A Mentor is like a Microphone

As a sensitive microphone picks up smallest sounds and amplifies them, a mentor listens to the smallest details of life and helps the protégé to hear them. A mentor is primarily a listener. The best mentor is one whose "own ear is turned toward the wisdom of others, who is always open to listen, to hear, and to transform life." He is to attentively observe the protégé with love, compassion, genuine concern and interest. He is to have a vulnerablity in which he says "all of me listens to all of you" The mentor must listen carefully to the protégé, his story, and his needs. He must also listen to what is not said and how things are said. He must also listen to his own heart and instincts as a mentor, the stirrings, consonance, and dissonance. When the protégé is "listened to, probed, encouraged, challenged, and helped to hear, then the mentor has come alongside to help him."