The People Who Help Make Me Great

We’re the Executives of Our Life

What’s the difference between pastors and mentors?
I see it this way, pastors are church leaders.  Their role is to help build you in the things of God.  Mentors on the other hand are people who help sharpen your gifts, talents and skills.  It’s not important that you get the terms right.  What is important is the function these resources provide, be it your pastor(s) or mentor(s).  My mentors are people that I selected that have what I need to grow in a specific area of my life.

Why I have three mentors?
You may be asking why three?  What you don’t know is there used to be four.  But, why three?  Actually for me the number isn’t very important.  I wish their were a couple more.  I have a few more areas in my mind that could use sharpening.  Nonetheless, what each person gives me is what’s important.

Let me tell you about my three.

Mentor 1: The style and value of writing
I’ll begin with John Maxwell whom I’ve been familiar with the longest.  John as you know is known as a leadership expert, but to your surprise he’s not my mentor because of his leadership experience.  That’s just a plus.  What I’m after is his writing and speaking experience.  I’ve learned a lot about writing and being an author from John.  He sharpens my style of writing and helps me add value in my content.

Mentor 2: Having a big plate
This next mentor was added towards the end of this current list of mentors.  Pamela and I concluded that I needed a woman in the mix of all these men.  So we went on a mad search and we didn’t have to search long.  We found Christine Caine.  Christine teaches me how to manage the things on my plate, and also how to have a large enough plate for everything I have to accomplish.  She is teaching me how to juggle a number of platforms, maintain family and run a diverse business.

Mentor 3: The making of an online mentor and entrepreneur.
This last mentor continues to amaze me the longer I follow him.  I get more advice from this person than any other mentor.  Not because he’s my favorite, but because of the nature of what he does.  Michael Hyatt is a virtual mentor.  His list of accolades is just as heavy as my other mentors and pastors.  Michael teaches me how to blog, have an online presence, how to manage a platform and how to be an entrepreneur.

What I like most about my mentors is that they are all professed Christians.  Michael has no problem sharing his faith and occasionally throwing a verse of scripture in the mix.  John is a former pastor and continues to minister on Christian platforms often.  Christine is like an apostle, she plants churches and ministers as often as she can.  They all extend their work far into the corporate world.  They all leverage their gifts to touch the world not through the church, but as The Church.

Putting all that aside, your takeaway from this post is to find (if you haven’t already) the mentors that can help you sharpen your gift, crafts, skills, and talents.

Today is Friday!
Who are your mentors and why?  If you don’t have a mentor, what kind of mentor do you need?  Leave me a comment or respond to this post.