I enjoy reading books that have a story line behind them. It allows me to become immersed in what is taking place and perhaps in some way be a part of the story. When I write articles I like to do the same thing – as it helps people relate to what I am talking about.

So let me tell you a little story. Chances are, most of you will relate to this story in some way and that is a good thing. The journey that we are about to take is a learning one. After all, mentoring is all about personal and professional growth – so our journey will be part of that process.

They are an organization not unlike any other that is out there today. They are struggling with productivity issues – a disengaged workforce, they have an aging workforce, they are fighting the talent shortage and they have not done any succession planning. Their aging workforce (the baby boomers) are all eyeing the calendar and have their dates marked when they will walk out the door. On some of the days you could actually hear them calling out how many months, weeks and days they have left. Does any of this sound familiar?

Now this sounds bad enough as it is with a percentage of the workforce watching the “exit door” and on the countdown. This organization also has problems with a disengaged workforce. They are suffering from lost productivity issues and do not know what to do. Someone has suggested, “Let’s set up a mentoring program” to see if we can get people to participate. They are not really sure if this is the right thing to do – but they have read about other organizations that were setting up mentoring programs so, “why not?”

Mentoring programs if not done correctly have a significant failure rate. It has been shown that approximately 79% to as high as 90% of the mentor programs that are attempted fail! They typically fail because of lack of corporate support, no structure, and no formal training. Would you perform open heart surgery on your best friend? Maybe I shouldn’t ask that question! What is also important is understanding what the outcomes are that you are looking for as a result of setting up this program.

We should take a step back now and evaluate what is going on in this organization before we move forward. So we know for sure that we have people ready to retire, we have a talent shortage, we haven’t done any succession planning and we have a portion of the workforce disengaged. Would a mentor program that matches Generation “Y” with Baby Boomers be the answer to all of this? Actually it wouldn’t on its own. We need to take somewhat of a different approach on this one.

We need to address the disengaged workforce piece first in this situation. No matter how good of a mentor program we put into place, the disengaged employee with all that negative energy will derail the mentor program in very short order. We should look at working on the development of a mentor culture where everyone helps their colleagues to grow personally and professionally. In that situation you would have all the generations interacting with each other – and no one is matched to mentor the other. It becomes a way of life – baby boomers mentor all the other generations and everyone mentors the baby boomers. I know what you are thinking and that is there is no way that a baby boomer would want to be mentored by someone younger than them. Well, in some organizations it’s called “reverse mentoring”. The “reverse mentoring” is essentially part of the full circle of learning and actualization that occurs through the fostering of a genuine trusted mentor relationship.

“Reverse mentoring” is not a term that I am in support of. I believe that good mentoring occurs when it is two way. The baby boomer learns from the younger generation and vice versa. The transfer of knowledge through mentorship is essentially the transmission of values and education from one generation unto the next. This creates a win – win situation for all.

You will note that I have referenced the term “trusted relationship”! All too often we see the matching process put two people together in a mentoring relationship and what transpires is less than satisfactory. What needs to take place is that the mentor must have the skills to develop a “trusted relationship”. Without that, the learning environment and the opportunity to develop or enhance critical thinking skills will be diminished.

So where does this leave us with our organization? What is the next chapter in this story that we have unfolded? The organization needs to understand and embrace the challenges that it has – we have articulated them. They need to determine how they want to approach this – is it through a mentor program or the building and maintaining of a mentor culture. If they want to run with the program idea then what are the outcomes that they are looking for. Are they willing to provide corporate support for the program, a structured program and the willingness to provide the proper training to ensure success? Do they have mentors that can develop “trusted relationships?” Of do they want to be another casualty of mentoring programs that have failed?

Is our other option then to look at the development of a mentor culture where employees mentor each other and no one is specifically assigned to mentor one particular person? During the initial stages of your onboarding/orientation process you may decide to assign someone a mentor but the need for that relationship to continue may diminish with a mentoring culture in place. The degrees of mentoring skills will obviously be varied but each person will continue to grow personally and professionally as a result of this positive environment. You will have alleviated the need to do a formal matching process – matching a baby boomer with a Generation “Y”. You will find recruiting top talent in a tight market to be easier as you will be able to advertise that you “support and maintain a mentoring culture!” Your turnover rate will fall as it will be easier to retain employees in such a positive work environment – one where people encourage each other to grow personally and professionally. Finally, productivity will increase with an engaged, empowered and accountable workforce. All of this made possible through the “power of mentoring!”

