Qualities in a good Mentor

David and Colleen presented on mentoring and spoke about different forms of mentoring and also what makes a good mentor.  There are peer mentors, role model mentoring, reciprocal mentoring (alternating roles of mentor and mentee), Reverse Mentoring (older executives paired with younger employee), and group Mentoring. In my life I do not have a whole lot of experience with having a mentor. I have however been an academic mentor for the past 2 years. What we do is help students get back on the path of success through study strategies and time management. This style of mentoring is closest to the peer mentoring somewhat mixed with role modeling. One thing they spoke about is that in a mentor position whether you are the mentor or mentee, usually both sides are getting something positive from it. In my experience this is true, since starting as an academic mentor I have consistently made deans list which i did not do before starting the job. This was because to be a mentor and teach others how to succeed I need to improve my own skills first. What also contributed to this is also my students unique ways to approach situations gives me new and creative ways to go about my own. In the presentation they mentioned that the mentor and mentee must commit to continuous learning which is something that is challenging to do in my position. I find myself teach similar strategies to most the students I meet with, and from their perspective we are only paired together for 4-7 weeks so it is not a very long lasting mentorship. In my job though I could focus more on learning from my mentor rather then me commanding the meetings like they spoke about. The relationship should be more open to both sides sharing thoughts and ideas rather then just me telling them what will work.