TOPICS

LIVING A LEGACY

One of the activities that is cemented to my aging is an increased desire to reflect upon purpose and meaning in life. This examination is particularly stimulated in the last weeks of the year by news media that offer their "year-in-review" summaries, by holiday cards I receive from friends and business associates, by opportunities to have more in-depth discussions with close friends and family, by selecting gifts for people, and by recognizing the intention that comes with gifts I receive from others.

For some reason many discussions I have been having during the beginning of this year have focused on what we are passing on to those around us. Maybe this focus on legacy was because the December issue of the Peer Bulletin included Michael Josephson's wonderful poem, "What Will Matter," which was about recognizing what we leave for others. (Editor's Note: Michael Josephson sent an email letting us know that his poem has been re-created as a powerpoint movie with beautiful background photographs and is available on his website.)

The fact that January, 2007 was National Mentoring Month in the United States may have also prompted me to think more about what we leave to others through our work as mentors. Our legacy goes beyond sharing wisdom and often remains in the heart of those with whom we work. We seldom take the time to assess that impact, and often don't really know what we've left as a result of our relationship with others. (Editor's Note: One of the strategies created by the Harvard School of Public Health to promote National Mentoring Month has been a "Who Mentored You?" project that highlights the legacy of mentoring relationships of celebrities, political leaders, athletes, and Hollywood stars.

Maybe my interest in legacy was stimulated because I had a "catching-up" conversation with a person with whom I have an on-going mentoring relationship and I could not distinguish which one of us was the mentor and which one was the partner. Our mentoring relationship has grown to the point where we both contribute to each other's life direction. (Editor's Note: three resources we discussed were: "Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed" by Frances Westley, Brenda Zimmerman, and Michael Patton - a book about how ordinary people can make connections that will create extraordinary outcomes; "A Leader's Legacy" by James Kouzes and Barry Posner - a new book about questions leaders must ask themselves in order to have a lasting impact; and "The Secret" - a video about the law of attraction and its application to giving to others.

Maybe it was because a person for whom I have had long-time professional respect, let me know she was recently diagnosed with a potentially terminal disease. Maybe my attraction to legacy discussion has increased because more and more of my contemporaries as well as my spiritual mentors have succumbed to ailments associated with aging. (Editor's Note: the Rolling Stones are an exception to this trend. Their 2006 "Bigger Bang" trek, now rated as the top-grossing tour ever, brought the aging quartet to Vancouver, British Columbia. In their 60's now, these rockers continue to leave a legacy of youthful exuberance, and, according to friends who attended the Vancouver concert, the Stones performance stripped them of their aches, pains, and wrinkles.)

Maybe my attention to legacy was because for the umpteenth time I watched Frank Capra's 1946 film, "It's a Wonderful Life," and listened once again to Clarence the angel (played by Henry Travers) say to George Bailey (played by James Stewart), "Each man's life touches so many other lives, and when he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

I also read a column in Entrepreneur.com by coach and marketing expert, Paige Arnof-Fenn, the founder and CEO of Mavens and Moguls, a strategic marketing consulting firm. I was struck by the similarity of her perspective on legacy and how closely it matched my own sentiments, particularly the contributions I want to make to our work and lives. Here are a few paragraphs from her article (used with permission) that struck me as particularly relevant for our work as mentors.

"I once read a proverb that said if you lead a meaningful life, you never really die. Instead, you break into 1,000 pieces, each of which stay alive within the people whose lives you've touched along the way. I like that concept and think about who those 1,000 people would be in my life. My family and close friends would certainly make up a large piece of it, but I hope it would also include my mentors and mentees, team colleagues, fellow board members and even strangers who were touched by my articles or speeches, shared a cross-country plane ride conversation with me or somehow crossed paths with me along the way.

"I’d much rather be remembered by a few dear people on rainy days as the friend you could talk with for hours in front of the fireplace, in a coffee shop, on the phone or on warm days when taking a walk together, than have my name on a building or plaque that thousands of people pass and never notice or wonder who I was and why my name was there. Making a lasting impression on the people who mean the most to me is what I really care about, and I want to be remembered for the right reasons: for being kind, warm, sincere, generous, unique, special, funny and fun. Being remembered as an entrepreneur or leader matters less to me than being remembered as someone who was a good listener, gave great advice, showed good judgment, and really cared about what I did and who I did it with every day.  

