Mentoring is a powerful gift. According to Central Washington University, "mentorship is a personal development relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger but have a certain area of expertise."
Not everyone who is skillful or have expertise in a certain area can be a mentor. A good mentor is one who is able to discern areas of growth, and celebrate progress in the life of the person they mentor. A good mentor is one who has wisdom and know how to ask good questions. Even though in our days with the development of coaching, there is a difference between mentoring and coaching as practices, asking questions is not exclusively a right of a coach.
While it is necessary for a mentor to have the gift of teaching, they are different from a teacher. A teacher is someone who imparts on you knowledge or wisdom. A mentor does not stop there. He walks with you to help you learn and master that knowledge or skill.
I love mentors who are listeners before giving advices. They observe, ask questions, try to understand before they jump to display their expertise or knowledge. I remember Suzi, one of my great mentors. In our first meeting she mostly listened. During the times that we would meet, Suzi kept that posture of listening carefully, asking good questions to understand me better, and then she would suggest next step. As a young mom I was frustrated at times with my failures, but Suzi was very quick and attentive to celebrate my progress. She would joyfully and gracefully help me focus on the progress by saying: Remember a few months ago you were struggling to do this..; now that is not a struggle any more. You have progressed. That would break the cycle of discouragement and feeling like I was not moving forward.
Celebration of progress is very important in our growth in any area we are aiming to learn or master, either in our personal inner growth or our career. No body plays piano or another instrument overnight. No matter of your good will and desire, mastering an instrument or any skill is a journey. A journey where you progress step by step. Failure is part of that journey too, but we should not dwell in the failure. Instead we should move forward by never giving up to learn. And a good mentor is a powerful gift in that journey.
I have the privilege to be blessed with several great mentors, who have invested in my life wholeheartedly, cheering on me in every victory, and giving me heart when I felt discouraged.
What about you? Do you have a mentor in your life? If not, who in your life can be a mentor?
