What Mentors Do

In the first edition of this book I incorporated a useful acronym from a North American article, which maintained that the mentor:

• Manages the relationship

• Encourages

• Nurtures

• Teaches

• Offers mutual respect

• Responds to the mentee's needs.

Once again, views have moved on. Although the notion of the mentor managing the relationship still holds favour in some US companies, the wider global expectation is for the mentor to assist the mentee in taking over the management of the relationship. Similarly, when it comes to responding to the mentee's needs, it is no longer seen as a good idea for the mentor to be more than minimally interventionist. Rather, the mentor helps the mentee work out his or her own solutions. The concepts of encouragement, nurturing, teaching and offering mutual respect remain largely unchanged, however, and we repeat those notes here (with minor amendments) for background information.