Great Leaders Are Not Born – They Are Discipled

Grant Skeldon is an expert on the Millennial Generation. Not only is he a part of said generation, but he is also the founder of The Initiative Network, a Christian leadership group for Millennials, and is currently the Next Gen Director at Q Ideas. His years of experience in bridging the generational gap culminated in his book, The Passion Generation. Martha and I have had the pleasure of interviewing Grant on the iWork4Him Podcast, as well as including an article that Grant did with Paul J. Pastor in Outreach Magazine in our recent book iRetire4Him: Unlocking God’s purpose for your retirement.

Here’s the thing, Grant’s entire platform revolves around a single simple concept: Millennials don’t want only to hang out and work with other Millennials. Instead, they want access to relationships and the wisdom of those chronologically superior to them; they want to run alongside those who are spiritually a step or two ahead! Grant begs the Church to change its perspective and purposefully engage Boomers with X’ers and Millennials and Gen Z’ers, rather than keeping them relegated to their age groups.

What’s my point in telling you all this?

Well, whether you are a Christ follower who is already retired, contemplating retirement, or preparing for retirement sometime in the distant future, chances are that you see retirement as a 30-year vacation. But the truth is, if you live your life that way, all the wisdom you have gained will be buried with you, and the next generation will likely make the same mistakes that you made, or worse. Great leaders aren’t born, they are discipled.

You, my friend, have been given a gift. You have the kind of accumulated wisdom and knowledge that comes only through years of experience, struggle, and success. And the next generation wants access to what you know and WHO you know, but for that to happen, you need to make yourself available.

This is what retirement needs to look like for Christ followers: days spent investing in the next generation! Many famous people have said it: we all need a Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy in our lives. Someone to teach and challenge us, someone to encourage us, and someone we, in turn, can teach and encourage. This is how we become a cultural influence for Christ – one person at a time.

So, who is that in your life? Who do you run alongside that is spiritually a step or two ahead? Who is running alongside you that is a step or two behind? Plan your retirement today by planning on investing those blessed years into the lives of others. You can read Grant Skeldon’s entire interview, as well as other incredible and inspiring stories in iRetire4Him. Oh, and I mention that you can download the first chapter for FREE? CLICK HERE to download.

Jim