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You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest into the lives of others. Find out more at youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You can mentor. Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast.
Speaker 1:This is your boy, Zach Garza, and I'm here with Aaron Parrott. Aaron, say hello. Hello. Man, I met Aaron. Aaron, I'm not sure how I met you.
Speaker 1:How did I meet you? Any idea?
Speaker 2:You reached out to me on LinkedIn, I believe.
Speaker 1:That's it. Yes. I stalked you on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2:Locked me. Always a good stunt.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And I saw I mean, their name is Mentor Kids USA. So I'm like, man, they've gotta be up to some cool stuff. So thanks a lot for having us for having taking the time out to share your story and talk more about Mentor Kids USA on the podcast. So
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean, of course. Aaron, so why don't you just start out and
Speaker 2:tell us about yourself a little bit? Yeah. Aaron Parrott. And grew up a missionary kid, so ages nine to 18, Central To South America. Came back up to The States, went to school in California for undergrad, and then through a series of events, found myself back in Mexico and, ran out of money in Mexico.
Speaker 2:So I came back up to The States in Arizona and started building houses, and it got hot. So I started looking for a a different job, some some place with air conditioning, and started working with, young kids, primarily in the, you know, court system, legal system. Then heard about this, place called Mentor Kids USA. Sounded interesting. So joined there in o five.
Speaker 2:So twenty twenty years ago this year. Started with Mentor Kids, and it's been great. Outside of that, I'm I'm married going on nineteen years with my wife. We have two children. My daughter's 13.
Speaker 2:My son is 15. So deep in the teen years with with that, which is wonderful and challenging and all the above. So that's me. Just on a personal side, I I I love to surf. Fell in love with it when I went to school in California.
Speaker 2:I've been doing it ever since. And recently got into golf, which is kind of an Arizona thing to do. Now in my forties, you know, I figure pick up some golf and and carry that into later life as well. But it's a beautiful game. I absolutely love it.
Speaker 2:So that's me, man.
Speaker 1:Aaron. Okay. So I'm a big guy, six eight, two two seventy five on a good day. And I have tried surfing, and I fall every time. I don't know if it's because I've got big feet.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's because I'm tall, if I weigh a lot. But tell me how I can start surfing because it sounds like it's just about the coolest thing out there.
Speaker 2:Okay. Couple things. Get the biggest board you can get. So probably for you, at least 10 feet, probably more like 11, maybe 12 feet if they if you can find something that big, and then find a very forgiving wave. So, you know, something like Waikiki, something, you know, without a lot of rocks, just a wave that's very consistent and not too big, you know, maybe waist high, maybe shoulder high, and and then just have at it, man.
Speaker 2:Try to catch as many waves as you can. Catch the white water first, you know, after the wave breaks. Let it push you. Get a feel for it. And then once you get a feel for that, then you can start catching waves before they break.
Speaker 2:And I think with a big enough board and and some practice, a good wave, you you can do it. You can mentor. You can surf, Zach.
Speaker 1:That's right, baby. That's right. Well, man, that that actually sounds terrifying to me. That sounds like a torn ACL waiting to happen. Speaking of terrifying, Aaron, okay.
Speaker 1:So you grew up in Central And South America. And, I mean, that to me sounds kinda terrifying, but how how did growing up like that impact how you lead and how you see mentoring today?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Good question. I didn't think a whole lot about it until just a few years ago. A couple things specifically. One, when we first moved to Argentina, I was about 11 years old.
Speaker 2:Didn't know anyone. Was was, you know, just trying to figure my way. Felt, you know, lonely and scared and mixed and excited and everything at the same time. I got I had appendicitis, so I had to go to the hospital emergency thing. And I'm laying in this hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Speaker 2:I don't know anyone. You know, my family is doing the best they can to encourage me and stuff, but I'm alone in this hospital room, and all of a sudden, this guy walks in from our church. We've only been going there, you know, I don't know how long, maybe months. And this guy from the youth program walks in, his name was Adrian, and he just spent time with me. And he brought in some paper and some markers, and he thought I would enjoy coloring or something, which is fine.