References:

1. Dr. Carolin Rekhar-Munro – 2009

2.  Mentoring Programs That Actually Work – Judy Lindenberger

http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/human-resource/mentoring-programs-that-actually-work-42860

I have been involved in a number of discussions with organizations around helping them set up a mentoring program. I usually try to ascertain what the outcome is that they are seeking as that plays a strong role in the decision making process. I like to find out if the program has corporate support, some form of structure and of course training to the perspective mentors. Interestingly enough though, is that we sometimes forget about providing some training for the mentees/protégés as well. We have found through the work that we do, that mentees/protégés can benefit from the initial training that is being provided. They get to gain insight into what they can be offered by way of the trusted relationship.

So I seemed to have digressed there for a moment! Let’s talk about the mentor program solution. I indicated that you would want to clearly outline the outcomes of the program. What is the target audience for the program, where the mentors coming from and what are the criteria that you are assessing potential mentor applicants against or is it your plan to allow anyone to become a mentor. Do you plan on having someone oversee the program and if so are they passionate about this role. Do you have some structure around the content of the program? That content would include the frequency of meetings, definition of the relationship and what the outcomes for the mentor and the mentee/protégé would be. You would also want to define the duration of the program. Obviously if you are doing this within your organization, the expectation may be that the mentor/mentee-protégé relationship may be long term. You would also want to define what the training is that you would be willing to provide.

As this is a “program” I am going to suggest that you are likely looking at this as a short term solution to a potential problem or perhaps you have decided that you want to test drive the mentoring concept. In any event, a mentor program will suffice for the time being but more than likely is not the solution you should be looking at if you want something long term.

As you read this and wonder where I am going with this story line, I should share with you my bias for mentoring cultures. I see the development of a mentoring culture as a long term investment in your employees and the organization as a whole. It sends a very clear message to everyone that you are committed to mentoring and mentoring has now become a way of life in your organization. Employees wake up in the morning and cannot wait to get to work as they too have embraced the mentoring culture – a culture of support and lifelong learning.

Picture working in an organization where the negativity is so strong that you leave the work place tired and mentally fatigued as all around you are people emitting negative energy. Imagine not carrying about the workplace and each day is a struggle to get through. Imagine looking for any reason to not be in the office and being free from the negativity that surrounds the work place that you once looked forward to going to. All of this sounds far too common today. I am seeing this becoming more the trend than not and that is causing me some concern. This is not something that a mentor program will fix – but it is something that a mentoring culture can address. The implementation of such a culture is like removing a sore that can only grow and get worse – spreading its toxins throughout the organization. A mentor program is similar to placing a Band-Aid over that sore. If we cover it up and hide it no one will really know how bad things have become.

So you decide what you thing is the appropriate course of action to take – a mentor program or a mentor culture. Create that long term support and lifelong learning environment all of which is enabled through the “power of mentoring!”

I heard a story the other day about an organization where the managers are more concerned about catching employees doing something wrong than they are in developing their staff to be the best that they can be. Now that is “WRONG”. If you want to develop a toxic work environment then you are certainly on the path to being successful. I can just imagine the high turnover rate that this organization has and how disengaged the employees must be. I then begin to wonder what the criteria is to be part of the management team in an organization such as this. Does this sound like a place that you would like to be??

Obviously this organization must have a well-used progressive discipline policy and would likely have a steady stream of grievances if they are a unionized organization. In today’s market, retention of employees should be a high priority – not targeting them to see what they are doing wrong so you can punish them.

I am doing some work with a couple of very progressive organizations. They are developing a progressive discipline process ironically with input from the employees. Now how awesome is that! These organizations are very progressive and have realized the “power of mentoring.” They have incorporated it into the progressive discipline process. The approach that they have taken is to put into practice a period of mentoring to help adjust the behaviour that the employee may be disciplined for. Their belief is that it is more important to help an employee grow personally and professionally and only as a last resort to then turn to the formal discipline process. They are developing a mentoring culture where everyone helps each other grow personally and professionally with the idea in mind that they will never have to use the progressive discipline policy! All of this has increased employee engagement in the organization which has increased productivity. Disenchanted employees are disengaged employees and we know who suffers when that happens. The clients that you serve will always suffer when your organization has a productivity challenge. A challenge that you can PREVENT!