"I don’t know who said 'Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life;' I think that sentiment is true. I want to be remembered as a multiplier, someone who raised the level of play of everyone around them, who always created positive energy in the room and sparked new ideas. A good rule of thumb to help guide you in life when you're trying to decide which path to pursue is to take a longer view of your options. So do you attend the wedding of a close friend or agree to speak at a prominent industry conference the same day in a different part of the country? In 10, 20 or 50 years, who will remember or care about the decision you make? Going through that exercise can help clarify priorities quickly.

"As my dear friend in Atlanta once said, you can leave a legacy or lead one--it's your choice whether you're passive or proactive here. Thinking about this topic in my 40s, I now realize the choices I make every day with my time and my calendar directly impact how I'll be remembered. Who I spend my time with and how we pass that time together really matters. I will never get those moments back again, so I want to make sure I spend them each wisely.

"I hope it will be many decades before we find out my legacy. To be honest, I still have a lot to accomplish. I think my biggest opportunities to make a difference and have an impact are still ahead of me. I want to change the world in some important way and know that it's in fact better because I was here.

"My company is the platform from which I operate daily, so now that I’m thinking about these things, it occurs to me I don't have any succession plans in place. Like many entrepreneurs, I've been so busy building my business that I didn't make the time to think about the bigger issues like who'll keep my dreams alive without me here. I think the secret is to include others in your big dreams along the way, so even after you're gone, they continue to expand and reinvent them in relevant ways. That way, your spirit will live on in perpetuity.

"The old saying that it's amazing how much you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit may apply to leaving a legacy as well. Your good work and good deeds live forever in the hearts and minds of those you touch along the way. So as 2006 comes to a close, remember those people who've left lasting impressions on your life, and share the lessons they taught you with others in the new year. What a wonderful and memorable gift for the holidays and beyond."

References:
Arnof-Fenn, P. (December 15, 2006). Leaving a Legacy: Do you know what sort of impact you want to make on the world and how your business and your life factor into that? Entrepreneur.com [Online] (Retrieved December 16, 2006 from http://tinyurl.com/y2d3rm) (Special thanks to Laura Tiffany for permission to reprint from this article.)

Westley, B., Zimmerman, B., and Patton, M. (2006) Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed. Toronto: Random House Canada This book can be purchased online through Amazon.ca (for Canadian orders), Amazon.com (for US orders), or Amazon.co.uk for international orders.)

Kouzes, J. and Posner, B. (2006). A Leader's Legacy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. This book can be purchased online through Amazon.ca (for Canadian orders), Amazon.com (for US orders), or Amazon.co.uk for international orders.)

Harrington, P. (Producer), Byrne, R. (Executive Producer), & Heriot, D. (Director). (2006). The Secret. [DVD]. (Available from http://shop.thesecret.tv/Shops/DVD_Offer.php)

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Prince (songwriter and performer, and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004) mentor to Carmen Electra (model, singer, and actress) said, "A real friend and mentor is not on your payroll."

~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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CD-ROM WITH COMPASS AND THE PEER BULLETIN

Do you know someone who could benefit from becoming a member of the Peer Resources Network? Although you are receiving this free newsletter every 45-60 days, members of the Peer Resources Network receive a monthly newsletter, the Peer Bulletin, with additional information, practical tips, announcements, mentor program descriptions, funding opportunities and job openings in mentoring and mentoring research summaries every month.

Do the quotes placed in this newsletter intrigue you? Would you like to know more about the people quoted or read more of what they have to say? Members of the Peer Resources Network receive links and more details regarding each quote when they receive the monthly Peer Bulletin.

In addition Peer Resources Network members receive toll-free coaching and consultation for all mentor program development issues as an additional benefit of membership. Members also receive print versions of Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship and Coaching. This magazine has become the only advertising-free, professional, peer-reviewed publication on mentoring, and is filled with timely articles and practical suggestions from experienced mentor program leaders.

The Peer Resources Network is a non-profit organization and is sustained through memberships. The low fee for a one-year individual membership is $75.00 and the fee for an institutional membership, which allows up to five people to share a full membership, is $140.00 for a year. We even have a student rate of $32.10/year. For more details on the benefits as well as a secure online form to sign-up, go to http://www.mentors.ca/PRN.html.

