Mentoring

Mentoring refers to the process by which a senior person (mentor) takes an active interest in sponsoring the career of a more junior person (protégé). Named for a fabled character in Homer's The Odyssey who tutored and looked after the title character's son, mentoring is a process that has been used for centuries as a means of handing down tradition, supporting talent, and securing future leadership. It flourished in the feudal system of the Renaissance as young men served apprentices to gain membership in guilds. Throughout history it is rare to study the career of highly successful individuals and not find the presence of a mentor. Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great, civil rights attorney Charles Hamilton mentored Thurgood Marshall, Gertrude Stein mentored Nobel Prize winning ...