Picture of Mentoring

The rest of the group follows ... blindly ... because they trust the one doing the leading!  

And me ... I'm in the middle taking pictures ... watching the whole thing unfold ... being an observer.

What a great picture of mentoring.  In mentoring, there is a guide (one who takes the initiative to find the right course ... then leads ... alongside the one he's leading),  those who follow (they trust the one guiding, they trust they know the plan ... they are intentional about pursuing the direction being taken) and sometimes there may be an occasional observer.

To me the first photo illustrates how the Mentor and Mentee are side by side ... walking the same pace ... working together.  Mentoring can be this intimate.  Mutual trust, authenticity, and often times ... time ... help foster this kind of intimacy.  It's in this kind of mentoring relationship that the Mentor gets the privilege of helping the Mentee navigate through life.  The Mentors experience, age, well-traveled shoes enables him to be a trusted confidant, a capable encourager, a shoulder to lean on.

Different mentoring relationships take on different "looks".  For example, I love how the second photo illustrates how a Mentor may need to walk ahead of the Mentee ... navigating the charted course.  They know they are being followed, they are mindful of the one behind them ... and they wait for the Mentee to narrow the gap between them.  This relationship may be for a season (pushing through a particular issue or set of circumstances) or  it may be a picture of what some Mentor/Mentee relationships look like at the beginning of the journey.

And then ... most times without either party (Mentor or Mentee) realizing it, there are casual observers.  They are the ones noticing the relationship, asking questions, wondering why there is change.  Ultimately, the observer is the one ready to enter into a similar relationship.  And thus, a cycle of mentoring is born.

At it's heart ... and in real life photos ... this is the core of Fahrenheit!

watching and mentoring,

christina