I have done some mentoring as part of a previous role as a Learning Support Assistant. The mentoring role varied dependent on the student some students needed support with homework whereas others needed help with behavioural problems. It was a great way to have a rapport with the students and I felt good knowing that I was providing support to someone.
Now this is going to sound either cheesy or very arrogant by I also consider myself as a mentor to my friends (I even earnt the name 'Grandma' amongst my small group of friends). I am currently providing wedding advice to a couple of my friends getting marrried next year, who are having a tough time with it. I am always available to listen to their troubles and offer advice, and they all do the same for me. As I have said in a previous post I like to know that what I do makes a difference which is why a mentoring position is one I comit to whole-heartedly.
I am also quite happy to be the mentee and often turn to my colleagues for advice and support especially when satrting a new job or later on when taking on a new task. I am quite a self-sufficient person and see no shame in asking for help, in my experience its much better to admit you don't have a clue and ask for tips than the awful feeling of struggling and not being quite sure about what you are doing. I've never really had a proper mentor but have had quite a few accidental or unofficial mentors usually someone I connect with and they unintentially influence the choices I make in the workplace.
I think it is a great idea to ask someone to be and official mentor, and not something that would naturally occur to me to do, however I don't think that you should depend soley on one mentor but be willing to learn from everyone you cross paths with, whether it be a good experience or not. To me life is one big learning curve.
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