Is mentoring an alternative for progressive discipline? It more appropriately would be a solution that can complement a progressive discipline policy. It can send a clear message to your employees that you do care about their growth and that they are valued. In today’s resource market that is so important – and some organizations just don’t get it. I take my hat off to the two organizations that I am working with. They understand, they get it and their employees and clients are the benefactors of their efforts. An engaged, empowered and accountable workforce – will we ever need progressive discipline?? Remember that all of this has been enabled through the “power of mentoring!”

A cold, windy and snowy day today! I have had some time to reflect on the successes over the past week and look forward to the challenges that will come this week. I was blessed again this past week to have developed some relationships that I know will be long term. Some of these relationships are a good two and a half hour drive from my home so I am concerned about maintaining the synergy that we are building because of the distance between us. Should I be concerned?

Mentoring is all about the trusted relationship and the ability to be able to communicate with each other. How you communicate is also important and that medium is normally driven by the person that you are working with in your mentoring capacity. I asked a question the other day, “When I come back for our next conversation, would you mind if I brought along someone that I would be training to do what I do today?” The answer was emphatically “YES, I would not be receptive to someone else partaking in our conversation!” This reinforces the need for that trusted relationship and the faith that someone has in you as their mentor. They only want the relationship with you – and for reasons that only they can explain.

When I look at some of the engagements that I am doing now that focus on creating an engaged, empowered and accountable workforce enabled through a mentoring culture I need to make sure that I have a plan for providing support when the organization and the employees move to maintenance mode. The onus shifts from what I am doing to the organization and its people to maintain the mentoring culture. Now we know that there will be bumps along the way even in the maintenance mode. That is why we as mentors provide the ongoing support to those that we work with to ensure that they can think their way through new challenges.

When I am working with an organization and their employees in another country I will have in place a plan that will address the ongoing support for the organization but more importantly for the people that I have developed that trusted relationship with! That is so critical to all the stakeholders in this situation. So how will we work through this when we are working with people in another country? Through the development of a trusted relationship we will be able to determine the communication wants and needs of each individual that we work with. Once we move to maintenance mode – that communication may well shift to the use of technology as a means to communicate. We would want to have a plan in place though to address an accumulation of challenges that may require more face to face time. The bottom line, “Making you successful is what matters®!”

No matter the distance, we are never really that far away and can always ensure that through the “power of mentoring” we can help you grow personally and professionally and increase productivity in your organization.

What a great week-end! It all started off on Friday with a meeting with a new client and the opportunity to meet all the staff. The room was filled with energy – and everyone was looking forward to the journey that we were going to embark on. We talked a lot about creating a workforce that was engaged, empowered and accountable and this resonated with everyone. When I left there I was so looking forward to our next meeting.

My week-end continued when I attended some meetings where we were looking at our Board structure to align it with the mandate, goals and objectives of the Association. Some of our initial attempts seemed to be clouding the issue for some around the table and the buy in seemed to be off on the horizon someplace.

We took a step back and looked at this from the aspect of developing a structure that is focused on functions required to deliver the services needed to meet our mandate, goals and objectives rather than on people. That is a hard thing to do when you have the people in the room that are doing some or all of the work today. It is difficult to distance yourself from the emotional attachment that you have to what is the here and now!

We discussed the aspect of increasing the engagement factor, empowering certain functions and obviously the people who will be performing those functions. We also discussed the aspect of accountability. When you become more engaged and empowered there are degrees of accountability that go with that. You could see from the body language around the room that this was becoming a lot clearer. With some mentoring – the framework could be built and then expanded on to develop the structure complete with the functions to move the association to the next level.

I had been observing that we were slowly becoming less engaged as time went on. We were a Board that was far too large and not as strategically focused as what we should be. As a result, we struggled to meet our mandate. Some very valiant efforts were being put forward but the changes were not taking place fast enough and may not have been sustainable.

We have a lot of work to get done in the next few months to take this to where we can begin to implement the new structure, functions and model. This will most definitely be a very exciting journey as well as we will be developing an engaged, empowered and accountable Board focused on meeting and exceeding its mandate, goals and objectives. We will work together – mentoring each other as we share some of our best practices, learning and growing as the new structure begins to evolve. All of this enabled through the “power of mentoring” and a mentoring culture.