As a bonus for readers of The Mentor News who become members of the Peer Resources Network in March or April, 2007, we will send you at no additional cost a CD that contains the three past issues and the current issue of Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship and Coaching as well as the past 12 months of the Peer Bulletin. In addition we will include the Who Mentored Whom Quiz slide-show, which features dozens of famous mentoring connections. The slide show is in a quiz format, showing the photo of a famous mentor, his or her equally famous partner (mentee) and then reveals the name and the relationship. This CD is free to PRN members and will be sent by postal mail at no cost to any individual category member or the group leader of any institutional membership.

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Lyle Morrison Creelman (Canadian, first Chief Nursing Officer of the World Health Organization, and public health pioneer) was a mentor and source of inspiration to thousands of nurses. She was the group leader for the first team of health practitioners to enter Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of World War II. She was described as "a great listener and a great diplomat with excellent people skills."

Lyle Creelman, born in 1908, died of pneumonia on February 27, 2007 in Vancouver, British Columbia

~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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MENTORING CONFERENCES and EVENTS

International Mentoring Association Conference
March 22-24, 2007
Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown, Atlanta, Georgia
www.mentoring-association.org
(269) 387-4174
cedu_ima@wmich.edu

The Skilled Mentee
March 23, 2007
161 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

Mentoring Ministry: Making a Difference in a Hurting World
March 30-31, 2007
Toronto, Ontario
www.caym.org/calendar.html
(877) 336-3686
barbara@caym.org

European Mentoring and Coaching Council Conference
April 3-4, 2007
Ashbridge Business School, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
www.emccouncil.org/conferences.htm
Call for proposals
p.k.stokes@shu.ac.uk

Coaching and Mentoring
April 10-11, 2007
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
www.sauder.ubc.ca/exec_ed
(604) 822-8455 or (800) 618-3932
exec.ed@sauder.ubc.ca

Mobilizing New Mentors Through Faith- and Community-Based Collaborations
(Focus on Recruiting Mentors)
April 11-13, 2007
Nashville, Tennessee
www.mentoryouth.com/training
(877) 500-MENTOR

Setting Up a Mentoring System
April 12, 2007
Washington, DC
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

Mentoring Skills for Managers
April 13, 2007
Washington, DC
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

Mentoring in the 21st Century (Supporting New Teachers)
April 13-14, 2007
Dallas, Texas
www.askeducation.com
(800) 940-5434
registrations@askeducation.com

Sweden National Mentoring Conference (in Swedish only)
April 18-19, 2007
County of Orebro, Sweden
www.mentorefetforetag.se
isabella.sorensson@almi.se

Setting Up a Mentoring System
May 17, 2007
161 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference
May 17-18, 2007
Northwestern University Law School, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com
(312) 492-9614

Mentoring Skills for Managers
May 18, 2007
161 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

Mentoring in the 21st Century (Supporting New Teachers)
May 21-22, 2007
Washington, DC
www.askeducation.com
(800) 940-5434
registrations@askeducation.com

3rd International Conference on Tutoring and Mentoring
Early June, 2007
The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
www.perach.org.il
Call for papers: npperach@weizmann.ac.il
Tel: 972-8-9378310

The Skilled Mentee
June 8, 2007
161 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois
www.paamentoring.com
Tel: (800) 648-0543 or (312) 648-0849
info@perrone-ambrose.com

3rd National School-Based Mentoring Conference
June 13-14, 2007
Kansas City, Missouri
www.mentormap.org
(816) 842-7082

Mentor Leadership Training & New Teacher Induction
July 3-4, 2007
Club Willow Wells, Waterloo, Ontario
www.peer.ca/trng.html
(800) 567-3700 or (250) 595-3503
rcarr@mentors.ca

European Mentoring and Coaching Council Conference
October 11-13, 2007
DJURÖNÄSET (near Stockholm) Sweden
www.emccouncil.org/conferences.htm
Tel: +44 1992 550246
julie.hay@emccouncil.org

Mentor Michigan 2nd Annual Statewide Mentoring Conference
October 24, 2007
Location in the State of Michigan to be determined
www.michigan.gov
(517) 335-4295

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Doris Anderson, born in 1921, died in Toronto, Ontario on March 2, 2007 of pulmonary fibrosis.

~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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USE MENTORING LITERATURE TO GUIDE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Peer Resources continually scans the professional and popular literature for articles, books, videos and other useful reference materials. They provide a brief synopsis of the work as well as citation details and summaries in a searchable format on their site at http://www.peer.ca/articles. Each issue of The Mentor News includes some of the many citations added every week.

