Starting Strong : A Mentoring Fable

A hands-on and usable guide to making the first 90 days of your mentoring relationship a success In Starting Strong, mentoring experts Lois J. Zachary and Lory A. Fischler weave a compelling tale that exemplifies the concepts, highlights the dynamics, and outlines the issues involved in mentoring relationships. The authors use the form of a fable to tell the story of a budding mentoring relationship filled with possibilities, problems, and triumphs. The story of Cynthia, a seasoned professional, and her new mentee Rafa, brings to life Zachary and Fischler's wealth of mentoring suggestions and best practices and each episode of the fable is accompanied by reflection questions, key learnings, and strategies that readers can apply to their own mentoring relationships. The authors include a conversation playbook that guides mentors and mentees through six essential conversations that will help them establish a strong mentoring connection, and keep it moving forward.
As organizations face the transition of departing Boomers and arriving Millennials, Starting Strong offers a hands-on and readable guide to create effective mentoring relationships that will ensure the success of that transition. The book:

• Covers the key components of a successful mentoring relationship including building trust, establishing a comfort zone (and then having the courage to leave it), holding productive meetings, dealing with power dynamics, setting goals, and keeping momentum going
• Shows how to avoid common pitfalls and overcome mentoring obstacles
• Applies to any organizational or institutional setting

Starting Strong is more than an engaging story of mentorship, it's a vital resource for understanding how to implement and sustain a meaningful mentoring relationship.

Download the Starting Strong Readers' Book Club Guide at bit.ly/1SQUSqw

It has been said that all strong relationships are built on trust, and mentoring relationships are no exception. Only if both mentors and mentees believe the process is worthwhile can they experience real growth and development through mentoring. Through the engaging fictional case of Cynthia and her new mentee, Rafa, Starting Strong demonstrates how the first 90 days of a mentoring relationship can establish a foundation for lasting transformation and tangible benefits.

The power dynamics between mentor and mentee, if unattended to, can stand in the way of establishing the good rapport essential to mentoring success. Mentors need to help mentees feel comfortable talking openly about sometimes challenging issues that impact their growth and development.

In Starting Strong, mentors and mentees alike have access to questions and strategies intended to help them navigate the uncertainty at the beginning of the mentoring process. The conversation playbook, one of the most practical tools in Starting Strong, represents the best practices in mentoring today. By following its guidelines for having the six essential mentoring conversations, you can be sure that nothing is overlooked.

The challenge of establishing a successful mentoring relationship is rewarded with real learning that goes beyond one-sided “advice.” As you follow Cynthia and Rafa on their journey, you may discover dimensions of the mentoring process that you never suspected were there. Whether mentoring relationships last for a few months or for the duration of a career, those early conversations have an enormous impact.The authors have witnessed this firsthand in their work with organizations like IKEA, Medtronic, and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Starting Strong demonstrates that, if real communication can be established in the first ninety days, mentorship can be a guiding light for setting and achieving concrete goals. Mentor, mentee, and the organization as a whole can accomplish great things if they do what it takes to start off strong.