Mentoring in Leadership

The idea of mentoring cannot be divorced from the concepts of leadership. Chip Bell points this out in his book Managing as Mentors as he compares the two: “The way of the mentor is the way of the leader, particularly in today’s brain based economy.” Mentoring is at its core influence. Bell again points to the parallel as he defines a leader as any one in a role (short or long tern) whose primary goal is to influence another to important efforts of outcome. This is supported by Jeffrey Pfeffer who, although recognizing that there are many definitions, defines leadership in his book The Human Equation by stating: “:Leadership is influencing others to achieve a goal.” This sounds a lot like Bell’s definition of mentoring and looks a lot like what Jesus did in discipling. A consideration of the importance of influence in both mentoring and leadership leads us to the question: How can this be done? This “influence” can be accomplished by understanding the qualities of a mentor-protégé relationship and then striving to model each one in the relationship. Bell identifies six such qualities. They are Balance, Truth, Trust. Abundance (which is generosity), Passion, and Courage. These qualities will help us to be the kind of mentor that is productive in making disciples.