The Mentoring Manual

Mentors should guide mentees but shouldn’t take responsibility for their growth.

The mentor–mentee relationship – typically characterized as a wise older person guiding a younger one – dates back thousands of years, all the way back to Homer’s Odyssey, in which a man named Mentor helps Odysseus throughout his journey. Modern books and movies often feature the relationship, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, and Gandalf and Frodo in Lord of the Rings.

Reflecting a core distinction of the mentor–mentee relationship, mentors often benefit, but a good mentor places the focus on counseling the mentee through challenges and helping the mentee attain his or her own goals. Mentors benefit from the relationship by consolidating their knowledge, honing their leadership skills and gaining the personal satisfaction of giving back. Mentees gain by learning from the mentor’s accumulated experience and closing knowledge gaps.

Mentoring offers a good solution when a mentor has information or a perspective that a potential mentee needs in order to reach a defined goal. The mentor...