Reverse Mentoring Revisited

You're probably very familiar with the concept of mentoring, the principle of the older and wiser instructing the younger and less experienced.

Reverse mentoring assumes a completely opposite perspective on learning. Earl Creps' book "Reverse Mentoring" is a guidebook for older (ahem) leaders like me who want to experience a new richness of personal formation that only comes from the generations of young leaders below us in age.

I've written about Creps' work before: here, here, and here. I had to stop because it was getting all over me. Now, some months later, I'm picking it up again because, well, I'm in a season of reverse mentoring.

Part of the season is due to my church's current series: "One Generation Away," a focus on the power of a generation to change the world.

I would like to think I can be a part of that generation.

Not the younger generations around us - I don't think you can turn back the clock. But my generation can invest in, learn from, and serve with this current generation of young leaders.

Re-reading "Reverse Mentoring" this week, I came across this quote:

Reverse mentoring is cross-cultural in that it actually uses the unlikely possibility of a relationship to benefit both parties through mutual learning from honesty and humility.

That makes me think...

...and dream...

What about you?

Reverse Mentoring

When I discovered Earl Crep's Reverse Mentoring, I had good intentions to read though it quickly and post several days of comments. That plan is out the window, as I find myself "undone" by what I am reading. The best I can offer is the remaining broad sections of the book.



Cultivating Spirituality
Vision: Seeing beyond ourselves
Wisdom: Knowing beyond our information
Relationship: Befriending beyond our peers

Experiencing Practicality
Evangelism: Learning from outsiders
Communication: Learning from listeners
Leadership: Learning from followers

Developing Reciprocity
Protégés: Developing reverse-mentoring relationships
Processes: Embedding reverse-mentoring in organizations



There is so much depth and change contained in the possibilities of this book that I need to process. It's not a simple intellectual exercise anymore. Two generations, one insight: the almost unexplored power of real collaboration.

Facing Reality

Earl Creps - pastor, ministries consultant, university professor, and church planter - has written an extraordinary book entitled "Reverse Mentoring." The principle is simple: instead of the traditional mentoring relationship of older to younger, flip it upside down: the younger person now mentors the older person.

Growing in popularity throughout the late 1990s, it now continues to spread the business world, especially as technology seems to outpace our ability to understand and apply it. But it is not just about gadgets and geeks, it's about generational barriers as well. And the church is not latching on to this vital area of learning opportunities.

I think the church is a great place for reverse mentoring to take place. Just look at generational differences alone: it would not be hard to find a church leadership structure in which 3, 4, and maybe even 5 generations of individuals would be involved in leadership decisions and actions. What a fertile ground for reverse learning to take place!

The barrier may be, as Creps points out, a humility deficit more than anything else. Taking instruction from less experienced people in a volunteer organization suggests that the insight and capability of those at the top may be eroding or missing in embarrassing ways. The first step in reverse mentoring, then, is confronting the uncomfortable truths below.

Facing Reality

Identity: I am not cool - admitting that my youth is behind me forms the first step in the process of acknowledging my lack of cool. Older leaders never received any preparation for the importance of cool as an issue - or their inevitable decline in this market. Age and experience alone were supposed to guarantee a following, but it turns out that the beauty, hipness, uniqueness, and contagiousness we once assumed can be counted on no longer. Trying to bluff by dressing or acting differently only makes things worse. Fortunately, a better option probably sits next to you at a meeting: a younger person or some other unlikely brand of friend who possesses both the knowledge you need and the willingness to share it. It is not necessary to be cool or young to lead. It is necessary to have the grace to admit it when you are not.

Culture: I don't get it - a pastor Creps interviewed had this to say: "every day I get a little more disconnected unless I intentionally work at staying connected. We live in a plug and play world, which poses a problem for many of my peers who are hard-wired. They need what only the next generation can give: connectedness." Here's the world that that generation lives in:

• I love media, but I trust my friends


• I am aware of broadcasting, but I trust narrowcasting


• I spend money, but I trust art


• I respect excellence, but I trust authenticity


• I resist church, but I trust Jesus

Reverse mentoring requires someone at the top saying "I don't get it" but recognizing that someone else - and maybe not their first choice - does.

Ministry: I am not relevant - despite pure motives and hard work, many key influencers in organizations find themselves at the limit of their abilities long before the midpoint of their career. Their leadership models and skills simply clock out, not because they failed but but because they succeeded in a world that no longer cares as much. Practical relevance itself floats relative to the issues and the context involved. "Relative Relevance" includes the following actions:

• Beware of large media campaigns; this year's hot promotional item becomes next year's junk


• "Beta" is now a permanent condition, so hold on to methods loosely because most of them are transitional, just preparation for the next thing


• The courage to admit that things have changed is the first step in changing things


• Even when change is the oxygen of culture, you had better know what to hang on to


• Every leader is relevant if she or he can define the appropriate relevance style

Reverse mentoring connects older leaders with younger teacher, opening a path of enhancing the elder's practical relevance while the young draw from the wisdom and integrity of those who have been sustained by principle relevance for many years.

Grabbing on to the Sandwich Generation

I find myself, at age 51, a part of the so-called “Sandwich Generation” in more ways than one:

• With a college junior and a high school junior, I’m still very much a parent
• With one grandson already, I’m learning that this Grandparenting thing is a cool ride
• With parents and in-laws well into their 80s, the likelihood of their having to leave their homes for other places in the future is a distinct possibility
• In my business, I have been fortunate to become a resource for churches seeking solutions to their problems and opportunities, working alongside them on the journey
• I am also blessed to be a part of a national network that enables me to teach and learn with some of the brightest minds in this thing I call ChurchWorld-today’s church in all its various shapes and forms
  

The classic definition of the Sandwich Generation is adults who are still parents, but are also faced with the challenges and opportunities of “parenting” their parents. As I have described my personal situation above, the title definitely fits. Lately, though, I have been thinking of the term in another way – I lead and mentor others, but am beginning to realize that mentoring also works “in reverse.” There are young leaders out there that I know without a doubt could be great “mentors” for me!

This unique version of mentoring first developed in the business world in the late 1990s, with several well-known companies (GE, Proctor & Gamble) leading the way. The practice of “teaching up” has become influential in almost every field. However, in ChurchWorld, it seems to be slow to develop.

And that’s a shame.

Once again, Leadership Network, through its excellent resources, has published a resource that will become a field guide for church leaders who want to explore this idea of “teaching up.”

“Reverse Mentoring” by Earl Creps, provides a guide for leaders who want to experience personal formation by exercising the kind of humility that invites a younger person to become a tutor. Beginning tomorrow, I will start a series of posts that dive into the book – I plan on learning a lot, and I hope you can join the conversation.