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The Lion King | 33
Recipients expect much more than pro-
viding answers to puzzling questions about
life, but also the daunting challenges of
everyday living and the modus operand
for tackling them. Mentorship embraces
both moral and psychological support for
work related issues, career and profes-
sional development.
Mentorship demands a keen sense of
responsibility from the individual. For most
recipients, their mentor is simply the total-
ity of the mould they intend to become,
while others aspire to surpass the expecta-
tions of their mentors. As role models, their
ideas and ideals should always have a
strong and admirable appeal to assuage
the awkwardness and self-doubt of the
recipient. A mentor’s personality and
carriage, his philosophy of life should all
be learning points for a green horn whose
fertile mind is ready to absorb all the prin-
ciples and rules of the game of wisdom.
It is not in all cases that a mentor is ex-
pected to be a novice. There are people
who are repositories of knowledge and
deep understanding of issues in all spheres
of life but seek the protean wisdom and
mentoring guidance of a gifted few.
The gifted few could be elder statesmen
or individuals who have attained utmost
professional competence in their various
vocations and are deeply revered for
their high sense of judgment and opinions.
Their opinions are not colored by emo-
tions or sentiments, but by a high sense of
objectivity.
Even if mentorship is not gender based,
most mentor/ protégé collaborations are
usually same sex situations. Most males
are inclined to having male mentors,
while female protégés have female men-
tors. But in rare cases, you find a purely
professional collaboration where a female
may develop a mentorship relationship
with a male and vice versa. That level of
mentoring could also be rather on the
domestic level as well.
A core objective of mentoring is for men-
tors to assist protégés in reaching their full
potential in life. They also assist in inspiring
and building confidence in all their en-
deavors. In situations where protégés are
showing creative effort in an enterprise, it
is the mentor’s responsibility to help sustain
such efforts. When protégés ask pertinent
questions like, ‘’Am I on the right path?
‘’A discerning mentor would assume an
ownership role in analyzing the situation
and proffer a solution on the way forward.
The integrity question is often played up
in mentoring sessions as the mentor con-
sistently stresses the need for the recipient
to be honest and fair in all his interactions.
He would always emphasize the perils of
trying to cut corners and act for the sake
of expediency. The far reaching benefits
of integrity will be a major lesson for recipi-
ents. Mentors are capable of evaluating
certain assumptions made by protégés
and help to sift facts from fiction or myth
and ascertain what unwritten rules or con-
vention the protégé should adopt. A lot
of presumptions and established thought
patterns have misled quite a number
of people. It is imperative that mentors
expose recipients to different approaches
to life and living that would enrich their
social values.
Mentorship is often an exciting collabora-
tion if the protégé and mentor are drawn
or driven by the same passion, maybe an
inclination to the arts or love for music.
Mentorship, then assumes a different level
as the mentor applies emotional intel-
ligence to situate the dreams and desires
of the protégé. They understand each
other’s passion, which reflects a strong
yearning to impart knowledge from the
mentor and also a deep well of desire to
learn.
Conversely, mentorship could take on a
deeper meaning and understanding if
the mentor’s protégé is inclined to forge
his own path, but has to be guided by the
mentor. The conversation that expresses
their differences only elevates their level
of commitment to each other. This is un-
doubtedly a very mature interaction and
both parties particularly the mentor must
be very understanding and appreciative
of this peculiar kind of mentorship.
Questioning is a very relevant tool in
consummating a mentoring process. By
questioning, one is able to cultivate deep
connections with certain experiences that
help to build a learning process. Men-
tor must have questioning skills to elicit
response and enhance the protégé’s
thinking process. He must be adept at
asking leading questions like an advocate
in a law court. They help the protégé to
develop an independent thinking process
.The protégé is now empowered hav-
ing come up with his own answers. This
often leads them through a journey of self
discovery and mastery they had never
known.
Conversation is key in every mentoring re-
lationship Mentoring presents an extraor-
dinary opportunity to improve self. For a
most fulfilling and effective mentoring pro-
cess both recipients and mentors would
learn from each others experiences.
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