Berfield, S. (January 29, 2007). Mentoring can be messy: Companies love it, but what if that colleague just wants your job? Business Week, 4091, 80-81.

Mentoring is a hot topic and more than 50% of the biggest corporations in the US now offer some type of mentoring program. But just as it can develop talent, mentoring may also lead to disappointing results. Several ways that mentoring can become messy and lead to disenchantment are catalogued by the author. Incompatibility or lack of chemistry is purported to be one irritation, but deeper problems can occur when respect is missing, specific goals and expectations are neither identified or discussed, or when a mentor no longer feels needed, the partner grows faster than the mentor, or when the partner's ambition is director towards getting the mentor's job, according to sources interviewed by the author.

Berzin, A. (2000). Relating to a spiritual teacher: Building a healthy relationship. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion.

This book was originally written as a guide for interaction between Western spiritual seekers and Tibetan spiritual teachers. However, many of the ideas discussed in this work relate to mentoring, including specific chapters on overcoming emotional blocks to developing trust, appreciation, or respect; experiencing fear and overdependence in a mentor relationship; dealing with generational and life cycle issues such as the death of a mentor, the spiritual path of Baby Boomers, the Me Generation, and Generation X; and experiencing a mentor's actions as inconceivable. (This entire book is now available online to Peer Resources Network members at http://tinyurl.com/pvrwr)

Chia Hui Hsu, J. (January 5, 2007). Program aims to keep new teachers in classrooms. The Seattle Times [Online] (Retrieved January 5, 2007 from http://tinyurl.com/a6fd).

Schools in the Seattle-area hope to increase new teacher retention through matching experienced teachers as peer mentors with their newer counterparts. Funding for these initiatives comes from the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession and support by grants from foundations. Some schools had previously using mentoring, but it appeared that their efforts were haphazard and results were inconsistent. In those previous efforts, the "mentors" did not receive any training, and some teachers gained better results from working with unofficial mentors. The funding will now allow new teachers to participate in a summer orientation program and also provide a stipend for the mentors.

Cox, Robin. (2006). Expanding the spirit of mentoring. Australia: Essential Resources.

Accessible, useful, fun and effective as learning tools, the materials in this book inspire and support the set up of a peer mentor or peer support program or a leadership or life skills program for young people of any culture. These resources are based on many years of research on peer mentor programs internationally, as well as on the personal experience of the author (a Peer Resources Network member) in setting up such programs in schools. The 40 activities focus on the three key skills of teambuilding, communication and building resilience. Designed to be non-threatening and fun, they can be adapted easily to suit any number of students in any setting such as a school or youth group. The physical element involved in most activities is likely to attract those who prefer to learn by doing, and the great variety of activities will maintain everyone's enthusiasm and attention. This book is a companion to the other books written by the author, including: "The Mentoring Spirit of the Teacher," "Encouraging the Spirit of Mentoring," "Nurturing the Spirit of Mentoring," and "The Spirit of Mentoring - a Manual for Adult Volunteers." (The book is available at http://tinyurl.com/yahyo3)

Francis, L.M. (October, 2006). Tradition meets technology with web-based mentoring. Learning Circuits [Online]. (Retrieved January 7, 2007 from http://www.learningcircuits.org/2006/October/francis.htm).

The communications director for Triple Creek Associates describes the advantages and benefits of web-based mentoring, a system touted to facilitate the management of mentoring using technology. Some of the features discussed: elasticity or the ability of web-based mentoring to save dollars and stretch to many parts and places in an organization; low administrative burden; extension of mentoring to all employees in the organization; contributes to employee retention; improves morale; inclusion and social justice oriented; supports training efforts; supports multiple initiatives; and encourages multiple relationships. The best value of web-based mentoring is that is creates a mentoring culture where learning is prized and knowledge sharing is essential to success.

Lane-Garon, P.S., Ybarra-Merlo, M., Zajac, J.D., and Vierra, T. (September, 2005). Mediators and mentors: partners in conflict resolution and peace education. Journal of Peace Education, 2, 2, 183-193.

The authors believe that children learn to be peace-builders in the context of relationships where they experience guided practice in interpersonal skill development around conflict. "Mediator Mentors," the program described in this article, is a school-university partnership in which teacher education candidates, peace and conflict studies interns and classroom teachers had as their overall objective improvement of the learning climate through peer mediation program implementation. Variables such as empathy and perspective-taking were considered measurable outcomes, and pre-post change scores revealed that mediators demonstrated significantly higher gains on measures of social-cognitive development when compared to non-mediators. Students serving their school in the mediator role also reported more positive perceptions of school safety than did non-mediators. Being a mediator was also significantly associated with higher language arts scores as measured by standardized testing, and mediators described their home lives as more peaceful than did non-mediators.

