It's the person who sees the forest, that sees the trees . . . To find good mentors, Reede said, people must first define their goals. People need to know what they want before they can find someone to help them get it. At that point, the decision should be based on the mentor's reputation, experience, position within the institution, prior mentees' references and, most important, the mentor's accessibility. Inaccessibility is only one way mentors can fail to provide helpful guidance.
Passive mentors are negligent.
They may be ambivalent, insecure, and lack the necessary skills, and therefore don't adequately fulfill the mentoring role. Actively negative mentors may do direct harm. This harm may include squelching the mentee's enthusiasm, disrespecting his or her ideas, or using the mentee's work to advance their own. When one mentor doesn't work out, Silen recommends looking for someone new. It's important to be able to recognize when you're getting the wrong kind of mentoring, and to seek help elsewhere.