I´m a big fan of personal relationships. How couldn´t I be as a pastor?
As humans we´re made by God for real interaction. That has to be the foundation at all times. That is non-negotiable. It´s important to me to make this point clear when we´re talking about mentoring.
However, the time we´re living in gives us possibilities that we really should make use of.
One of them is to learn online from personalities who have something to give. Many of them do that in a brilliant and generous way …
They write blogs and eBooks. They record Podcasts. They create webinars and videos. They use different and creative ways to share their experiences and knowledge with others.
In addition many of them are incredibly interactive. By social media and comment functions they have real dialogues with their followers.
This kind of learning for sure got it´s limitations. Despite that a virtual mentor for me got these advantages:
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He gives me access to his pool of wisdom without knowing me. In real life chances would be few that I would be able to learn from him.
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He´s free of charge. There would be a much higher price tag if I would meet him personally.
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He´s available no matter where I go. I don´t even have to leave my home or office to get fueled up.
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He isn´t limited to certain times. There´s absolutely no need to make an appointment.
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His time is limitless. Without thinking about it I´m able to spend another 30 minutes with him. I bet he won´t care.
For all those who don´t mind a couple of suggestions here are some of my favourites (I did subscribe to all of their blogs):
Michael Hyatt (productivity & leadership) Former CEO of Thomas Nelson. Now he´s self-employed as a coach who is offering a variety of excellent services and products online. Amazing how he comes up with another real useful tool all the time.
Dale Partridge (productivity & leadership, family) Founder of startupcamp.com which is serves as platform for entrepreneurs to start und build their businesses. His perspective on success is remarkable: „Success at work without success at home isn´t success at all.“ Outstanding posts about marriage and family on facebook.
Josh Sipp (working with teenagers & speaking) His personal story is quite impressive. Now he´s training speakers for teenagers, kids and in education to have an even bigger impact. Ongoing practical support for speakers who want to increase their level of influence.
Jeff Goins (writing) Bestselling author and online coach for everyone who wants to improve his writing. Very helpful eBooks. I can highly recommend everyone who wants to write more than just e-mails or sermons to subscribe to his blog.
How do your experiences with virtual mentoring look like? What kind of advantages or disadvantages do you see?
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