Speaker 2:But just the fact that that had a huge impression on me, that this guy who barely knew me, but I was part of his new church family, and he came in, spent time with me, and there was nothing in it for him, you know, other than other than just serving a brother in Christ, a young young brother in Christ. It really stuck with me. So I think things like that that that whole that whole experience in Argentina was just a beautiful church experience, a lot of community, dynamic youth group, know, older older young people building into younger young people. We didn't call it mentoring at the time, but that's exactly what was happening. And so that kind of stuff really stuck with me.
Speaker 2:Being the kid, the outsider, the kid who, you know, was a little shy, a little quiet, and then being having someone reach out to me and include me, think that I'm important, I'm worthwhile of their time and attention, building into me, changed my life. And so that's kinda was was something I wanted to do. You know? I wanted to continue doing that in in my life.
Speaker 1:And I feel I think that that's so interesting how because I'm kinda the same way. You know? Like, it sounds as if you had a moment, you know, you're outside trying to build all of these houses. You know what I mean? There has to be something better.
Speaker 1:And for me, it was you know, I was finishing up college. I had no idea what I was gonna do. You know? And I was like, well, I mean, what when was the time in life that I felt the most alive, the most kinda cared for? And it it went back to a guy who mentored me.
Speaker 1:And so Right. I think it's so amazing how we can experience these, you know, relationships as a kid. Some might last six weeks. Some might last six years. But it tosses a seed, and you never know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1:And for for me and for you, it turned into something amazing. It turned into us mentoring kids, you know, for the rest of our lives. And I don't know. I just think that that's really, really encouraging.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, you know, there's, I mean, tons of examples of that in in my life. The when I think back on those things, there was no formal process. You know? It was it wasn't like someone walked in, okay, and I'm gonna be your mentor.
Speaker 2:It was just the act of someone older, someone that I respected, you know, just coming alongside me, not not saying it verbally, but saying it with their actions, saying, you are worthy. You are important. You're worthy of my time. You're worthy of me stepping out of whatever I'm doing and investing time into you. That just man, when I got when I got those when I had those experiences in life, it just meant so much to me and built me up.
Speaker 2:And and so it's kinda like, okay. How how can I do that for others?
Speaker 1:I mean, I I think I've remembered now how I found you. You have been posting these posts on LinkedIn about purpose and culture and different kind of tips on Yeah. How to be a good leader. And, you know, as I hear your story now, I mean, I I think it's so cool that kinda throughout your whole life, you have been exposed to what it means to be be a leader in the realm of, you know, full time kind of ministry. So as as you think back on your childhood and even, I mean, as you've been working at Mentoring Kids now for the last couple decades, what what are some things that you've learned, or what would you say makes you a, quote, unquote, mentoring leader?
Speaker 2:Oh, ma'am. I well, there's there's the positive and the negative. Right? I had a a few and and and I wanna be very careful. I don't wanna be too critical or too negative, but sometimes we do learn by by negative examples.
Speaker 2:Right? And I don't even mean this in the sense that I don't obviously, these these folks weren't trying to be negative. Right? They were trying to do the right thing. Unfortunately, you know, in different ways, they just kinda fell short.
Speaker 2:But early on, I saw a couple they they just weren't right the they they weren't the right fit as far as leadership for the organization at that time. So I came in and into the organization, and we went through, like, three executive directors in three years, something like that. It was just boom, boom, boom. Was like a whirlwind. You know?
Speaker 2:And I was in an entry level position. I didn't know really what was going on at that more senior executive position, but, obviously, it's not it wasn't a huge organization, so you you saw you saw things and experienced things. And I just remember thinking, this is so sad because this organization has so much potential. So much we're we're doing amazing things, and there's so much more we could be doing, and I could see that. Right?
