentoring spirit from mentors in a unique, compelling way. Think of light flowing through a pane of glass. We care about the light -- not the glass. Similarly, the mentor is only a transmitter. What we want is the spirit transmitted by the mentor.

From this perspective, any person, group or even physical object can be a mentor - anything that embodies a spirit that offers us insight, understanding or support. John Muir, for instance, chose nature as a mentor to escape a horrendous family situation. And she never met the artist Ben Shahn, but she learned from his artwork. I can relate: I learned from Cynthia Cooper's book She's Got Game (which I also reviewed) -- and I've never held a basketball.

Most important, our own silence helps us grow and any meditation, quiet time or sabbatical can enrich us the way a mentor might.

There are many other gems on this tape and I plan to listen again...and again. Perhaps most interesting is the glimpse we get into Sinetar's own life and business. We learn that she regularly takes sabbaticals lasting several months -- and once a week she won't work at all. She no longer attends corporate dinners in the evening, although it's normally considered part of the consultant's job.

Sinetar recognizes that people have to be careful as they operate within an organization, and I think she underestimates the dfificulty of carving out space in a structured hierarchy. However, I have met folks who swim with ease in the corporate sea, and those will probably resonate even more, as Sinetar gracefully combines spirituality, personal growth and business systems.

I was reminded of Carolyn Myss: Despite widely divergent styles and content, both authors create and integrate.
Sinretar is far more accessible than Myss and her spiritual challenge is more of a gentle hill than an icy mountain. But don't expect Sinetar to offer a cake walk. One of the best parts of the book compares Olympic level goals with more mundane, amateur achievements, and she cites Neil Postman's wonderful book about our entertainment culture.
We want everything to be like television: no effort, no preparation and pleasantly entertaining, she says. As a former college professor, I have to agree: I've heard a college senior say, "I like this text because it has a lot of pictures."

Heading for a vacation trip? Pack this one in the car and prepare to come back refreshed and, quite possibly, changed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not all that accessible a concept, July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mentor's Spirit: Life Lessons on Leadership and the Art of Encouragement (Paperback)

I found the concepts of this book hard to follow, although Sinetar writes well enough. Like her "Do What You Love...", it was somewhat abstract and did not offer enough pragmatism for my taste. However, there were "golden" moments in the book, especially when she describes actual events and people who embody her definition of a "Mentor's Spirit". A book to be read AND discussed with others. A book for those who aspire to be a different sort of mentor and are ready to take on the awesome responsibilty Sinetar seems to imply.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading for educators and mentors!, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mentor's Spirit: Life Lessons on Leadership and the Art of Encouragement (Hardcover)

Marsha Sinetar, author of The Mentor's Spirit, also wrote Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow, (1987), a book that was influencial in my decision to pursue teaching as a profession instead of pursuing the almighty buck. Because of that fact, I began reading The Mentor's Spirit. I enjoyed the inspiring words of wisdom, just as much or even more so than her first book I read.

Rather than a step by step guide to mentoring, Sinetar focuses on what she calls the mentor's spirit. This book elaborates on the mentor and the mentor's spirit, both of which affirm our potential to become 'distinctive contributors within the context of our life in community.' Each Life Lesson provides insights on the art of encouragement, calling the reader to make a difference in their world. She takes a somewhat philosophical approach, interspersed with personal stories. However, this book is not for everyone since some will disagree with Sinetar's chapter on Spiritual Intelligence.