Mentors

They are extraordinary. Taking on several roles all at the same time - trusted advisor, teacher, counselor, friend and/or parent - they are there when you need them.

Kunich and Lester in their article "Leadership and the Art of Mentoring: Tool Kit for the Time Machine" cited several mentors and illustrated their mentoring process as if it were an acronym:

Model
Emphatize
Nurture
Teach
Organize
Respond
Inspire
Network
Goal-Set


One of the most remarkable mentors in history is Anne Sullivan, the teacher of Helen Keller. Immortalized in the play and film The Miracle Worker, Sullivan exemplified all facets of an ideal mentor as she worked with her young deaf and blind protégé.

The mentor nurtures the protégé as a farmer tends the wheat, providing seeds, nourishment, protection and the room to grow, each in its turn, in the proper amount, and in its own due time.

It is not a title we can arrogate to ourselves or bestowed upon us through a simple administrative act.

It is an honour that must be earned as we diligently strive to make a positive change in the life, attitudes and behaviour of our young protégés, and through them, in ourselves, no less.

APEX (especially @MWTI), MGN, TMSN, IM4U, YKI and many others out there -- know that the ride is uphill and bumpy, but it is most satisfying (and humbling) to witness our former protégés in turn become mentors.

And what could possibly be a better amal jariah than that?

With admiration, as always.