"Had it not been for the eagles, all eaglets would have remained on the ground like chickens".
Eagles are special birds in many ways, and one of their unique features is how they raise their young.
Eaglets are mentored on how to fly high at the early stage of their infanthood.
Let's briefly recount the process.
When the female eagle becomes pregnant, the couple starts to build a huge nest on higher ground.
It could be at the top of a cliff or a large tree.
Fast forward, the eggs are hatched, and after some time, the mother will push one eaglet at a time out of the nest with the hope it will flap its wing.
If it doesn't, the male eagle will catch such an eaglet before smashing to the ground.
This exercise continues until all eaglets flap their wings and start to fly by themselves.
What are the most important lessons we learn from this metaphor? The eagles (mentors): 1.
Accept the responsibility to empower the eaglets (mentees) from their early stage, before even the eaglets are born.
Once they are born, their prime age to build the necessary physical strength and skill to survive and thrive as eagles isn't wasted.
2.
Understand the importance of stretching the eaglets that they start to mentor them and push them to fly from high places.
3.
Have the best interest of the eaglets in their heart.
They want the eaglets to succeed.
That is why the female eagle throws them out of the nest but the male eagle catches those who couldn't make it.
How mentoring differs from other similar concepts like coaching and counseling? Coaching predominantly involves instructions that enable you to succeed in what you do.
On the other hand, mentoring is a more comprehensive relationship that goes beyond helping mentees develop certain skills.
Counseling focuses on solving issues like a psychiatrist or a marriage counselor counseling their clients to fix certain issues and problems.
Mentoring may involve solving certain problems but the focus is enabling them solve problems by themselves.
How many types of mentoring do we have? Just for the sake of discussion, let's say that there are, at least, three types of mentoring:

• Informal mentoring, which we find in our day-to-day life where we seek help from parents, teachers, and colleagues whenever we have difficulties to make certain decisions and take actions for which we don't have experience.
  
• Periodic mentoring, which is time and agenda bound.
  Both the mentor and the mentee may identify the topics the mentoring covers.
  They may also decide the time the mentoring should take.
  Of course, they may reconsider the agendas and the time as the mentoring relationship progresses.
  
• Perpetual mentoring, which is continuous in nature.
  

The next important question is what are the most significant roles of mentors? Mentors should, at least, accept the following roles if their desire is to make the mentoring relationship work:

• Understand the goals and aspiration of your mentee.
  Even if they don't tell you up front, ask them before agreeing to mentor them.
  If you are the right mentor to empower them achieve their goals and fulfill their aspiration, then you may accept the responsibility.
  If not, this is the right time to decline and refer them to someone else who can be helpful.
  
• Have the best interest of your mentees in your heart.
  Though you may learn something from your mentees and gain some experiences as a mentor, there shouldn't be any conflict of interest.
  You should put the success of your mentees first by having their best interest in your heart.
  
• Listen and also open your heart to impart what you have learned.
  The above two roles cannot succeed if the mentor is not listening actively.
  Not just listening with your ears but your heart too.
  You should also call them to action, stretch, and encourage them to leap out of their comfort zone.
  

What are some of the expectations from mentees? This is because, in the case of the eaglets, they don't have much say because they are too young to make choices; they cannot say no; they are under age.
The mentees we are talking here are grown up leaders, and thus, no one should force them to do certain things even if we think doing so will benefit them.
But, if Mentees would like to benefit from the mentoring relationship, they should take, at least, the following three responsibilities:

• Be clear of what you want.
  You should know what you want, and be specific when you ask someone to mentor you.
  This process helps you choose the right mentor you need & also to measure your progress later on.
  
• Be teachable.
  Be teachable and humble to learn new things you have never known and heard before.
  Take more time to listen.
  Rather than trying to resist those new suggestions from your mentor that may contradict with your previous knowledge, ask more questions than defending the status quo.
  
• Be a doer.
  You should try to act upon those agreed action items.
  You may not be able to accomplish everything you set out to do but you should, at least, show some efforts.
  Without seeing some kind of progress, why should your mentor invest his/her scarce resources? However, if you couldn't be able to implement those things you agreed together with your mentor, you should go back to renegotiate and discuss with your mentor.
  

In conclusion, we have three kinds of mentoring- informal, periodic, and perpetual.
The three important responsibilities of a mentor are a) to understand the goals of the mentee; b) to have the best interest of the mentee in your heart; c) to listen, open your heart, and impart what you practiced and worked for you.
The three important expectations from mentees side are: be clear of what you want; be teachable; and be a doer.