Watch listen learn: wipe on; wipe off

Paul posted this video trailer on facebook today and it made me think..  Are you the kind of Mentor active in looking out for opportunities to teach and train people; like Mr Myagi in the Karate Kid films - or are you even a 'reluctant Mentor like the old reclusive author in Finding Forrester whose wisdom is prised from them by irritating wannabes?!  Maybe you are a career Mentor such as 'M' to James Bond - or more of a family-wisdom kind of Mentor such as Uncle Ben Parker to Spiderman ("With great power comes great responsibility").  If you were a mentor from a movie - which character would it be and why? 

 

 
I have a feeling there are less and less Mentors in popular culture - I hope I am wrong - butdon't write off the models of Mentoring we have in the media - anyone remember how the Dungeon Master in the late '80s cartoon 'Dungeons And Dragons' used to appear at just the right time with wisdom and advice for the next step - but always disappeared again quickly leaving ('empowering?!') them to piece it together themselves...?  We all have a personality - duh!  But we need to employ it more intentionally.  It is of the utmost importance that we recognise our own God given flavour and actively seek to become a Mentor that uses and flows out of our character - what a tragic and un-authentic mess is someone trying to be the sort of influencer that doesn't come naturally to them... eg. if an active/lead-by-example Mentor (- Leiutenant Winters from 'Band Of Brothers?') tried to be the genius/all-wise Yoda type Mentor... it would be painful to watch!!  Some people are naturally more inspiring to listen to while others are just much better at providing deep insight or sharing the wealth of academic study.
 

However, watching other Mentors at work is very important in becoming the type of Mentor God is longing for you to become.  Picking out which bits you can emulate and which bits you really dislike about the Mentoring of others - which bits suit your own character?

And when you read the Bible - try reading it from a Mentoring point of view - my view of leadership (and my love of Jesus) has been radically affected by reading the Gospels with the agenda of watching Jesus' leadership style in action...  But there are other mentoring characters in there too of course.  Take a look at David's behaviour with his 'Mighty Men' (2 Samuel 23:14-17)

What inspiration can you take from movies and popular culture?  Are you more Alex Ferguson or Freddie Flintoff?  Simon Cowell or Super Nanny?  Paulie Pennino in 'Rocky' or Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada?!"  Samson or Samuel?  Your Dad or your Granddad?!  There's so much to learn all around us - I'm looking forward to the differences in the Mentoring of Karate Kid 2010 and the '70s original kid!

What's your favourite movie that contains some aspect of mentoring?  How does it teach you about mentoring?