One of the most critical aspects of developing leadership is mentoring. No leader has achieved what he has without the help and support of others. And most often, successful leaders can point to a person who was instrumental to their success. That’s called mentoring.

Mentoring is crucial because leaders who develop more leaders are mores successful that leaders who simply attract followers. It’s simply math: leaders add followers; mentoring leaders multiply new leaders.

But there are a few things that hinder a leader from developing a mentoring mindset.

Insecurity
When we assist others, we run the risk of seeing them pass us by on the leadership journey. A lot of people don’t want to experience that. Instead they try to make themselves look better than they are, often at someone else’s expense. When you are secure in your leadership, you can take joy in seeing other people succeed.

I love how The Message states Proverbs 29:25:

The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.

Ego
Other people have an attitude that says “It’s all about me!” These types of people are consumed with themselves. We’ve all met them; they’re the ones who won’t stop talking about themselves. But a leader who sets himself aside in order to mentor others have an attitude that says “It’s not about me.” Mentoring leaders take to heart Philippians 2:3:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Blind To Other’s Potential
Everyone has the potential to succeed. And everyone has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of where they are at in life. But mentoring leaders don’t just see their own potential; they see the potential in those around them. When you look at someone and see where they could go, that shows a mentoring leadership personality. Look for the best in others, and imagine how high they might soar with a little help.

Think of Joseph, in the book of Genesis. He was sold as a slave to Potiphar. But Potiphar saw his potential and established him to head of his household. Later, when in prison, the warden estimated Joseph’s potential and placed him over the whole prison. And eventually, Pharaoh elevated Joseph to second in command over all of Egypt. Don’t be blind to the potential of those around you.

Living Outside Of Your Purpose
When you don’t live within your purpose, you cannot help others live up to theirs either. John Maxwell says that “true success is knowing your purpose, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds to benefit others.” That is so very true. Identify your purpose in life and pursue that with all you’ve got. When you are chasing your purpose, you motivate others to reach for theirs.

After Paul identified his true purpose in life, after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, his life changed. He purposefully chose to leave everything behind and follow Christ. And his example encouraged dozens of churches and countless people to do the same. But before that watershed event, he was on track to a meaningless position that would have ended in obscurity, eventually. He chose to live within his purpose.

Lack Of Knowledge
A final reason that people don’t mentor others is that they simply don’t know how. Mentoring isn’t something that we are taught. Rather, it is something that is caught. Most often people are handed a task or assignment and are expected to do it on their own, especially in our independent culture in America. But doing that never teaches the person to replicate himself in other leaders. That simply gets the task done, so that you can get on with the next task on the agenda.

A mentoring leader has had someone come alongside of him and show him how to lead others. A mentoring leader has been mentored, and so he knows the value of passing it on.

Consider Barnabas, in Acts 15. He wanted to take John Mark along with himself and Paul as they traveled to several churches. Paul didn’t. In fact, the disagreement was so sharp that Paul and Barnabas parted ways right there.

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus (verse 39).

Barnabas was willing to stick with John Mark. And eventually John Mark proved himself as a leader in early Christianity so that he even became a trusted companion of Paul.

My guess is that Barnabas knew the value of mentoring because he had been mentored himself.

Mentoring others is a crucial aspect of leadership development. Don’t let these few things prevent you from helping others reach their potential.

What about you? What do you struggle with as you strive to mentor people? Which of these do you find difficult? Or is there another hindrance not listed here?

Much of the material here was inspired by John Maxwell in his book, Mentoring 101. I highly recommend that you read this short book. You can purchase it at Amazon.com.

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