Share 'Mentors, What Serves As a "Compass"?'

Engagement with people in process can lead into fog, quicksand, smoke and other urgencies and uncertainties. Assuming that mentors are made, not born, what do you recommend as preparation and/or response for staying mobile, agile and on course during engagements?  Do you have an explicit concept of the human being that you find helpful, important and/or ethically necessary?  Please identify types…