Marofsky, M. (December, 2006). Be a mentor. Link&Learn eNewsletter. (Retrieved January 20, 2006 from http://tinyurl.com/3xhv7m).

The author begins this article with a humorous anecdote about seeing graffiti in a bathroom stall that read, "Be a mentor and make a difference." She identifies the advances that mentoring has made in contemporary society and particularly the power that mentoring has had at the corporate level. Most great mentors, she believes, have a learning, not teaching, focus. Great mentors tune in to the other person's intellectual and emotional needs, not as experts, but as people who genuinely care about another's experience. She encourages partners to consider writing a "help wanted" ad for a mentor and in that ad describe what key qualities they are seeking. The author also provides advice about how to keep formal mentoring programs from failure and frustration by helping the mentors to understand that mentorship is a two-way conversation with benefits to the mentor; that trust is essential and may take time; and that if mentoring is being established for diversity issues, trustworthiness and genuine conversation are essential for success.

Mullen, C. A. (2005-2006). The way of the WITs: An example of adult cohort mentoring. Perspectives: The New York Journal of Adult Learning, 3, 2, 25-32.

Promising solutions are gradually being instituted to meet the intense demand for mentoring within graduate programs in education. Unfortunately, however, mentoring systems do not always exist. And where they do, traditional forms can be a personal mismatch for students or mentors. As an active doctoral mentor, the author worries that vast numbers of adult learners fall through the cracks of their programs, disappearing without a trace.

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~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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CHAMPIONS OF MENTORING

The Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) in San Francisco has launched a mentoring initiative to encourage HIV research by matching postdoctoral scholars and early career faculty with well-established senior faculty HIV researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, and other local affiliated institutions. Their goal is to empower the next generation of scientists to join the war against the potentially deadly infection. The program is believed to be the first of its kind, focused on supporting the goals of young investigators in basic, clinical, and behavioral research in HIV. (Source: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, August, 2006)

The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal has posed the following topic for discussion in the December, 2006 Forum: "Should advisors avoid all physical contact with their advisees? If we assume that it's acceptable to at least shake hands with advisees, is it also acceptable to hold their hands to comfort them or pat them on the back to congratulate or reassure them? Is it okay to accept a hug from an advisee? If so, under what circumstances? Does the advisee's gender make a difference if it's the same as yours?" Anyone can contribute to the Forum, and several responses have already been posted.

The National Youth Leadership Council is inviting applications for the Alec Dickson Servant Leader Award. This accolade honors exemplary leaders who, through their actions compassion, creativity, and courage, have inspired the service learning field, left a legacy in the lives of young people, and motivated others to take up the banner of service. The award will be presented at the 18th Annual National Service Learning Conference (May 27-31, 2007 in New Mexico) to honor youth and adults for their commitment to education, service, community, and service-learning. Visit the NYLC website for award guidelines and a nomination form. The deadline for application is January 22, 2007. (Source: "Members Update, December, 2006"; National Association of Peer Programs.)

Patrick Boyle, the Editor of Youth Today and a contributor to the Peer Bulletin has published an article in Youth Today about the impact and misuse of the famous Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) study of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Many consider the P/PV study as the key research that launched today's youth mentoring movement. Others consider the study to be the source of the most misused approach to evaluating youth mentoring programs and services. Mr. Boyle's article, "The Study that Ignited (or Diluted) Youth Mentoring," is an objective examination of what happened as a result of that study, and appears in the December/January, 2007 issue of Youth Today. (The four-part pdf version of this review is available to Peer Resources Network members.)

The Recreation Mentoring Program in Hamilton, Ontario is a community-wide program that reduces barriers to participation in recreation for children with mental health problems while providing an important relationship with a caring, young adult mentor. Trained volunteer mentors are matched with at-risk children, and meet regularly at a community recreation centre near the child's residence. The mentor's role is to: 1) stimulate participation in recreational programs, and 2) promote the child's continued participation after the mentorship ends. Evaluation to date suggests that the Recreation Mentoring Program engages at-risk children in community-based recreation, that it is operationally feasible, and that it produces high levels of client satisfaction. (Source: Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, May, 2006)

The Power of Mentorship for the 21st Century includes tips and advice from top motivational speakers such as Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Charlie Tremendous Jones, and others. The book normally sells for $12.95, but the author Don Boyer is giving away 50,000 copies of this book because he retains the passion and commitment he gained as a teen to help others gain prosperity and abundance in their lives. He wants his legacy to be that he was "a man who gave 50,000 people the opportunity to learn how to live a better life." To get a copy of this free book, go to http://www.donboyer.org (a shipping and handling fee is required).

