How does mentoring work?

One concept that I liked and found useful from the materials we read was the exaplanation of how mentoring works and why it is so important. The Book "The Essential Guide to Communication," written by Dan O’Hair and Mary Wieman, does a great job at explainning the concept of mentoring. Mentoring is really important, especially in our society today. Mentors are really helpful because they pass on knowledge and skills to their students, in order for them to later on become as experienced and skilled as their mentors. The authors of the book developped four stages in mentoring; First off, "initiation". During the first stage, the mentor and his student become more aquainted with one another and the mentor starts to advise the student. During this stage, it is very important for both parties to communicate and pay attention to one another. The second stage is called "cultivation." During this stage the mentor and his student become closer and more skills are passed on by the mentor. During stage three, "separation," the mentor and his student start to separate. Either because the student is able to stand on his own and no longer needs the mentor, or because the student might simply need to be moved. During the last and fourth stage, "Redefinition," the relationship between the mentor and his student is "redefined"; they are now equals.

I found this section really interesting because in the work field today, mentors are really common and I found it interesting to see how mentoring works and how to do it.