The bottom line is when I make it I will never forget who helped me. The way I look at it is like this, the person who doubts being a mentor was once young and starting out, they didn't know what to do next or where to go. To that person, I say remember back when you first started in your career, and if only one person helped you remember how that made you feel. What goes around comes around . At the end of the first day, I received 47 requests from people searching for mentors.
Requests keep trickling in every day.
The flip side is that only four people wrote to me to serve as mentors. They came to the rescue and there are currently about 50 mentor relationships in place around the world. Mentoring a young professional 2,000 miles away can be an easier sell than helping someone in your own organization. With cutbacks and downsizing, jobs are precious. Mentoring a younger person, especially one who could eventually overtake your position, is threatening.