mentorship

[kradeelav]

“Mentorship is less like applying for a job and more like finding a spouse. There has to be chemistry between the parties, a genuine respect, an acknowledgement that this is someone whom you would like to emulate. Too often we confuse mentors with teachers when there are important differences.  A teacher can show you how to knot a rope harness or braid a whip.  They impart a skill or a craft.  A mentor tends to affect all areas of our lives because they affect the way we see the world and ourselves.  They show us by example, by being the kind of person we aspire to be.  We look at them and think, this is what I want to be when I grow up.  All mentors are teachers.  Not all teachers, though, are mentors.  Neither is more or less than the other, they are simply different.  Teachers are able to offer their knowledge to more students because the intensity of their involvement is less, while mentors must limit their focus.  We have many teachers and few mentors in our life, but they fill equally important roles.

Mentorship is not something you choose at the beginning of your association.  It is a relationship that we grow into.  We begin to know the future mentor well enough to understand and respect them.  We notice how they behave, how they manage their lives.  We ask them for advice occasionally, then more often.  We find ourselves mentally saying, “What would so-an-so do in this situation?“  […] I expect [mentees] to work to become more than they are and, when they are ready for the role, to give back what they have been given by being examples to others.“

-  evilmonk.org (NSFW text), Ms. Constance