NEEDED: GOOD MENTORS

Steve Lyston, Contributor

As the nation experiences the continued disintegration of core values and principles that makes a nation strong, it is becoming clearer that what is needed is good mentors for those coming up to emulate and bring the nation back to where it was, and make it what it ought to be.

There is a serious lack of good mentors and we see it playing out in politics, business, the entertainment industry, sports and all other sectors within the nation.

There is a serious lack of respect all around, coupled with the lack of proper mentors, and it has created a vacuum which the dons and criminals are quickly filling up. That has led to an increase in the crime situation, and if good mentors-role models are missing, then our problems with crime and violence will continue to worsen.

One of the reasons the Church is not as effective and as influential as they ought to be is as a result of a lack of mentors-'fathers' in the Church. Paul, in I Corinthians 4:15, said, "For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."

While an instructor will tell you what to do, a father teaches and guides you in the right way.

The Role Of A Mentor

No earthly mentor is perfect, they all have weaknesses and strengths. The key thing, however, is to look for a mentor who will tell you the truth - tell you like it is - whether it pleases you or not.

A mentor will bring out the dormant gift that is in you and:

• Cause influential people to listen to you
• Teach you protocol and how to operate in a hostile environment and come out on top
• Teach you to respect all those in authority

A mentor is honest with you and is interested in your prosperity, and can determine your wealth, success, promotion (Ruth 3: 1 - 5; Proverbs 4: 8 - 9). They analyse and discern things in you that you cannot see. They know your weaknesses and your limitations, and are willing to push or pull you beyond that.

A mentor is not focused on 'being a friend', but rather on ensuring your success.

Many who have accomplished great things will tell you that they had good mentors. Today, we can still identify mentors that have and still can make a difference in young lives. In business, we can look at the impact that men such as Carlton Alexander, Mayer Matalon and Aaron Matalon have made. Many shrewd business persons have come up through their hands including Douglas Orane, CEO of GraceKennedy.

In sports, there is Carl Brown, Winston Chung Fa, Ben Francis, Donald Quarrie and Herb McKinley; and from them came persons such as Merlene Ottey, Grace Jackson, Paul Young, Andrew Price and Lenworth Hyde. Some of these are now mentors.

In politics, there was Michael Manley who mentored P. J. Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller; Edward Seaga mentored Audly Shaw and Andrew Holness; and Hugh Shearer who mentored Rudyard Spencer.

Many successful persons will tell you that their greatest influencers were their teachers or principals. Our education system today seriously lacks teachers who are also positive role models, who are not afraid to apply the whip.

If we remove flogging from the school, the crime and security budgets and the health bill will increase.

Mentor to manage

It would be remiss of me to speak about mentors without making mention of and giving proper regard to persons who have positively influenced my life in various ways.

To Joseph A. Matalon, Joseph M. Matalon, Colin Steele, Novar McDonald, Ryan White, Claudette Chin, Yvonne Johnson, Lloyd Tomlinson, Paul Marston, Bishop Doris Hutchinson, Herman Fennel Jr, Rev Wayne Palmer, Lt Col Derrick Penso, Lt Linton Gordon, Delroy Roach, Beverley Chambers, Prof Neville Ying, F. C. Latty, Vice-principal Wray, Dennis O'Nash, Sgt Maj Leroy McKenzie, Sgt Maj Patrick Cabey, and Sgt Maj Byron Clarke, Sgt Maj Flakes - Thank you.

For change to begin, we must each revisit those who have made a positive impact on our lives, thank them and then become positive role models and a mentor for someone else.

Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including End Time Finance and The New Millionaire.