Maybe bad mentors are even more important than good mentors
A good mentor will tell you smart things, you’ll follow them, see good results and maybe think, “Wow! I’m so lucky to have a good mentor. I’ll ask them about X, Y and Z.” This reinforces the mentor-mentee dependency cycle
A bad mentor will tell you stupid things, you’ll follow them, see terrible results and hopefully think, “Wow! That mentor was terrible. I’ll ask someone else about X, Y and Z.” This frees up the bad mentor to “help” others.
A bad mentor who believes in you, but provides terrible advice is perhaps a Mysterious Old Wizard. A more common situation is a loving, kind parent or wonderful friend who believes in you more than you believe in yourself!
I realize this will sound crazy, but:
Maybe bad mentors are even more important than good mentors
A good mentor will tell you smart things, you’ll follow them, see good results and maybe think, “Wow! I’m so lucky to have a good mentor. I’ll ask them about X, Y and Z.” This reinforces the mentor-mentee dependency cycle
A bad mentor will tell you stupid things, you’ll follow them, see terrible results and hopefully think, “Wow! That mentor was terrible. I’ll ask someone else about X, Y and Z.” This frees up the bad mentor to “help” others.
A bad mentor who believes in you, but provides terrible advice is perhaps a Mysterious Old Wizard. A more common situation is a loving, kind parent or wonderful friend who believes in you more than you believe in yourself!