“One Minute Mentoring” by Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz (2017) was a fast-paced and memorable read. I was wandering the library, looking for books on the subject of venture capital when this one stopped me. I had read a book in this series called One Minute Manager, and remembered it being straightforward and easy to digest. I picked this personal development book up because I have been wondering if it is time to get myself a mentor, one who has scaled a start up of their own. I was also attracted to the female/male author partnership on the book cover, as I had never heard of Claire before.
Overview: The book is a quick 130 pages and follows a fictional story of a seasoned female sales executive (Diane) who becomes a mentor to an early career salesman (Josh), questioning his path in life. In the process of their developing mentor relationship, Diane finds that she too is ready for a change. The MENTOR methodology stands for Mission, Engagement, Networking, Trust, Opportunities, Review and Renew.
Key Message: The key message of the book is that everyone should have a mentor for their own benefit, and if they are ready, should pay it forward and become a mentor for someone else. This book shares some of the criteria for finding a good fit, and provides a loose structure for how the relationship can be fostered over time so that the mission of the mentoring relationship is achieved.
- The difference between coaching and mentoring is that mentors use coaching skills but have additional responsibilities (advocacy and role modeling)
- A good way to begin a mentoring relationship is a two-part meeting: The first is to identify fit by getting to know each other, the second is form, which means understanding the mission and structure of how the relationship will work.
- Mentorship relationships have their own lifecycle – some last many years, and others are finite periods of time
Supplemental Information:
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- Buy the book from the website: https://www.kenblanchardbooks.com/book/one-minute-mentoring/
- See Ken in action (Servant Leadership): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctZHSa4Qhd4
- See Claire in action (Interview): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAuRYSMCsgE
Where it Falls Short: At the end of each chapter, the authors provide a bulleted list of one minute insights. Those were too easy to skip over. A better way to have structured the book would have been to have the one minute insights provided at the beginning of each chapter, and then the story flow would reinforce those messages, for better retention of information.
Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it a 8 out of 10 in terms of a personal a development book. It allowed me to discover Claire Diaz Ortiz, who is someone I will follow as a female emerging leader in this space. I knew it would be a solid and reliable book, as all of Ken Blanchard’s self-help books need to be. Using a good-feel story always helps too!