Barnabas File

Benjamin Franklin said this about mentoring:   “There are two ways to acquire wisdom; you can either buy it or borrow it.  By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn.  By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have already paid the price to learn the lessons and get their wisdom from them.”   Mentors are important in our personal and professional development.  They not only share their experiences with us, but they open doors by introducing us to people in our field and sponsoring us to be involved in special projects or events.   Is it possible that one can outgrow her or his mentor?  This is not only a possibility but very likely. In the Book of Acts, we read the story of a mentor-protégé relationship that prospered for a period but ended with some discord.  We sometimes forget that Barnabas was a mentor for Saul, the persecutor of the Way who would become i...

Although mentoring has been practiced for generations on both informal and formal bases, the practice has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a means to encourage gender, racial, and socio-economic diversity in leadership of all types of organizations. In Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring , Lisa Z. Fain and Lois J. Zachary offer a three-part model for taking advantage of this process to develop leaders in contemporary settings:   Part One:  Learn Forward into Differences Part Two:  Learn from Differences Part Three:  Leverage Differences There are three key foundational ideas for this model.  First, differences can be leveraged to build successful mentoring relationships.  Second, mentoring takes intentional planning, hard work, and commitment to effective communication.  Third, the learning that comes from mentoring is a two-way street--it benefits the mentor as well as the protégé, providing le...

In her book  Leadership Revolution: The Future of Developing Dynamic Leaders , Lori Mazan takes a rather critical approach to mentoring.  She sees it as helpful but only when matched with coaching and of lesser value than coaching: “In a sense, mentoring can encourage looking back, emulating what was previously successful. Coaching is a methodology for looking out ahead and figuring out what's going to be successful next.” She goes on to say, “Mentoring just can't take the place of the kind of transformative development employees can get from coaching.”   Just for clarity, let’s define terms here.  In mentoring, someone (usually an experienced person in the field) shares their knowledge, skills, and experience with another person to help them to progress.  The person being mentored is identified by terms such as “mentee” or “protégé.”   Coaching is   a partnership between coach and client . They are “thought partners.”  Th...

Very often people confuse the terms “coaching” and “mentoring.”  (What we mean by coaching here is life or leadership coaching.)  Coaching and mentoring both involve supporting an individual's growth and development, but they have some key differences. Here's a breakdown: Focus: Coaching  tends to focus   on the present and future, helping you define your goals, overcome obstacles, and move toward your full potential. Coaches don't necessarily need direct experience in your field since they guide you to discover your own solutions and strategies. Mentoring  focuses on your past, present, and future, offering guidance based on the mentor's experience and expertise in your field or industry. Mentors often share their own stories and insights to help you navigate career or personal challenges and help in developing professional networks. Structure: Coaching  is typically more structured, with def...

One of the challenges of Advent is keeping the events and persons fresh and relevant.     There is a tendency to come up with some basic ideas and become stuck there.     In an effort to get some new perspective, I reading Adam Hamilton’s book The Journey. He combines biblical reflection, observations about the places mentioned, and some preaching imagination to bring new insights to Mary, Joseph, and others in these familiar stories.   As he writes about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (which probably lasted several months), Hamilton identifies the mentor and protégé relationship that was established between the two women. It is one worth unpacking.   First, when Mary finds herself miraculously pregnant, she must have thought of her kinswoman Elizabeth who also had been unexpectedly blessed.  Through the family grapevine, Mary learned that elderly, revered woman was expecting.  Although their circumstances were different, Mary identified eno...

The Mentor’s Guide:     Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships has just been published in its third edition, a clear testimony to its importance in the practice of mentoring.    Authors Lois K. Zachary and Lisa Z. Fain have updated this “bible” of mentor practice to reflect new insights, developing theories, and contemporary reality.   The authors see the mentor relationship as a mutual experience that generates growth for both mentor and mentee (although I prefer the word protégé).  As such it requires investment, preparation, and reflection on part of both participants.    The revised edition considers not only evolving theories about adult development and mentoring, but also incorporates insights about the global nature of organizations, the importance of innovation, the reality of diversity, and the necessity of innovation.   One insight relating to innovation is the idea of SMARTER goals to augment SMART goals.  We ...

