Giving Much/Gaining More: Mentoring for Success

Transitions are difficult. From high school to college, college to the job force, from one job to another. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find your place in society because of the impersonal structure of many businesses and organizations out there. More and more people are looking to qualified colleagues to provide them with key guidance throughout the evolution of their careers. For many, that key is mentoring. Mentoring is defined as significant personal and professional assistance given by a more experienced person during a time of transition. Personal assistance involves role modeling and encouraging, while professional assistance includes educating and sponsoring. This book contains several descriptions of a successful mentoring program, and how participants related to the program, to each other, and to the program’s lasting effects on their lives, both personal and professional. It has definitions and narratives for a set of 12 paired actions (such as trusting/doubting, forgiving/condemning, and accepting/rejecting) that the administrator, Emily M. Wadsworth,
caught
in her personal life and
cast
in her professional endeavors. Her experiences are then matched with the stories of 12 former team members who used their understanding of Wadsworth’s lessons to describe how they
caught
and
recast
an action in their own personal and professional existences. Recommended for educators, personnel managers, and anyone interested in personal growth.