Managers and parents can use the same mentoring strategies to encourage initiative in their own employees and children. Co-authors management coach Linda Culp Dowling and parent educator Cecile Culp Mielenz describe their unique perspective of mentoring in their new book, Mentor Manager, Mentor Parent: How to Develop Responsible People and Build Successful Relationships at Work and at Home.

“ We recognized that the managers and parents we advise share similar frustrations with the behavior of their employees or children. Drawing on our experiences, we created a model of strategies and skills designed to help our clients develop mentoring relationships rather than those based on control. Mentor Manager, Mentor Parent teaches managers and parents how to apply these proven techniques at work and at home,” explain Dowling and Mielenz.

Mentor Manager, Mentor Parent contributes practical techniques and challenging new perspectives to both management and parenting literature and has been described as “the one book that will go from your briefcase to your nightstand and back again.” The book offers a step-by-step practical approach to mentoring that combines successful management methods with down-to-earth parenting practices. It begins with a self-assessment to determine the reader’s present approach to control: boss, manipulator, martyr, or mentor.

To develop mentoring skills, Dowling and Mielenz then present four interrelated strategies that encourage responsibility and self-direction in both employees and children: structuring, coaching, conferencing and letting go. Within each strategy are three fundamental skills and worksheets for practice, accompanied by over 150 real-life stories of the struggles and successes of managers and parents.

Dowling is President of Communication Concepts Consulting, Inc., a training and development firm serving clients in business, education, government and healthcare.
Mielenz teaches parent education for Shoreline Community College, Seattle, and presents seminars for the Bureau of Education and Research. She also maintains a specialized counseling practice dedicated to parenting.