The past generation has something the next generation is looking for. The past generation received something from the generation that preceded them that the next generation is still waiting to be handed down.
If the past generation needed help in finding a lost puppy, they were given it. The next generation is a lost puppy and is getting very little help.
Before I tell you what it is that the next generation desires, I want you (if you’re old enough to remember) to turn back the clock with me. I love everything 1980’s. To me, the 80’s represented the greatest in music, movies, games, and television. So that I do not plumb the depths of everything 80’s, let me just scratch the surface by touching on the 1980’s category of “movies.”
In the 1980 Rocky movies, Mickey (before he dies) trains an upstart boxer, taking his protégé from chump to Champion of the world. In the original Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi mentors young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the force. In Back To The Future, a teenager named Marty McFly receives help from a scientist named “Doc” and in Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi, an instructor, teaches Danielson life lessons learned through the value of hard work.
The one common theme reflected from movie life in the 1980’s is the theme of mentoring. Young people desired for and asked to be mentored and mentors were happy to and found joy in embracing the call to mentor. My fear today is that there are some from the next generation who are not seeking a mentor and some from the previous generation not wanting to mentor. The reasons can vary and in some individual cases may even be justified. But what cannot happen and what must not happen is a total abandonment by a previous generation to the next generation as it relates to mentoring. Mentors should be warned upfront that Generation Z (2001-2018) is complex, has short attention spans, and would rather use symbols or images, such as emojis to communicate.
That being said, I would like to give some sound advice to mentors from this generation who have not yet given up on the next. My advice comes from adaptations from and additions to suggestions made by Dr. Tim Elmore and Dr. Alvin Reid.
1. Let Generation Z be who they are, especially as it relates to their technology. Motivate and encourage them to learn using the devices they love.
2. Impart virtues such as perseverance, passion, dedication, and discipline.
3. Life map with Gen Z and help them set goals in order to give them purpose and realize potential. Gen Z does not know how to plan.
4. Teach them to serve and teach them life-skills and do this at the same time if possible.
5. Help them to see that life is bigger than themselves. Allow them to travel the world and to see the big picture.
6. Increase their interpersonal communication and critical thinking skills by helping them to focus on the person in front of them and or the task at hand.
7. Give students a cause and assist them in finding their call.
8. Be there. The next generation desires weekly feedback.
9. Introduce the next generation to other successful adults you know. You can do this over dinner. Allow the other adult to share his or her life story.
10. Don’t tell them what to do. Tell them why and show them how. Guide the orphan. As you go, take them with you (teach them how to wash clothes, how to cook, how to fix cars, etc.).
In the OT, Moses mentored Joshua (Num 27:15-21) and Elijah mentored Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:1-17). In the NT, Paul mentored Timothy (2 Tim 4:1-8) and both older men and women are told to mentor younger men and women (Titus 2:4-8). Will you take the time to mentor someone today?