Vision 2009 #2

“Vision looks inward and becomes duty.Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration.Vision looks upward and becomes faith.” Stephen Wise

Below is the second Vision & Strategy laid out on Vision Night, Sun, Jan 18th.

Vision #2. Mentoring - Multiplying the Light!

How will we accomplish this & kick it up a notch in 2009?

a. Increased Small Group Training for Leaders b. Launching a new mentoring initiative to men in January 2009 & then to women in March 2009.

The Steps of Mentoring that Epic Church Leaders/Mentors will be trained to take in their circles of influence are as follows…..
Step 1- Model
The process begins with the mentor doing the tasks while the mentee watches. It will give the mentee the opportunity to see the whole process. Too often the mentor begins in the middle of the task and confuses the mentee. When the mentee sees the task performed correctly and completely, it demonstrates the process to imitate.

Step 2 – Mentor
During this next step, the mentor will continue to perform the task, but this time the mentee will come alongside and assists in the process. Mentor’s will take time to explain not only the how but also the why of each step. There will be lots of communication happening at this stage.

Step 3 – Monitor
At this point, the mentor and the mentee exchange places. The mentee will perform the task and the mentor will assist and correct. It is especially important during this phase that our mentor’s remain positive and encouraging to the mentee. It will help the mentee to keep on trying and wanting to improve rather than give up. They will work together to develop consistency. Once the mentee understands the process, they will explain it back to the mentor. This explanation will reinforce the process in the mentee’s memory.

Step 4 – Motivate
At this point the mentor will step out of the task and relinquish the responsibility to the mentee. The assignment of our mentor’s is to make sure that the mentee has the knowledge to do the task and the encouragement to continue to improve. It will be important for our mentor’s to stay with the mentee until success is realized. This will motivate the mentee to make improvements to the process.

Step 5 – Multiply
Once the mentee does the job well, the next step for the mentee is to become a mentor. As teachers know, the best way to learn something is to teach it & then give opportunity to actually do it. The beauty of the mentoring process is that it allows the mentor to move on to other important developmental tasks while the new leader is now capable of fulfilling various tasks, leading others, and taking them on the mentoring journey as well.

At the end of this vision point #2 I used a candle illustration. I lit one candle, and then used the one candle to light another candle. I ultimately lit another 25 candles with one candle. Point? A candle loses nothing when it lights another; instead it doubles it’s brightness. This is how mentoring works. Leaders/Mentors invest their time and insight into an emerging leader and begin to multiply their effort. While the work seems slow at first, at some point it will grow at an exponential rate.

Note: 2 key resources you need to get, if you’re going to launch a mentoring plan for men and women is:

1. Joshua’s Men Training Curriculum – by Dan Reiland

2. Mentoring Women Training Curriculum - by Stephanie Wolfe