Book excerpt: Amazing Benefits, Unique Risks A stellar mentor can change the trajectory of a career. And an enduring mentoring program can become an organization’s most powerful talent development tool. But fixing a “broken” mentoring program or developing a new program from scratch requires a unique process, not a standard training methodology. Over the course of her career, seasoned program development specialist Jenn Labin has encountered dozens of mentoring programs unable to stand the test of their organizations’ natural talent cycles. These programs applied a training methodology to a nontraining solution and were ineffective at best and poorly designed at worst. What’s needed is a solid planning framework developed from hands-on experimentation. And you’ll find it here. Mentoring Programs That Work is framed around Labin’s AXLES model—the first framework devoted to the unique challenges of a sustained learning process. This step-by-step approach will help you navigate the early phases of mentoring program alignment all the way through program launch and measurement. Whether your goal is to recruit and retain Millennials or deepen organizational commitment, it’s time to embrace mentoring as one of the most powerful tools of talent development. Mentoring Programs That Work will help your organization succeed by building mentoring programs that connect people and inspire learning transfer.