Built to Beat Chaos

CHAPTER 18Someone Who Masters Mentoring

With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

Psalm 78

The purpose of this chapter is a little like chocolate cake. (I am a huge fan of Bill Knapp's chocolate cake, and Cheesecake Factory cake is right up there too.) But consider this. The ingredients of a chocolate cake are flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and chocolate. Yet none of those ingredients by themselves predict the taste and experience of eating a piece of that cake. Like the delicious melting of cake in your mouth, there is mystery and surprise when you learn and follow biblical principles in life. The abundance is unexpectedly good and beyond any individual ingredient.

Like the delicious melting of cake in your mouth, there is mystery and surprise when you learn and follow biblical principles in life.

In this chapter, mentoring people to grow into their potential is the cake, and the principles used are the ingredients (Figure 18.1). The mixing of these ingredients is what the Bible refers to as wisdom. As we learned in Chapter 5, God created wisdom first.

FIGURE 18.1 People engagement model—mentoring.

Master mentoring is the last step in the behavior habits cycle that builds employee engagement. In the Bible, another word for mentoring is discipleship. In means to transfer learning to someone else through experiential training. ...