
In
today’s fast-paced world, it is difficult to learn all the skills and gather
all the experiences before you lead or start a project.
Mentoring
then has become a better way to help people learn faster and minimize their
mistakes at the workplace, church, school, community or government.
Mentoring
does not only benefit the protégé or the apprentice: it is mutually beneficial
since it benefits both the mentor and the apprentice (mentee).
Through
mentoring, mentors develop leadership skills and gain a personal sense of
satisfaction from knowing that they’ve helped someone become better.
Apprentices
or mentees can expand their knowledge and skills, gain valuable advice from a
more experienced person, and build their professional networks. And both
partners can improve their communication skills, learn new ways of thinking,
and ultimately, advance their lives and careers.
Mentoring
also helps save money. This is because in mentoring the apprentice will not
have to go through a normal academic training. Where mentors are paid, the cost
is far less than training in an academic facility.
In
biblical times, we saw the examples of Jesus Christ mentoring His disciples,
Moses’ mentoring Joshua, Elijah mentoring Elisha and finally the apostle Paul
mentoring Timothy.
Many
cultures also have mentoring as a direct transfer of experience and knowledge;
we have examples of these from the old Babylonian empire, the Egyptian empire
and the others.
In
various shapes and forms, mentoring has become a very important tool in the
experience and knowledge transfer business in the twenty first-century.
In
our march towards efficiency and speed, mentoring today has become a way of
life more than in days past.