Every leader should be a mentor while simultaneously being mentored by someone else.
I am currently getting a lot out of Patrick Bel-David’s new book Your Next Five Moves: Master The Art Of Business Strategy. Whether you lead in a business, ministry, education, non-profit, or ministry environment, this is a must-read.
Bel-David points out that as he was growing as a leader and businessman, he surrounded himself with the wisest people people he could find. He then separated these mentors into three levels of expertise.
Theory
These are smart people, just not wise. Theory mentors are well-meaning and well-read but short on experience. They can still be encouraging and give sound advice. However, this is the lowest level of mentoring.
Witness
These mentors have worked directly with successful people. They have had an up-close and personal look at a great leader. Guy Kawasaki, for example, often shares the lessons he learned from working with Steve Jobs on the Macintosh project.
The Witness can provide invaluable insights. They can share the successes, failures, systems, and thinking processes of great leaders and organizations. These type of mentors are often skilled at providing action items you can implement to personally grow and improve your organization.
Application
The Application mentor is the direct source. One step above the witness, this is the actual person with the successes, failures, creator and implementor of the systems, and headed up the strategic thinking. They have walked the walk and talked the talk. Many people think this is the highest level of mentorship but there is one level higher.
Trifectas
This mentor combines all three. They are well-meaning, well-read, been mentored by great leaders, and implemented what they have learned. These people are very difficult to find.
After reading this list, which type of mentor are you?
Just to be transparent, depending on the topic, I am all four.
#CommissionsEarned
Speaking of a Trifecta Mentor, during the 2019 college football season, fans were given a gift when legendary coach Urban Meyer joined Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff preview show as a studio analyst. As a three-time national championship head coach, Coach Meyer’s ability to deliver complex leadership principles with brevity and concise terminology created a compelling experience for educated and “smart” fans. Throughout the season, I captured Coach Meyer’s best leadership quotes from this weekly show. I wanted to make them available to you in this new complimentary resource Urban Meyer 2019 Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff Ebook.
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