Interesting companions make for interesting journeys. So too, I would argue, can interesting mentors make for a more fulfilling path through life. To be or not to be, here I believe, that is not the question. We are all already both mentors and mentees, though we have yet to fully comprehend what it is a mentor should be.
Ask yourself why? why be a mentor? what is it that the costs and returns may be? Is mentorship a formalisation of roles that already exist? Is it an opportunity to become aware of how one influences and is influenced? Is mentorship an invitation to be proactive in these processes.
Ask yourself how? how should you or could you mentor? Is your role to objectively evaluate? or is it to foster self-evaluation? Is your role to provide thoughtful answers or to ask reflective questions?
Draw insights as a mentee to grow as a mentor, observe as a mentor to excel as a mentee.If you had children, you also had parents and if you have mentees, so too should you have mentors. Take both journeys in parallel and answer for yourself the whys and hows.
If you’re interested, here’s what inspired me to write this note: What Mentors Do (Lois J. Zachary)