One of the challenges of Advent is keeping the events and persons fresh and relevant.     There is a tendency to come up with some basic ideas and become stuck there.    In an effort to get some new perspective, I have been reading Adam Hamilton’s book The Journey in recent days. He combines biblical reflection, observations about the places mentioned, and some preaching imagination to bring new insights to Mary, Joseph, and others in these familiar stories.   As he writes about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (which probably lasted several months), Hamilton identifies the mentor and protégé relationship that was established between the two women. It is one worth unpacking.   First, when Mary finds herself miraculously pregnant, she must have thought of her kinswoman Elizabeth who also had been unexpectedly blessed.  Through the family grapevine, Mary learned that elderly, revered woman was expecting.  Although their circumstances were differ...

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”  ―  Kenneth H. Blanchard As we minister in a VUCA world  of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, we have to be able learn from others.  One way to do this is through crowdsourcing.   Merriam-Webste r defines crowdsourcing as  “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” Crowdsourcing may be the 21 st  century version of mentoring.  A mentor is someone who shares with you things that she or he has learned so you don’t have you discover them for yourself.  Move the idea from an individual to a group and add the Internet; the result is crowdsourcing. In this time of COVID-19 crisis, few people have the playbook to do what needs to be done, including ministers.  I have found in recen...

Although mentoring has been practiced for generations on both informal and formal bases, the practice has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a means to encourage gender, racial, and socio-economic diversity in leadership of all types of organizations. In Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward, Learn, Leverage , Lisa Z. Fain and Lois J. Zachary offer a three-part model for taking advantage of this process to develop leaders in contemporary settings: Part One:     Learn Forward into Differences Part Two:     Learn from Differences Part Three:     Leverage Differences There are three key foundational ideas for this model.  First, differences can be leveraged to build successful mentoring relationships.  Second, mentoring takes intentional planning, hard work, and commitment to effective communication.  Third, the learning that comes from mentoring is a two-way street--it benefi...

Do you feel stuck?   You know what I mean.     You are overcome with responsibilities and find yourself in a type of paralysis.     Or perhaps you just have too much on your plate--a lot of good choices but no clear priorities.    Or maybe there is something that keeps you up at night and requires resolution. If you want to be proactive and get out of this situation, there are a number of options available to you. The International Coach Federation (ICF) has posted a decision chart that might be helpful in making a choice. The options are not limited to coaching. There are several paths you might take. Psychotherapy.   Therapy or counseling helps a person to deal with unresolved issues from the past or present such as grief, anger, or loss.  The therapist or counselor helps the client define the issues and develop coping strategies to deal with emotions and relationships in more productive ways. Mentor...

Church staffing has changed in many ways over the past 50 years.  New positions and titles have appeared to meet real or perceived needs.  In recent years, however, changing demographics and declining budgets have required congregations to reassess positions, add or delete some roles, and rewrite position descriptions. In a recent blog, John Wimberly addressed this trend and provided some suggestions about where congregations should place their staffing emphasis.  His observations are interesting but let me suggest some additional positions to consider. First, most churches would benefit from employing either full-time or part-time a Minister of Missional Engagement.  This person would help the church identify and establish partnerships with organizations who are impacting the community through service or social entrepreneurship programs.  This staff person would connect congregants to these ministries and might also lead t...

Benjamin Franklin said this about mentoring: “There are two ways to acquire wisdom; you can either buy it or borrow it.  By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn.  By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have already paid the price to learn the lessons and get their wisdom from them.” Mentors are important in our personal and professional development.  They not only share their experiences with us, but they open doors by introducing us to people in our field and sponsoring us to be involved in special projects or events. Is it possible that one can outgrow her or his mentor?  This is not only a possibility but very likely. In the Book of Acts, we read the story of a mentor-protégé relationship that prospered for a period but ended with some discord.  We sometimes forget that Barnabas was a mentor for Saul, the persecutor of the Way who would become its most arti...