The study focused on how principal mentors perceived the mentoring process by means of the metaphors they used to represent it. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 principal mentors. Findings were analysed qualitatively, generating themes as an inductive process, grounded in the various metaphors articulated by participants. Analysis of the research findings revealed five themes based on principal mentors' metaphors: exposure and mirroring, modelling, giving, empowering and supporting. Exploring the mentoring principals' metaphors may help to improve both the mentoring process and the practical training of principal preparation programmes.