Mentoring is Baseball // Mentoring Minute
Mentoring is Baseball
Did you know that the average of every baseball player in the hall of fame is a combined .303. That means if you hit the ball 303 out of 1,000 times, you are considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. That’s 697 misses!
3 out of every 10 makes a great baseball player. And I could say the same is true for mentoring.
When I first became a mentor, I wanted a home run every time. I thought my mentee would love me and tell me how great I was and earn straight A’s while getting a full ride to Harvard. When those things didn’t happen, I got disappointed.
After a while, I adjusted my definition of success.
- Just hanging out wth my mentee was a basehit. A single, if you will.
- A smile was a double.
- A laugh was a triple.
- A solid conversation was a home run.
I focused on plate appearances, not homeruns. I trusted that the Lord would do what he does if I just kept getting up to the plate.
3 out of every 10. If you can have a great hang out or deep conversation 3 out of every 10 times, I’d say that’ll put you in the mentoring hall of fame.
The more swings the better, as the more you swing, the more chances you get at contact. Just like the more you hang out with your mentee, the more chances you get at connecting.
Don’t worry about swinging for the fences or home runs. Just focus on taking your swings and seeing what happens.
Mentoring is Baseball.