Over the course of the festive season I have been blessed with the sharing of festive greetings with family and friends all over the world. It is all about giving and receiving and for me – the giving is the most important part. While I cherish each and every message that I have received, there was one that touched my heart. One of the young professionals that I mentor and who has always been there for me to help with the development of the solutions that we provide sent me a message that said, “Here’s to a year that will bring us good health, wealth and prosperity. It is never about the destination…it is about the journey. It all has to be meant to be!” There is little doubt in my mind and obviously in her mind as well that we have an exciting year ahead of us. It will be a year that we get to make a difference in organizations and in the lives of many people. That is what it is all about!

Can you imagine working in an organization that had employees that were filled with the positive energy that my colleague has – who were willing to take on any challenges that were thrown their way – and would seek out challenges if none were presented to them. All of which were for the betterment of the organization and their personal development. Is this a dream or is it reality?

Are all organizations like that? Do some provide “window dressings” that coax potential employees into the organization on the premise that they care about their employees? Are there organizations out there that actually care about their employees? They are the ones that “talk the talk and walk the walk”! What about the organizations that do not fit this mould. Are they the ones where managers lurk in the hallways waiting for employees to make a mistake so they can pounce on them and subject them to the formal discipline process? Are they the ones that have forgotten about employee development – where you mentor employees when you need a behavioural change to take place first before you head down the discipline path? Have they created a mentoring culture where employees are “engaged, empowered, and accountable?” Chances are if the organization is covering up how it actually feels about its employees with “window dressings” then it is definitely not a place with a mentoring culture and more than likely the majority of the employees will be disengaged.

Is 2012 a “new beginning” for you? Are you looking at a change in career or do you need to move on to a new organization as the water cooler talk and negativity where you are now is stifling your creativity? If 2012 is the start of a new chapter in your career/life then you need to take the next step carefully. Proceed carefully and research your potential employer. You should determine if they have a mentoring culture and if employees are engaged, empowered and accountable. Do they have recognition programs in place that have substance and are not just another form of “window dressing”?

If you struggle with figuring this out, chances are you need to search out someone that is a good mentor – an accredited mentor who can assist you in your journey. They will guide you and help you develop the critical thinking skills to make the right decisions.

2012 is definitely a “new beginning” for you – take advantage of the “power of mentoring” and make sure that 2012 is a memorable year for you.

When you look around the world today and see all the turmoil that is taking place you can’t help but wonder “can I make a difference?” What are the little things that I can do that would make a difference in someone else’s life or perhaps in an organization. The Christmas and New Years’ time frame provides us with time to reflect on what we have that perhaps others do not. Perhaps the most important thing for all of us at this time of the year is to be surrounded by loving family and friends and to remember the family and friends that are no longer with us. It is they that have “given” to help us be the best that we can be.

You are likely wondering where I am going with this article? I wanted to frame the article for you to show that there is a lot going on in the world today. We are faced with acts of nature that cause major damage to countries and loss of life, civil strife in some countries and war in yet others. We are faced with an aging work force and a talent shortage coupled with poor succession planning on the part of industry leaders.  We have 75% of the workforce today that is not engaged causing organizations to see a huge productivity impact on their bottom line.

As I reflect over all of this, I search for potential solutions to some of these challenges. You are right in suggesting that there are some of these challenges that we have little if any influence over. I do believe though, that we can make a difference if we truly want to in all the challenges that we have identified.

Think of this from the perspective of a trained mentor who focuses on the development of trusted relationships. They want to make a difference in someone’s life or in an organization. They are about giving – perhaps giving back and wanting to leave a legacy. In return they receive the greatest gift ever – sometimes a simple thank you and most of the time the joy in seeing someone be the best they can be or an organization reaching new heights all done through the development of a trusted relationship.

I am currently working with an organization where we are building an engaged, empowered and accountable workforce enabled through the power of mentoring and a mentoring culture. We had challenges when we started the journey but as I reflect back now, I have seen a new organization has emerge with engaged, empowered and accountable employees. Yes, we are still in the build phase but I am receiving the greatest gift of all – trusted relationships and an organization that I would be proud to call my own!

