Business Mentors is committed to matching mentors with mentees so that both parties can get the most from the relationship. If you are looking for a mentor, or want to impart some of your knowledge, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Mentoring can be very rewarding for both the person being mentored and the mentor. It involves guiding, coaching and training the mentee to push the boundaries of their knowledge and understanding.
Having been involved in mentoring for companies and charitable organisation, we understand the benefits, so we set up Business Mentors to provide a resource for everyone to benefit. Within companies and charities volunteers are required, which often excludes the very best mentors, so we have set up Business Mentors as a paid for service, as this is likely to 1) ensure that the mentees are committed, and 2) the mentors time is compensated, thus increasing their commitment.
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope. As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and to go abroad in order to learn out about his father.
When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena (in the form of Mentor) takes the form of a swallow and the suitors' arrows have no effect on him.
The first recorded modern usage of the term can be traced to a book entitled "Les Aventures de Telemaque", by the French writer François Fénelon. In the book the lead character is that of Mentor. This book was published in 1699 and was very popular during the 18th century and the modern application of the term can be traced to this publication.
This is the source of the modern use of the word mentor: a trusted friend, counsellor or teacher, usually a more experienced person. Some professions have "mentoring programmes" in which newcomers are paired with more experienced people in order to obtain good examples and advice as they advance, and schools sometimes have mentoring programmes for new students or students who are having difficulties.
The student of a mentor is called a protégé or mentee. More accurately, for the recondite, the protégé would be called the telemachus. (Source: Wikipedia)