Early one morning I was in my side yard and walked up on a huge elaborate spider web complete with its designer-tenant. As I approached the artwork, the spider began to vibrate the web sending early morning dewdrops everywhere. The next morning the web was gone without a trace. A bird had obviously flown through it. But, nearby was a brand new elegant web spread between two trees. And, the same spider situated in the middle seemed poised for action.
Great mentors are like spider-web builders. They adapt to the uniqueness of the protégé. They weave their mentoring practice with full realization and appreciation that every protégé’s needs, expectations and aspirations are unique. The nuances of the mentor-protégé relationship must be configured fresh with each new beginning. Mentors fail when they attempt to shoehorn their protégé into a routine pattern or robotic program. Would your protégés label you as “elegantly adaptable?”
P.S. You may also like Adaptive Leadership versus Authoritative Expertise from Tomorrow Today.