Needing a mentor, being a mentor

I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about mentors lately. I thought this article was awesome: Get Ahead with a Mentor Who Scares You:

“You’re the best!” the four American Idol contestants
cried to their voice coach Patty after narrowly escaping elimination,
“We couldn’t have done it without you!” As they celebrated, I couldn’t
help but notice that their hero was the same irascible, no-holds-barred
woman who had been shown yelling and screaming at the same contestants
just minutes earlier, leaving her devastated charges in tears.

With the group’s success, Patty’s tough-love approach was validated
(much more clearly, perhaps, than that of the show’s previous tough-love
artist Simon Cowell). Though her tactics were questionable, they
certainly brought out the best in her team; she truly helped them to
become better singers and performers. I’m not saying that you should go
out and be like Patty, but if you’re young, ambitious and motivated, you
should take a page from that foursome.