Allen May (<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=3030327" rel="nofollow">http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=3030327</a>) and I came in touch over the same topic a few months back. And whatever Nicholas is saying here makes so much sense that I couldn’t agree with him more.<p>I myself have been engaged in a couple of mentorship programs this year and planning to continue doing it. I’ve set few rules and created my own process on very similar lines that Nicholas has explained; although not that precise and thoughtful. This blog post has helped me with some really great directions. Sincere thanks to Nicholas for it. Great work, there.<p>I feel, we could use a transparent system where the ongoing mentorship program highlights are shared publicly and other mentors can learn/contribute from/to it. It is such an important aspect of our professional life that it saves huge amount of time (in years), makes us a stronger person, gets us the right kind of contacts, polishes the existing knowledge, teaches how to learn effectively and provides us with a solid foundation that lasts through the whole life. Making small mistakes as a mentor can have disastrous results on the mentee’s life.