Serving Bread

All leaders need mentors. The leaders who claim that they have it all together and believe that they have a lot to give but nothing to receive are probably suffering from some form of narcissism. Regardless of age, effective leaders learn from others. I am always impressed when the people I respect the most, are still seeking to learn from mentors (whether they be living or historical).

Just this past week I stumbled upon Bobby Clinton’s website. Clinton is a professor at Fuller Seminary and one of the premiere voices and teachers of leadership, especially in the Christian realm. I have been influenced by him more than I probably know, since so much of his material and insights have made their way to the ethos of Southern California InterVarsity.

As I reflect on my leadership, mentoring is an important way for me to continue to be shaped by people I respect. Supervisors act as mentors, but so can others. What has been difficult for me is that the older I get, the more important it is for me to seek out the mentors. The onus of finding a mentor and developing a relationship with him or her falls on me.

Effective leaders seek out those mentors on a regular basis. I have noticed that lately, life has passing me by and I have failed to seek out those mentors—some of that has been because of my life circumstances that make it difficult to do that (being a primary care-giver) and some of that is because I have not been proactive about seeking them out.

There are various mentoring roles we need. Clinton has identified a model of nine types of mentors.

These various types of mentors can serve in being our peers, our subordinates and our (spiritual) elders.  In the past year, I have had opportunities to learn from contemporary models but i failed to totally capitalize on that learning process. I have been good at seeking out a spiritual guide and had opportunities to seek a coach but again failed to totally capitalize on those opportunities.

My desire is to grow a contemporary model of mentoring—where I am actively seeking out people whose ministry and values I admire and will inspire growth and development in me. I also need to be better at developing a relationship with someone who can act as a coach in my ministry.

Clinton will probably continue to serve as a mentor (even if he and I are not in any sort of formalized mentoring relationship), as his material and training will be an invaluable resource to me. And I have enjoyed learning from historical mentors. This past year, John Wesley and Hudson Taylor served as historical mentors.

All effective leaders need mentors, and though I may spend a good portion of my time mentoring young student leaders, it is important that I actively seek out people who will deepen my faith and leadership.

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