MindMentor is an online robot "life coach". We're uncertain whether this robot actually belongs in the "Champions" section of the Peer Bulletin, but the creators of this robot, Dutch psychologists Jaap Hollander and Jeffrey Wijnberg say that in MindMentor's first month online, the robot provided 582 "coaching" sessions with people from Holland, Russia, Sweden, Portugal and the USA. MindMentor, according to the creators, achieved a solution percentage of 55%; that is, 55% of the people who finished their first session claimed to have "solved" their problem. MindMentor guides the user through a basic neurolinguistic programming (NLP) process, activating a resource through a contrast frame with "depth" added by using a projection procedure (somewhat similar to a Rorschach test). The creators see MindMentor as an intern; a beginning electronic coach/therapist who is showing great promise but who still needs to learn a lot. In order to help the robot learn, they would like the robot to do as many coaching sessions as possible, and have decided to offer the robot services to the international NLP community, free of charge.

Real Life Wisdom created by nationally recognized career and life management expert, Doug Manning in Kelowna, British Columbia provides inspiration-seeking movie lovers with memorable quotes from an entire catalogue of motion pictures. The website provides an inspirational or thought-provoking movie quote every day, and visitors can review an archive of quotes from the past ten days. Doug has also written a book that includes 600 of his favorite quotes from films across the ages. Doug believes that many films have left a legacy of inspiration, and that each of us can be the director and star character of our own film. "Your role," according to Doug, "is to make your life's movie legendary."

Cirque du Soleil, the award-winning, Canadian circus that fuses music, dance, theatre and incredible acrobatic feats into an astounding show, has generously donated thousands of tickets to Create Now! over the past few years, so that CreateNow! can fulfill its mission to bring the healing power of the arts through mentoring to troubled children in the Los Angeles area. Most of the youngsters that Create Now! serves are emotionally-disturbed and have serious behavioral problems often stemming from abuse and neglect. When the youngsters are given the chance to experience performances by Cirque du Soleil, they are deeply impacted and it affects their lives in many ways.

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College Leadership and Mentorship Program in Brownsville, Texas was created by the Student Affairs Division to assist students to feel connected to the campus and local community, and to increase their completion of their academic studies. First year students are paired with qualified mentors, generally senior students. The match is typically made by similarity of area of study, college major, or school enrollment. Peer mentors meet with their partners for at least 1/2 hour per week during the first semester of college. Contact can be by email, telephone or in-person.

Trent University Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in Peterborough, Ontario) is an online, e-mentoring service that pairs current students with alumni. The focus of the service is to assist students to learn about career options and seek advice from successful alumni working in a variety of professions and fields. No formal matching occurs, and a database allows potential partners to seek out potential alumni mentors. Mentors can be alumni, faculty or staff at the university. Students and mentors work out their own arrangements with regards to the length of mentorship, amount of contact, and degree of commitment. The Career Centre website provides a list of tips and resources for mentors and partners.

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Kirby Puckett, born in 1960, died in Phoenix, Arizona on March 6, 2006 from a stroke.

~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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A MENTORING RELATIONSHIP THAT ENDED THE COLD WAR

In 1987 when US President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate to "tear down that wall," the "Great Communicator" had no idea what role Canadian society had played several years earlier in making the destruction of the Berlin Wall a reality.

The conditions for change began in 1973 in Ottawa when Alexander Nicklaevich Yakovlev was sent to Canada as the Soviet ambassador. But this former Red Army soldier, badly wounded in the Second World War, was not being given this diplomatic assignment as a reward. Instead, he was being exiled to Canada because of his written critique of Russian nationalism. "Little did his masters know," journalist Lawrence Martin stated, "that this banishment would serve as the foundation for the major role he played in democratizing the Soviet system."

