A while back I interviewed Dr. Robert Coleman for an
editorial project I’m working on for some other authors.
Dr. Coleman, to say the least, is one brainy guy.
He studied at Princeton University and holds a PhD from the
University of Iowa, and for the last several decades has worked as a distinguished
senior professor at Gordon-Conwell Seminary in South Hampton, Massachusetts.
He’s written more than 20 books, mostly about theology and pastoral ministry,
that combined have sold more than 7 million copies.
As part of his work at the university, Dr. Coleman mentors a
lot of students. Each week he meets at 6 a.m. one morning with a group of younger
men who want to learn more about their profession, as well as to grow
personally.
He explained that mentoring younger people is one habit all
successful leaders must undertake.
I asked Dr. Coleman to tell a bit about his personal
learning habits. One of the most important things he’s done personally, he
said, is dedicated himself to being a lifelong learner.
He is not only a mentor himself, but he still seeks people
to mentor him.
To that aim, he said,
he purposely meets with people older than he is. He continually wants to learn
from people who have been down the road before him.
Out of curiosity, I asked Dr. Coleman if he’d mind telling
me his age.
“84,” he said.
“And you’re still intentionally meeting with people older
than you so you can learn from them?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I will never be too old to not be
mentored.”
Question: Talk about a mentor you’ve had. How did it benefit you?
5 comments:
great point!
My menthor for long time was doing sports (rowing) for more than a decade. It formed my character, my will of achieving a goal, to cope with a team and to learn that I can reach higher goals by working together.
Thanks Marcus
Tobi,
Thanks for your continued great comments and interaction. Much appreciated!
You and Yuri are undeniably my top commenters for the year.
I had a journalism professor in college who was one of my biggest mentors. We're still in contact today, and he's greatly helped my writing throughout the years.
best--MB
Hi Marcus and thank you very much for that compliment! It is kind of my daily ritual to open my internet browser and your blog is one of my 4 permanent tabs. The other ones are leo translation, yahoo mail and a forum. You see, you are the only blog I taged! Every now and then I update the status of your site and regognize very fast when there is something new.
Keep up the good work my friend!
I want to thank Yuri too, I value his blog comments the highest!
cheers to the mentors
T
Great post, Marcus. Thanks.
I'd love to have a mentor, and I've been searching for one for years.
But how do I find one?
The men in my family can't be mentors for different reasons, and outside of the family I never came across someone who I think would have made a good mentor, a person I would have liked to emulate.
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