Friday, 24 April 2020

Mentoring Through Crisis

The first person I came across as a reputable leadership expert is J.C Maxwell. Following him, I have never been in doubt of the immeasurable grace on his life and ministry as rare gift for our generation. I connected with him in time of need and have been blessed reading his books. Beyond him, I have gleaned from a lot more leadership trainers at home and abroad and there's no stopping. With Maxwell you have the understanding early that you can never learn enough. Teachable spirit and continuous learning are the hallmarks of great leaders.

If you're a rookie and wants to learn the basic principles of leadership, how to grow in leaps and bounds and becoming a man or woman of influence, grab a copy of his book "Developing the Leader Within You". The world has moved on from the era of leadership being considered a talent or an inborn attribute to a skill that can be learnt, developed and nurtured. It's so easy nowadays to isolate bosses or rulers from genuine leaders thanks to great teachers and mentors on leadership. So, you can imagine how elated I was to be invited by a senior friend, Mr 'Leke Emoruwa (an accomplished telecoms guru and MD/CEO at EMOCOM Technologies and Consulting Ltd) to join J.C Maxwell's leadership session on Monday 20th April 2020 via a Facebook link. Here are my 'take-aways' from the session on "Leadership When It Matters Most - Life and Leadership Values for Today with John C. Maxwell".

1.       Effective Leaders give the right perspective in the time of crisis
2.       Never equate struggling with failure: Crisis, challenges or obstacles are opportunities
3.       Crisis helps us to be creative, gives hope to people and helps us see the bigger picture
4.       'Dis-functional' leaders lead according to their needs and not according to right perspectives
5.       On mentoring through crisis, timing is very important and key questions to ask are –

·   Who mentors me?
o   Are they successful?
o   Have they been tested and have they passed the crisis test?
o   Are they continually growing?
o   Are they emotionally grounded?
o   Are they my sponsor (or committed...)?
o   Do they have greatness that's bigger than their work(s)?

·   When do they mentor me?
o   If the timing is right, the impact is great.
o   Most of the things we want but don't have are just outside our comfort zone
o   When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

·   How do they mentor me?
o   The mentor will help you see the complete picture in times of crisis
o   Ask yourself: When the crisis is over, do I get better or bitter?
o   Mentors not only give right perspectives but share out of their personal lifes
o   What's your source? Where do you go to draw strength? Your faith?
o   A crisis will prioritise what we will never ordinarily prioritise ourselves
o   If you look enough you'll find the answers
o   People don't want a perfect leader they want an authentic leader

·   How do I maximize the mentoring?
o   Three words to maximize your mentoring?
§  Preparation
§  Reflection
§  Action
o   I add the bonus and it's that following P.R.A leads to Yield (i.e. higher level of productivity and fruitfulness).
o   So, in summary, maximizing your mentoring is about P.R.A.Y! Quite profound/instructive!!

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating". If you are curious to learn more about this, let me direct you to the source and hopefully you will find it worth the time invested. Here is the link to the video - https://www.facebook.com/JohnCMaxwell/videos/691923061573055/. What can you do differently with afore-mentioned questions as a mentor or mentee? Go ahead and maximize your influence. All the best!

4 comments:

  1. This is inspiring and timely. The PRAY approach to maximizing mentorship works for both mentor and mentee. Just what i needed as we coast through this COVID opportunities. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for the gift of feedback. I am encouraged by the fact that it meets your need. Timely messages that we all need in this era from JC Maxwell. All the best!

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  2. Many thanks Amos for this timely piece. It is coming at time when the world is going through a common challenge and requires the right leadership right from the home, to the schools,through societal, government & religious institutions to private parastarals & businesse etc. Thank you for sharing. I am personally inspired and challenged to do the needful..PRAY!

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    1. Whao.....Thanks for the feedback. Well appreciated!. Nice to have you back onboard Linked-In. Stay blessed, Stay Safe and have lots of fun. Shalom!!

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