Mentoring: the Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom

I read Mentoring: the Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom by Chungliang Al Huang and Jerry Lynch slowly. It's not a long book, and it's also not a dense book - the main portion of the book consists of four-page sections for each of the "Virtues of the Heart" and "Virtues of the Soul". The first page shows the Chinese character for each; the second page describes its poetic meaning; the third page shows translations epigramatic wisdom from Chinese classics on the subject; and the fourth page describes the virtue's application to mentoring relationships. I tried to read one virtue at a time, several times a day, because I wanted to relax and savor the lovely calm and gentleness of them.

Being assigned to read this book felt like a gift. Tao means "way", and the way this book describes being in relationship to others is, in most ways, exactly how I would like to be in relationship with all the people in my life. Of course I am not all of the time in all of the ways with all of the people who are important to me. But this book isn't about "should," it's about "could" - "you could choose to behave more this way when a situation arises" rather than "you should do xyz when this happens!"

And I guess that's what I want to keep most from reading this book: offering those I mentor (clients, family, friends - the authors describe how mentoring is a model for all kinds of human relationships) and myself coulds instead of shoulds. This book models that possibility beautifully.