Will Mentors Jump the Shark?

Mentoring is a popular technique these days.  It's an acknowledged improvement on traditional management approaches to professional growth as it includes ongoing learning, mentee directed learning, the freedoms to explore what's important to the mentee rather than follow a structured programme, and more.

But like all practices that grow in popularity, the average value of a mentor will degrade in proportion to the quality of practices employed.  When new (and it's hardly new) practices grow to become popular they are no longer the exclusive toys of early adopters who tend also to be intelligent on a number of fronts including intrapersonal ones.

So what is the secret sauce in the successful mentor relationships?

I keep hearing that "we learn from each other."  A good mentor gets as much from the mentee as they give.  And a good mentee knows and appreciates the mutual trade.

Have you got a mentor?  How long has it been going?  How is it working for you?