Saturday, May 28, 2005

do i want to be a mentor?

i got asked the question again - you know the one, what do you want to be when you grow up?...

well, there was motive behind it this time and that was to find out if i was interested in being a mentor to new employees...

well, gosh, uhhhh.... i don't know... i knew a mentor once, a really good one too (so good i thought of him as one without ever being told that's what was going on) but things were cut short and while i think i learned plenty about being a better programmer i don't think i really got to the point of learning how to be a mentor...

i guess intuitively i think of a mentor as being a little bit like a teacher, and this entry in wikipedia solidifies that notion (and also makes me feel kind of honoured/flattered about being asked)...

none of this helps me decide, though... a mentor isn't something i ever saw myself as (what i really want to be when i grow up is an inventor) and i don't know if i'd be any good at mentoring (if i've ever acted in such a capacity before it's been entirely coincidental and unintentional) but i see why it's important and why it's needed...

why can't this question be more like "do you want pizza for supper"? that one's easy...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
- Immanuel Kant

Any fool can aquire knowledge. But a mentor provides wisdom which is both more elusive and more valueable.