I could share other stories of success and would be delighted to do so another time! When you look around you think not of “what’s in it for me” but if “if I give – I shall receive” and it will change who you are as a person. Through the “power of mentoring” you can make a difference in the world today – you can give and you will receive the greatest gift of all – your legacy!

I am working on an engagement where I am involved in a mentor consultation. We have talked about having an engaged workforce and what that actually meant. Is that all that there is to be concerned about is that the workforce is engaged? We seemed to think there was more to this that just the engagement part. So I decided to do some additional research for the benefit of my client.

I wasn’t totally surprised at the statistics that I uncovered but I am surprised that organizations are not taking notice of this. If I were to say to you as the CEO of your company that 75% of your employees are in some form of disengagement how would you respond to that. I suppose we could say – so what, but then what does that mean for the remaining 25% of your employees. Just as importantly what does that disengagement cost the bottom line of your company? Buckle up as this one caught me off guard – in the USA disengaged employees cost employers approximately $416B last year. I checked a number of sources as that number seemed high to me – and they are all within the same range. In Singapore the costs annually are in the range of $4.9B to $6.7B.

We know now that we have a large percentage of the workforce that is disengaged. What else should we be concerned about? Well, one statistic that didn’t surprise me was that 36% of Canadian employees are actually looking at changing employers. Chances are they may well be people that are in the 25% of engaged employees that are not happy with how you are managing this situation and how you don’t seem to understand the whole engaged employee concept.

So what are some of the reasons that engagement is extinguished so quickly in an employee? Here are some for us to think about and this list is not exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination:

• Little or no feedback or guidance from those in charge
• Lack of opportunity to discuss problems
• Lack of opportunity to provide ideas and input
• Lack of resources to solve problems or to do a job well
• Little or no reward or recognition
• Little opportunity to develop one’s potential
• Pressure to perform and achieve more with less
• Lack of opportunity to interact socially
• Interpersonal conflicts left unresolved
• Little joy or humor except for office gossip and cynicism
• Stress in balancing work and home responsibilities, leading to energy depletion

The organization that I am working with gets it! They realized that being engaged is one piece of the puzzle. We also need to empower our employees and hold them accountable. Based on that we are working on establishing a mentoring culture where employees are engaged, empowered and accountable. Yes, that is right – accountable!! Employees are actually participating in establishing policies that address the accountability perspective. The contribution in our group sessions is one of high energy and where opinions are respected and discussed openly. We know this won’t happen overnight and it will always be a work in progress. We know that the majority of the issues we have listed above are disappearing and are no longer of any concern. We still need to be diligent in maintaining the mentoring culture as the organizational culture sores can return if we do not work at it. You need to remember that “engaged employees stay for what they give”, and “disengaged employees stay for what they get.”

Imagine if you can having a workforce of trusted employees that are engaged, empowered and accountable. Imagine having them beat you to work in the morning as they can hardly wait to help drive the company to new levels of productivity. Imagine having people lined up at the door wanting to come to work in your organization.

All of this can be achieved through the “power of mentoring!”

References:

1. http://www.canadahrcentre.com/solutions/employee-engagement/
2. http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2009/05/why-having-engaged-employees-matter-better-business-performance.html
3. http://www.boston.com/jobs/nehra/062308.shtml
4. http://www.workingresources.com/professionaleffectivenessarticles/article.nhtml?uid=10040

I read an interesting article that talked about reverse mentoring and how effective it is. The stereo type that we have created for mentoring is that the mentor would be someone that is older and more experienced than the mentee. Reverse mentoring grabs on to this stereo type and packages it as something separate from good mentoring practices as it is a senior professional learning from a young professional.

In a recent mentor training course that we held one of the topics that we discussed is the definition of mentoring or more importantly what is a mentor. Here is what we came up wit

“A mentor is a person who through a trusted relationship helps guide, support and counsel a person through the world of work with a focus on personal and professional growth”

The business people attending the course felt that age was not an issue. They related stories where they had learnt some valuable skills from people that they had been mentoring. It was agreed that mentoring is a two way process where both parties can learn from each other no matter the age or skill level.

We also added this statement to the definition:

“A mentor is focused on relationships and helping people prepare for current and future challenges”

I am involved in a number of one on one mentoring relationships and in each and every situation I take away something of value from each of our conversations. Is that reverse mentoring? I have been provided advice and guidance on social media usage, wording of training materials, input on training materials and the list could go on. Is that reverse mentoring?

