Mentors See Your Potential Posted on January 9, 2008 Barbara J. Guthrie (bio) indicates that good mentors sees the strengths and the weaknesses of their mentees.

A quality of a good mentor is someone who, I use the term invested, that sees your potential and helps you to see the potential, but also provides you with guidance on how to enhance your potential but also to strengthen those things that you — maybe your weaknesses. A lot of times we dwell on the weakness or we dwell on the strengths, and the mentor helps you balance that out. And they also are interested in you becoming energized about your own area.

I’ve had people that have tried to get me interested in their area, like, “I’ll be your mentor, but come and do this for me and then you’ll be successful.” But if it’s not your area of interest, it’s hard to get the enthusiasm and the energy to do it. And so I think a mentor recognizes the difference between doing their work for them and you beginning to create your own work.

Carol Boyd came to me when I came to Michigan, and she said, “What do you want to do?” And I said, “Well I’ve been working with girls, and I want to work with girls.” And she said, “Well I’m working with substance use. Would you be interested?” And I’m like, “I’m not sure.” So she said, “Well just come out and see.” So I went out and I thought, “Oh my goodness. This is like something I never even thought about: substance use and women.”

And so then I started doing research and I’m thinking, “Oh, but look at the girls. What’s happening — all the stories that I heard from women said that they started when they were adolescent girls.” And so with that, she said, “Well then take this and run with it.”

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