Читать книгу Mentoring Minutes - Robin Cox - Страница 6

Robin Cox has spent more than two decades teaching and writing about youth mentoring in Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Mentoring Minutes is a powerful culmination of his research, personal experiences and knowledge of the journey of mentors and mentees and what is required to build and ensure a sustainable mentoring relationship.

As a pioneer in the creation of school-based mentoring in America thirty-five years ago and an international consultant on mentoring, I have learned that dedicated, committed and caring mentors want to make a difference in the life of a young person but they cannot work in a vacuum. Much like their mentees, they must also feel supported, nurtured, inspired, and uplifted. Many programs are experiencing a high attrition rate among mentors. There may be many contributing factors but one my colleagues and I hear frequently is that the mentors are not sure if they are making a difference, sometimes feel isolated, and may not have adequate answers to their questions and concerns. They need to be reminded frequently that much of what they are experiencing with their mentee is normal, and be encouraged regularly not to give up.

Mentoring Minutes in some respects has become an almost self-help book for mentors. In this regard, it is a unique and revolutionary approach. In the book, Cox offers an incredibly valuable resource for mentors as they celebrate the growth and achievements of their mentees. The daily messages become a calendar of ongoing training, advice, encouragement, and hope. Each message instructs mentors on mentees’ growth, development, feelings and needs and what they are experiencing as they go through the journey of life. Mentors are equipped with many tips and strategies to help mentees achieve their goals.

Cox offers a plethora of ways to create meaningful mentoring relationships between mentors and mentees. One of my favorite quotes comes from Carl W. Buehner in 1971. “They may forget what you said—but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Mentoring Minutes is an instructional guide to making mentees feel self-worth, sense of belonging, get a better perspective on themselves, and the benefit of someone believing in them.

On any given day, a mentor can read a daily message and find comfort and encouragement. Every message is an invitation to mentors not to be afraid to try new ideas and strategies with their mentees. Given that a mentor is a friend and not a teacher, psychologist, counselor, or parent, the Dos and Don’ts are sure to create boundaries and lead to successful mentoring. It is also convenient that due to the book’s intentional layout, the reader can enjoy a message or two at a time, select from the Table of Contents and be guided by the lessons. Mentors will be able to walk in their mentee’s shoes and support them as their number one cheerleader.

Mentoring Minutes goes beyond the mentor/mentee audience. Most of the writings can be used as well by parents and teachers working with young people. The contents are practical and universal. The benefits to mentors and others remind me of a wonderful phrase in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. “Why did you do all this for me?” Wilbur asked. Charlotte replied, “You have been my friend. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.”

I applaud Robin Cox for writing Mentoring Minutes. Mentors and mentees and others as well will be inspired and uplifted by his messages of support, challenge, love, and affirmation.

Dr. Susan G. Weinberger

President, Mentor Consulting Group, USA