For the 10 years that Ambassador Yakovlev was hidden in Canada, he used this opportunity to learn everything he could about Western society. Although his exile was considered a demotion, Mr. Yakovlev’s longevity and connections in Ottawa earned him the reputation as the dean of the diplomatic corps. His inquisitive, informal, open and good humoured nature contradicted what Canadians typically experienced from Kremlin Politburo members. Mr. Yakovlev developed a range of extraordinary friendships. He sought out a number of Canadian mentors, including Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He met privately so many times for lunch with the Prime Minister that bureaucrats in External Affairs became exceptionally curious about the nature of this mentoring relationship. While the content of their discussions has never been revealed, Mr. Yakovlev was a graduate of the history faculty of the Yaroslavl University and likely probed Mr. Trudeau’s understanding of the history of Canada.

Mr. Yakovlev had many frank and direct conversations with Canadians steeped in democratic traditions. He looked, listened and absorbed what life was like throughout Canada. Eugene Whelan, then the Canadian Minister of Agriculture, was impressed by his friendliness. "We were just a couple of old peasants," he recalled. "Neither of us could stand a lot of b.s." The two officials would often tease each other, but according to journalist Lawrence Martin, Mr. Yakovlev came to know that Canadian democracy "was vastly superior to his old system back home."

Spurred by what he was learning as a recipient of mentoring, Mr. Yakovlev tested out his education about Canadian society in a relationship he developed with McDonald’s CEO George Cohon. He urged Mr. Cohon not to give up on bringing "Big Macs" to Moscow. He assisted Mr. Cohon to learn ways to combine Soviet and Western economic interests; and eventually the Golden Arches arrived in Moscow.

But the impact of being mentored by Canadians and living in Canada were most strongly demonstrated during a visit to Canada in 1983 by then-Soviet Minister of Agriculture, Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Meeting in Mr. Whelan’s backyard in Windsor, Ontario, the Soviet ambassador and Mr. Gorbachev were able to elude their security people to talk openly for a period of time. It was during this pivotal meeting that the two men realized that they experienced a chemistry between them. A mentoring relationship developed and Mr. Yakovlev introduced Mr. Gorbachev to the ideals that would eventually be known as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

In the mid-1980’s, Mr. Gorbachev longed for more time with his mentor and ended Mr. Yakovlev’s exile in Canada. He invited him to return to Moscow as the director of the Institute of World Economics and International Relations. Eventually Mr. Yakovlev became Mr. Gorbachev’s chief of staff. In recalling his mentor, Mr. Gorbachev stated, "He made an enormous contribution to the democratic processes and the transformation of the country. We often argued, but always understood each other."

Vladimir Isachenkov, writing in the Globe and Mail stated, "Perhaps no one will ever know how much of perestroika came from Mr. Gorbachev and how much from Mr. Yakovlev. Some believe that Mr. Yakovlev was the theologian of the new faith and Mr. Gorbachev was the evangelist. Their shared gospel was that the paternalistic system of orders and proscriptions from Moscow had stifled all the incentive and initiative. To get the county working required making people responsible for their own fate, and for that they needed not only economic incentives but access to information and a belief that their opinions were no longer irrelevant."

When Mr. Gorbachev became the Soviet leader in 1985, Mr. Yakovlev helped Mr. Gorbachev spearhead a policy of openness and lift the heavy hand that muffled both the freedom of the press and the freedom of individual speech. His mentorship assisted the new leader to fend off attacks from die-hard Communist Party fanatics and created a new era of discussion, freedom, and growth.

The Soviets sent signals to their Eastern European satellites that they supported a transition into socialist democracies. Throughout 1989 one government after the next in Eastern Europe collapsed. Support for the East German government from the Soviets evaporated and by late 1989 East Germany no longer had what they needed to maintain the Berlin Wall. Alexander Yakovlev was known as the "Godfather of Glasnost," and it was his mentorship that brought down the Berlin Wall. Mr. Yakovlev died at his home in Moscow in 2005. He was 81.

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~ From Famous Mentor Pairings ~

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The Mentor News is a free publication of Peer Resources, 1052 Davie Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8S 4E3 Canada. All articles are written by Dr. Rey Carr unless otherwise indicated, and are copyrighted by Peer Resources. Back issues are available online. To subscribe or unsubscribe send an email to mentornews@mentors.ca. If you know of anyone who might benefit from receiving this newsletter, please pass it on. (All items in this newsletter have been selected or adapted from The Peer Bulletin, a paid subscriber publication for members of the Peer Resources Network. Copyright is held by Peer Resources.)