I’m at one of our Cornerstone Conferences in Orlando and just finished a talk titled “Realty Check”. It is a talk about this stuff I’m blogging about and always provokes response. I scurried off afterwards and found a quiet place to blog…..it’s addictive you know.
Shortly after settling in, Michael Trent who owns a consulting firm for connecting space in churches (Third Place Consulting) stopped by to chat. Michael consults with many of the churches we work with, helping us develop cafes that function well and help fulfill the ministry intent we’d planned for. So we see each other often and have developed a relationship. He’s usually a very creative, funny guy, but today he was introspective.
In a quiet moment he shared how his father passed away 11 years ago today and how his relationships here are far more important to him than any business we bring him. He mentioned how he was speaking to a church group last week and he emphatically used the phrase….THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY!….you know that strong intro phrase we’ve heard and probably used. We expect something disconcerting to follow….right. Well he followed it up with this:
“THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY!…….. (softly stated) just want you older men as mentors”.
As Michael expanded on the thought, an older man in the front row had a tear running down his cheek…is this interest real he probably wondered…..I think we all kind of wonder….but would sure like it to be.
It wasn’t 20 minutes later I was interrupted again by another 30 something fella. We were pondering these culture issues also…….then his conversation turned as well. He went on to share how this past year he was recruited diligently by other companies. He is a very talented young professional many companies would covet. He stayed because he felt the owner of his current company was a better example of…..and…..could better mentor him on “humble leadership” than the other companies recruiting him.
It wasn’t about money or promotion…or status…..no…humble mentoring was the differentiator. WOW!!
Between those two conversations my daughter Jenny called…..yes I know not much blogging getting done here. She just read my blog from last night where I quoted her. She called to tell me my assessments of her thoughts were too strong!! I would turn people off she says. Hummmm..well yes….. I did revise it and
softened it up…I do respect her judgment. But, these 20-30 year olds have strong opinions as well. Thanks for “Mentoring Me” on this blogging thing. You have done it well. These kids are digital natives….we boomers are digital immigrants. We learn from them here it seems!
Ed,
I just returned from the Q Conference in NYC and wanted to add something here…one of the speakers shared how often times we do not relate to others gifts or even weaknesses, but most often we do relate to other ‘pain’; and he went on to share how ‘pain’ is such a common denominator. One might think this was a depressing subject, but we have to think about where the greatest books, movies, music, and Message have all come from……pain.
So then I’m setting at my table with 6 other insanely extraordinary ordinary people and I shared my ‘ah-ha’ moment of the day….then I said, “For example, I’m a pretty good speaker, developing writer, and can make a cup of coffee that’s so good it would put Howard Schultz in a fetal position………but did you know that 11 years ago my dad died and I wish every day he were here to be my hero and mentor.” Yeah, the laughter turned to reflection very quickly. And I immedietly pointed to three of them and said, “Is your dad, your dad, and your dad all dead?” Surprisingly, I was correct. How did that just happen….
I intentionally shared strengths, then pain….when I shared the ‘pain’ I noticed a change in the body language and eyes of those who had a parent that had passed away. Amazing how we are connected by pain, yet that pain can connect us to such joy. I think some really smart dude wrote something one time that went something like this…..”we were crucified and baptized with him so that we could be resurrected and reign with him….” or something like that………………….