The word mentor has its origins in Greek mythology. Mentor was the person who looked after and advised the son of Odysseus while he was off fighting at and returning from Troy. The word entered the English language only in 1750 in the letters of one of the most important politicians of the time the Earl of Chesterfield. He write “the friendly care and assistance of your mentor”. That the Earl of Chesterfield was in the middle of things political and artistic is shown by some of the other words he introduced to the English language. They include morale, picnic brochure, gauche, unambigious dénouement, impoliteneess, inefficient.
As a business function the mentor has been around less than 40 years. It was introduced in a New York Times article in 1980. “What does mentor mean?” Of course the answer is given – “in fast-track corporate lingo, it means career guide and executive nurturer.” One good definition of what a mentor should do is given by Oprah Winfrey who says, “A mentor is someone who allows you to see hope inside yourself”.
