What is mentoring?

A regular question you would say. Often asked, yes but not a "regular" question.

There are many opinions on what mentoring is and what it is not and perhaps over a period of time we will discover some of the aspects of mentoring that will define it. For the moment, let's share what a reliable source has to say...

"Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)"

Thanks for that Wikipedia and for the other 49 definitions you could have provided. I'd prefer to understand the concept of mentoring with fewer words, so bear with me.