In the 80s, Chinese movies present the style of mentorship that we contemporarily adapt to – a young man seeking revenge stays under the tutelage of an older man; he watches and learns from such man. The old man (normally called the Master) starts the protégé up with seemingly mundane activities that seem not to be related to protégé’s goal. The Master explains to the protégé that these mundane activities are the foundation to a successful career because they teach soft vital skills like patience, forbearance and endurance. After a while, the protégé becomes an expert and defeats the Boss.
Ok, wait! Let me guess what you are thinking: The hustle, bustle and rush of the contemporary times, can never allow a mentor give a protégé his/her time. In fact, a mentor that has so much time in hand will never be a good mentor to start with. One very important thing to note is that mentorship was not fashioned the way the Chinese depicted in their movies – The role of mentorship is simply to lead a path.
John the Baptist was a mentor to Jesus Christ – He was the forerunner and he was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 – He was sent to prepare the way for the Lord. In June of 1968, Jim Hines of USA broke the 100meter per below 10 seconds sprint – after this record, there were so many below 10seconds 100meter sprint records. In the comedy scene in Nigeria, Ali Baba showed that you could use comedy as an economic leverage; today so many comedians have built industry with comedy.
A mentor shows you what is possible and it is your duty to follow up on such mentor through his/her resources like books, videos, shows, etc. For those who want to follow their passion career look for a mentor who has excelled in that career – it does not matter the age, the sex or personal challenge of such people – they are mentors because they have prepared the way of your passion career. Choosing and diligently following them as mentor means you will be better than them (Psalm 119:99).
The drawback of physical-contact mentorship is that the less glamorous style of Mentors distracts their protégé. Career mentors are not chosen for their moral compass but for their achievements in certain career. I will advice those who are serious about choosing a mentor to avoid getting close to them – You can learn without emotional entanglement.
The important thing you need to know about choosing a mentor is that the metrics of success while following your passion career has nothing to do with economic value. The primary reason you are called to your passion career is to make an impact not to garner wealth. Once this particular “passion must lead to economic advancement” train of thought is out of the way, we can now delve deep into the matter of choosing mentors. Let’s look at the previous series to build background into this particular framework.
This ends “Delusion of Passion Career” series. Click Part1 HERE and Part2 HERE.
Have a lovely day!