My suggestion is that when you have a trained accredited mentor no matter their age who is mentoring for the right reasons you have reverse mentoring at its finest without it being labelled as such. The exchange of information that flows between the two happens on a regular basis and you have two people helping each other to be the best they can be.

This same idea will also spill over into leadership development where varying age differences may occur in mentoring current or future leaders in your organization. Is that reverse mentoring?

I am going to take the position that reverse mentoring can be accomplished through the development of trusted relationships that are created through good mentoring practices. These practices would be learnt through proper training as an accredited mentor. If your organization has trained- accredited mentor(s) working in your organization the sharing of knowledge and helping others be the best they can be will happen no matter the age difference or the skill level.

It is not about reverse mentoring – it is about the “power of mentoring.”

I attended a Board meeting just the other day and the conversation came around to accreditation, certification, mentoring, coaching and how all of this applied to various professions. We were looking at it from the Human Resources profession. We do have a mentor program in place that originally was developed to focus on Human Resource students or recent graduates. The program has taken off with such passion that it now includes a large percentage of existing Human Resource practitioners looking for the opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

In some of the research and some of the opportunities that I am working on I am seeing that some of the professions are looking at mentoring as a means to create that lifelong learning environment. I have seen where a profession is looking at creating a mentoring culture that would have senior resources mentor junior resources and junior resources mentor students and perhaps first year graduates. That is an awesome example of succession planning and development and of creating the lifelong learning environment. There are some things to remember in all of this though and that is to create a successful mentor program you need corporate support, structure and training. The development of your personnel to the level that you want will not be accomplished through a bad experience with an untrained mentor. The benefits of an accredited mentor training program will go a long way to ensure success of your program.

A colleague of mine brought to my attention that one profession that is looking at mentoring is the nursing profession. They see this as a means to have the knowledge transfer from senior nursing personnel to junior personnel for obviously a number of reasons. A recent excerpt from an article states, “In addition, the changing demographics within the acute care hospital setting, and the rapidly changing health care environment, demand that efforts be made to support and encourage new and senior nurses in order to retain competent nursing staff. Recent literature addressing this area of nursing supports the idea that mentoring is one important strategy that can be utilized in this endeavor (Carroll, 2004; Hurst & Koplin-Baucum, 2003; Verdejo, 2002).”

The author of the article, Jill M.G. Bally has done extensive research into mentoring and how it is necessary to have it as part of the corporate culture. This is definitely a must read article for anyone in the nursing profession but more importantly in any profession that is looking at implementing a program. The rationale for taking on such an initiative is clearly outlined in her research.

The research also supports the position that mentor training is critical to the success factor of the mentoring program,“Intellectual stimulation requires collective leadership between formal nursing management and staff nurses to support the professional growth and development of each member in the organization. To achieve this goal, continuous mentoring education and training opportunities should be integrated into the work environment to increase the general awareness of mentorship in that setting.”

Some key things to point out from the research that I have done and from the accredited mentor training that we have provided to date:

1. Mentoring is all about creating that trusted relationship
2. A true mentor relationship does not have a start and end date
3. Mentoring is about personal and professional growth
4. Organizations need to develop a mentoring culture
5. Mentoring should be part of your on boarding/orientation program
6. Mentoring should be part of your leadership development program
7. Your mentor program needs structure and corporate support
8. Your mentors should be trained to bring the full value of mentoring to your organization
9. Mentoring is part of the succession development piece in your succession planning process
10. Mentoring skills should be part of an effective leaders skill set
11. Development of critical thinking and problem solving skills is an outcome we strive for through the mentoring process
12. Your mentor should be trained through an accredited training program

If your organization or your profession is thinking about or has started to plan to implement a mentoring program you are doing the right thing. I strongly encourage you to make sure that your program has structure, clearly understood outcomes and goals, and that you provide your mentors with proper training. If you implement a mentoring program that has corporate support, structure and mentors that have received accredited training you will experience the rewards of the “power of mentoring.”

References:

1. Carroll, 2004; Hurst & Koplin-Baucum, 2003; Verdejo, 2002
2. The Role of Nursing Leadership in Creating a Mentoring Culture: Successful Mentoring: The Essential Dimensions – Jill M. G. Bally, MN, BScN, BA, RN, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. -
3. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/559316_2