BOOK REVIEW: The U.S. Naval Institute on Mentorship

Editor: P. J. Neal

Your reviewer has been very fortunate in being the recipient of some excellent mentorship so he is, perhaps, poorly equipped to comment on the effect of a lack of mentorship on those not so blessed.

Interestingly, almost all of my mentors were World War II veterans leavened by some outstanding women and a couple of younger people. All, in varying degree and ways, were achievers and some were outstandingly brave. Their contribution to my personal satisfaction of life was immeasurable.

So, the importance and value of mentorship to your reviewer is inarguable. The questions are: 1. How to be a valuable mentor? And 2. How do you find a mentor? The thirty or so contributors to this valuable compilation provide us with a valuable variety of answers to those and related questions.

Military organisations, particularly navies, have a generally good record of mentoring. It’s how they work and one of the important ways in which professional knowledge and organisational culture are passed on. This book provides an excellent overview of how that happens.

Available from the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, USA.

Web: www.nip.org


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