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Berrett-Koehler Discussion Guide for
Managers As Mentors
Building Partnerships For Learning
by Chip R. Bell

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  • What does mentoring mean to you? What are examples of great mentors in your life? What did these great mentors do which made them significant in your life?

  • What are the pros and cons of mentoring programs in an organization? What factors could make mentoring programs work effectively in an organization?

  • Today's organizations must remain in a constant state of learning. To do that, every leader must be a mentor to all the people they influence. What are the major challenges of a manager mentoring the associate they directly supervise?

  • Effective mentoring begins with rapport-a comfortable kinship. What are ways mentors can establish rapport when beginning a new mentoring relationship?

  • Learning means taking risks and trying new behaviors. It means being awkward before you can be confident; a novice before mastery. What are ways mentors can help create a relationship in which protégés feel comfortable trying new skills?

  • Research indicates demonstrated acceptance and positive regard are tools for creating a learning relationship. How does a mentor demonstrate acceptance and regard? What are actions which cause protégés to feel judged, critiqued or tested?

  • One of the most important gifts a mentor gives to a protégé is advice. What makes advice giving most challenging? What are ways a mentor can give advice so that the advice is heard and valued by the protégé?

  • How are advice and feedback different? What are ways a mentor can provide feedback in a fashion that is beneficial to the protégé?

  • Great mentoring relationships are characterized by productive dialogue, conversations with insight producing questions plus healthy give and take. What are ways a mentor can foster productive dialogue? What steps should a mentor take if the conversation is not working?

  • How does a mentor end a mentoring relationship? What are ways to keep the relationship from becoming dependent? How can mentors help extend the learning beyond the relationship?