We all need mentors in our lives - those that refine us, challenge us, and shape us into the people we need to become. Unfortunately for Manny, his company mentor takes his job a little too seriously. A comical look at the common fears of getting involved with small groups and accountability.
Main Point: Before we can mentor, we need to be
focused on the subject and speak with clarity.
Synopsis:
- An
exasperated Manny can only take notes as his would-be mentor jumps from
one topic to another while insisting that his understudy takes notes and
the result is total confusion and exasperation.
- As
Manny sports a bad toupee on his first day of work he is met with a mentor
who has a PhD in how not to mentor. They start in the copy room where
Manny is told to take notes. Before long, his mentor is copying a picture
of his face and taking him outside of the office on a wild excursion.
- From
underneath the hood of a car, to visiting the city zoo, to playing a trombone,
to welding, to watching airplanes, Manny is given a crash course in
“taking notes” but the mentor doesn’t bother to really teach him anything.
- The
spoof ends with the two men riding on a carnival ride before Manny gives
his mentor a ride in a little red wagon. The mentor assures him that there
are just some things you can only learn when one man is giving another man
a ride in a red wagon.
Application:
- Mentors
are supposed to lead by example and interact with their students – not
talk at them.
- There’s
a need for leadership but before we lead, we all must need to follow.
- When
we do lead, we must do so with great clarity or our protégés will be
reduced to taking endless notes without any real understanding of what
they’re supposed to be learning.
- Part
of leadership is communication -- not talking over people but rather
teaching by interaction.
- Respect
is an important part of the training process.
Suggested Uses:
Appropriate for leadership training classes.
Appropriate for sermons on communication.
Biblical Reference:
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