Usually the mentor is older and wiser. His role, however, is not to be a nonstop, mechanical dispensary of sage advice. The mentoring process is about both participants understanding and being understood. Multiple monologues by either prot g or mentor tend to diminish true communication and thereby diminish as well the helpfulness of the relationship. Sensitivity to monitoring the communication process helps to insure that the flow of learning and values in the relationship occurs.
Activity is no substitute for productivity.
Considerable amounts of time can be spent in a mentoring relationship that accomplish very little. The relationship has to have a purpose beyond itself. Mentoring provides practical encouragement and help for today and wise preparation for the future. Its evaluation centers around the immediate help and future preparation that it provides. As the friendship develops in a mentoring relationship, it is easy for the focus to be lost.