Among the most valuable attributes of any organization is leadership excellence. Businesses, families, churches, schools, clubs, and non-profits all need and thrive (or fail) based on leadership.
One of the ways we can improve our leadership is through mentoring relationships. Mentoring, when done well brings wisdom, guidance, and vision and equips the mentee to grow and thrive in the real world.
You might not consider yourself to be a “leader”, so why get a mentor? Remember, leadership is influence, and every one of us has the ability to positively or negatively influence others. As Christ-followers we have been given the highest calling, to spread the gospel in the name of Jesus. We are called to influence our friends, families, co-workers, and anyone else along the path to be part of bringing them to salvation.
If you don’t have a mentor, get one. If you have a mentor, reach out to him or her and say “thank you” today and share back something you’ve learned and applied based on the relationship.
I’ve always considered my dad to be one of my mentors in business as well as in personal situations so today I say thanks dad for being a humble mentor and never giving up on me!
Based on today’s scriptures (God’s perfect wisdom), here are some things I’ve learned from my dad:
Keeping calm when under attack; diffusing the situation, and letting the other person melt down instead of yourself.
If a ruler loses his temper against you, don’t panic;
A calm disposition quiets intemperate rage. (Ecc 10:4)
Use your head! Pause and think before you act or speak.
Remember: The duller the ax the harder the work;
Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. (Ecc 10:10)
He who speaks first, loses (in a negotiation). Too much talking and not enough listening gets you nowhere.
Fools talk way too much,
Chattering stuff they know nothing about. (Ecc 10:14)
Don’t ever give up.
“Stick it out” is what my dad used to say. Oh, how as a kid I hated “not quitting” yet reflecting on the years of school, work, marriage, parenting, and my faith journey there is no better mindset than never, ever giving up.
Go to work in the morning
and stick to it until evening without watching the clock.
You never know from moment to moment
how your work will turn out in the end. (Ecc 11:6)
Have fun but don’t be reckless (ultimately we answer to God).
I used to think my parents were too strict, but as I age I reflect on it, my parents let me run fast in the direction where my heart wanted to go. They gave the “curbs” to help keep me in line, but I made the most of my youth and I pray my children do the same.
You who are young, make the most of your youth.
Relish your youthful vigor.
Follow the impulses of your heart.
If something looks good to you, pursue it.
But know also that not just anything goes;
You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.
Live footloose and fancy-free—
You won’t be young forever.
Youth lasts about as long as smoke. (Ecc 11:9-10)
“Keep the faith.”
For many years my dad ended our conversations with this phrase. A simple statement yet it says so much and will say so much at the end of our lives when we all meet our maker face to face.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)
Please read the verses from today. There is great wisdom that is very well-written and even humorous! Ecclesiastes 10-12; 2 Timothy 4