A qualitative study was conducted to determine the influence of mentors on the career development of Illinois community college presidents, and the extent to which those presidents were now mentoring others. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 community college presidents in the state to gather information on mentoring characteristics and impact; the mentoring cycle; and the presidents' current role as mentors. Study findings included the following: (1) mentors performed four major functions; i.e., modeling, facilitating, teaching, and encouraging; (2) a mentoring cycle, involving stages of initiation, duration, and termination, was present in most mentoring relationships; (3) the respondents no longer had mentors when they became community college presidents, though once a president retired or was fired, he/she was open to the development of additional mentoring relationships; (4) all presidents felt they learned many of the components of a successful presidency from their mentors; and (5) all respondents indicated that they were involved in mentoring young, talented proteges, with many consciously participating in mentoring women. (EJV)