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Many of us have fixed ideas about what "mentoring" is and how it can help us. Few of us know how to tap into his power to help us transform ourselves and others into the process. "One Minute Mentoring," written by two leadership and communication experts, offers a powerful story and strategies to help you do just that.
We all know that mentoring is good for our careers and other areas of our lives, so why not involve more people? The typical excuse is that we do not have the time or do not know the right person. In One Minute Mentoring: How to Find and Work with a Mentor – and Why You'll Benefit from Being a Authors Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz have debunked these two myths of mentoring. With the help of a fictional story of two busy business professionals (Diane and Josh), the book shows how mentoring relationships can be cultivated in the busiest circumstances.
What's a minute of mentoring?
"Successful people do not reach their goals alone."
– of Mentoring of a minute
One Minute Mentoring uses a story to offer a new perspective on the mentoring relationship. As the book highlights, many of us would like a mentor. Some of us would even like to be a mentor someday. However, one of the biggest obstacles to mentoring is the misunderstanding of the mentoring relationship. A mentor is not someone who passes on wisdom to someone else (often younger, but not always). Good mentoring involves a relationship between two people who are both gaining value from the process. Mentoring at this level can offer an incredible return on investment.
This return on investment can flourish in one minute.
Most, however, can never live this moment. They believe either that mentoring takes too much time or lacks a clear structure to make real progress. One Minute Mentoring shows how these two obstacles can be solved through the fictional story of Josh Hartfield and Diane Bertman. Both are busy professionals who have reached a turning point in their lives and careers. Josh is a sales professional who has a gap between his work goals and his sales performance. Diane is a leader who increases the number of flights and constant meetings. Both Josh and Diane need someone who can help them solve the problem.
Josh meets Diane in her search for a mentor and both accept a mentoring relationship, despite their limited time and other pressures. Their mentoring relationship thrives, no matter what, leading to new journeys and life-changing ideas. These changes turn Diane and Josh into stronger leaders and examples of the possibility of mentorship in everyone's life.
The book is the product of two authors who know a thing or two about business mentoring even with the most hectic schedule.
Ken Blanchard is author, speaker, management consultant, and corporate spiritual leader Ken Blanchard, a company he founded with his wife 35 years ago. Blanchard is the author or co-author of more than 60 books.
Claire Diaz-Ortiz is an author, speaker, startup consultant and online marketing consultant. A former Twitter employee, Claire was ranked among the "100 Most Creative People in Business" by Fast Company. Beyond her duties in the field of online business, she earned the recognition of being one of the first to give birth to a live tweet.
What's better than a one-minute mentorship?
When talking about mentoring in business, we often talk about one of two extremes. The first extreme is an experience in which a mentor magically appears in someone's life and somehow fixes everything. The second is an unfortunate scenario in which mentoring is imposed on someone by senior management because the person's performance has slipped. These two extremes lead people to an imprecise and passive vision of mentoring. One Minute Mentoring dispels the two extremes, replacing them with a powerful, simple and insightful vision. The approach gives readers a different perspective on mentoring, one where they have more control over the process.
What could have been done differently?
One Minute Mentoring focuses on the beginning of the mentoring relationship. This is not a guide to settle everything in this relationship. The book addresses some barriers to mentoring (through the story with Josh and Diane), but readers should not consider it as an ultimate guide to mentoring. One Minute Mentoring provides an excellent story and tips for refining your mentoring experience, but it will not guide you every step of the way, especially if you set up an official mentoring program
Why read a minute of mentorship?
Because the emphasis is on demonstrating that mentoring is accessible to all, One Minute Mentoring is theoretically relevant to everyone. As the book reinforces, we all need mentors in our personal and professional lives to help us think about decisions, inspire ourselves, and achieve a new level of performance. As the book also reinforces, this mentoring relationship can become a powerful tool that produces results in less than a minute. We have all met a person who is able to change our perspective with a phrase or action.
One Minute Mentoring highlights how we can all tap into the power of mentorship to influence others, both above and below us in the chain of command. We need to invest in this relationship to harness that power and achieve the desired results. If you need motivation and some essential tips, One Minute Mentoring can certainly help you.