Full Description
This book takes stories of learning relationships from popular films, television programmes and literature, and uses them as a catalyst for beginners and experts alike to reflect critically on their own mentoring and coaching practice. How realistic are our expectations of personal change, and to what extent is the flourishing self-help market responsible for this? What, if any, are the moral responsibilities of executive mentors and coaches, when it comes to global corporate wrongdoing? What should constitute 'truth' and 'knowledge' in a world in which ambiguity and doubt can appear more effective weapons of survival? What can Pinocchio, The Matrix, Star Wars or The Sopranos tell us about any of this?
Storytelling and metaphor have become of increasing interest in research into leadership and learning. Here is a book which takes the idea of storytelling as a powerful aid to learning and change, and uses it to help practitioners and educators challenge their ideas on mentoring in an entertaining way, by asking themselves some of the difficult questions that these popular stories raise.
Contents
Foreword; David Clutterbuck.
Preface: Mentoring in Popular Culture
Chapter 1. Turkey, Tomatoes and Poppadoms: Storytelling, and its Role in Making Meaning and Learning
Chapter 2. Monks, Mobsters, and the Matrix: Knowledge, Learning, Action, and Change
Chapter 3. Vampires, Hustlers and Tough Love: The Use and Abuse of Power and Trust
Chapter 4. From the Bada-Bing to the Belly of the Whale (By Way of Belgium): The Mentor as Moral Compass and Conscience
Chapter 5. Ratso, Rita and the Android: Personal Change and Self-Fulfilment
Chapter 6. The Enemy Within, or Just a Critical Friend? The Subversive Mentor or Transformation Through Subversion, Humor and Tough Love
Chapter 7. Attorneys, Aliens and Fools: Mentoring for Diversity and Speaking Truth to Power
Chapter 8. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying: Purpose, Autonomy and the Power of Positive Thinking
Chapter 9. Summary
About the Authors
