Mentors provide emotional support and guidance

Whether you are someone who loves to be in control of every aspect of your life or a sympathetic soul who thrives on helping people (you could be both), Mentoring is for you. Unless you are retired and have “free” time, you may feel that "I don't have time for Mentoring.” That is like saying you don't have time for your career. While it is widely accepted that Mentoring usually has enormous positive benefits on a Mentee's  life and career, it is rarely thought of as a career benefit for the Mentor.

This is a Mistake, as the Mentor can benefit from the Mentoring in many ways including:

• 
An understanding of a culture if the participants are from different backgrounds
• Learning new ideas and facts to better understand and manage people similar to the Mentee that may report to the Mentor.
• 
Seeing the results of Mentor/Mentee collaboration is often a lifetime reward.

A Mentor may even find a Mentee that would be an excellent choice for a new job or volunteer opportunity.

The Mentor has the flexibility to  set the time structure (amount, when, and how) that there is interaction between the Mentor and Mentee.

Of course, there are numerous emotional benefits to helping a Mentee succeed-especially when the Mentor's advice is followed and the Mentee obtains good outcomes as a result.

Overall, there are few things in life that offer the benefits of being a Mentor without any real downside.

The real question is:

"Why would you not want to be a Mentor?"