The Fine Art of Mentoring

Who has been the most influential person in your life? Was it a school teacher? An uncle? A parent? A grandmother? A minister? An employer? A coach? Whoever it was, your reason for choosing this person probably had more to do with who they 'were' and how they 'lived', than how they looked or what they owned. What you experienced was the result of this significant person's ability to model inspiring qualities and communicate those qualities to you. How did they do it? What were the ingredients that enabled them to teach so effectively? Down through the centuries, students have learned through careful observation from those more experienced. Apprentices have learned from craftsmen who took them by the hand. Amateurs emulated professionals. Disciples studied masters. As one who has been profoundly influenced by skilled leaders and who has, in turn, motivated many others, Ted Engstrom could be aptly described as a mentor's mentor. In this book, Ted Engstrom will introduce to you the idea of mentoring. As a leader, you'll learn that mentoring represents the difference between talking and doing as a student, you'll learn from the master's performance as well as his prose. Mentoring used to be the chief learning method in society, where an apprentice spent years at the side of the craftsman, learning not only the mechanics of a function, but the way of life which surrounded it. The good news is that more than a few are waking up to the fact that we have lost something precious in our culture because the mentoring function has been permitted to lapse into semi-obsolescence. There is a renewal of reference to mentoring in the business literature, the world of education, and in social work. And that new alertness has been in evidence, of course, in the Christ-following community also. It's fitting for Ted Engstrom to write this book because of at least two things. First, he has done the mentoring he writes about. Men and women all over the world will gladly and thankfully attest to that. And secondly, he writes from the perspective of a generation which is in the process of handing its work over to its successors. The mentoring leader (and that is what Ted Engstrom has been) is a scarce human commodity. So I commend to you the thoughts of one of those wonderful rarities: a Christ-like man who has produced Christ-like proteges. From the foreword by Gordon MacDonald As a former president and chief executive officer of World Vision (and now President Emeritus) and a active on a number of evangelical boards, Ted W. Engstrom is one of the most influential leaders in American religion and social service. He has been the recipient of six honorary doctorates (L.H.D., Taylor University; LL.D., John Brown University, Litt.D., Seattle Pacific University, Sterling College, Bellhaven College and Azusa Pacific University.) Before joining World Vision, Engstrom was for six years president of Youth for Christ International. He has been a sought-after management consultant and has conducted the nationwide Managing Your Time seminars with his former colleague (deceased) Ed Dayton for more than fourteen years. A prolific editor and author, Engstrom has and published more than fifty books and hundreds of magazine articles. Among his best selling books are The Pursuit of Excellence (Zondervan), The Fine Art of Friendship (Nelson), and Integrity (Word). As President Emeritus of World Vision, Dr.Engstrom continues with a limited load of speaking, writing, and leadership training.…