There is something truly amazing about the process of mentoring.  You get to craft something intangible and wonderful in the makeup of another soul.  And if it is done right, it is indeed a wonder to behold.

You start with a concept.  Simple, pure and innocent.  You then introduce the individual to the concept sometimes plainly, sometimes abstractly.  Then you plant seeds in them on how they might want to consider tackling such an objective but you do not just give them the answer.  Then you sit back and watch them work out the challenge you’ve laid before them.

Cognitive processes fire, you see the person connect the dots from A to B to C, on down the line to the final objective Z.  Sometimes you need to interject somewhere along the path, perhaps point L or T to help correct course.  But you let them take the journey.  You are watching them learn.  The proverbial light appears and is gravitated towards.  And if you’ve done your job right, they arrive no worse for wear and better off for having taken the journey.  

And should the job have been done exceptionally well?  The individual completing the journey arrived there without realizing they’ve been guided.  It is about subtly pulling the strings, dropping in a subtle or disguised clue and making sure the path ahead is lightly dusted with disguised bread crumbs to keep the traveler on the track.

When you observe the satisfaction in your mentored soul, it nourishes your own.