Speaker 2:And I could sense it. And it just seemed like we were just on a downward spiral, and there wasn't much I could do about it at the time. And I remember just I was having a conversation with a fellow coworker who's a little bit older than me, and I'm I'm sitting there complaining and saying, you know, how we could do better and this and that, and and she just stopped me. He goes, Aaron, someday you will have the opportunity. Someday you'll be there, so get ready.
Speaker 2:I can't remember if he said get ready, but he definitely said someday you will have the opportunity. But I took it as get ready. So that's kind of on the on the negative side. On the positive side, we we dismissed an executive director. I was you know, we were about I forget how many months it was.
Speaker 2:It felt like years, but it it was probably probably three or four months where we were without an executive director. I was I was scrambling. We were we were having to you know, our budget was being cut. We were losing people, and I'm just trying to keep this whole thing going, not even as executive director. I'm trying to make good decisions.
Speaker 2:I remember one day I sat down with a mentor, and I said, we don't have enough money. And what do I do? And so he said, okay. Write everything down. What are all the bills you have to pay?
Speaker 2:So we got it all down. Then he said, okay. Now how much money do you have? So I I wrote that number down. He said, okay.
Speaker 2:Now, write another column of everyone that you're going to pay, and then another column of everyone that you're going to call and tell them you can't pay. I said, what? So we, you know, we did that, and and, eventually, the board brought in another executive director. I felt really slighted because I thought I was I should be that person, right, that the board would bring in at that time. And they didn't.
Speaker 2:They hired someone else, and he called me. And he said, Aaron, you're probably a little upset right now. I said, yeah. I am a little bit upset. He goes, I'm just gonna be honest with you.
Speaker 2:You're not ready. But I'm at the tail end of my career. If if we can work together for a few years, I can mentor you and bring you up to the point where, you know, if the board approves, then you can be ready. And so are you willing to do that with me? And I said, no.
Speaker 2:I said, yeah. I said, absolutely. I'm I'm in. I'm in. I believe in this organization.
Speaker 2:I I yes. Let's do it. And so that's what we did, and he mentored me along the way. It was great. It was tough.
Speaker 2:It was exciting. It was scary, you know, all at the same time. But he was a great mentor, dear friend, and I I owe him a lot.
Speaker 1:Man, I think that's a great story, Aaron. And, I mean, what wisdom from the board to be able to hire someone older and say, hey, you know, one of your main jobs is to raise up your your successor. And so Yeah. Tell me just Yeah. If you can, off of the top of your head, what are some of the things that you learned by sitting underneath that executive?
Speaker 2:Oh, man. We would go to the one of the first things he did is say, okay. Let's meet with all of our kind of our top donors and just to build relationships, let them know what we're up to, the vision, that kind of stuff. Well, let me let me back up. Let me back up.
Speaker 2:One of the first things we did he did is he sat down with me, and he said, what ideas do you have? Where do you see this thing going? And so we I had been working on stuff kind of in in that interim period where we didn't have an executive director, and so that gave me an opportunity to to present. He said, I love it. I have, some donors that I'm I'm bringing from a different organization.
Speaker 2:This fits exactly what they wanna do. Let's fine tune this thing, and let's package it. Let's create a little presentation around this, and this is something that we can take to folks and and really build. So that was that was one of the first things. We're good.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's my car. I don't know. Maybe but that was one of the first things is to to really just kind of assess and say, where are we going with this? Right? What's our vision for moving forward?
Speaker 2:Who are we as an organization? What do we wanna accomplish? And once we have that, let's let's package that. Right? Let's let's get the presentation tight so that we can go and communicate that effectively with with different folks and and invite them to be a part of it.
Speaker 2:That was a big, big thing for me. The other thing is, k, once we had that, then we said, okay. Now let's go meet with our top our top donors. Let's share this, see how they reply to it, respond to it. And so we would go out, the two of us, and and have the conversation.
Speaker 2:After each of those meetings, we would ride in the car together back back to the office or wherever. Maybe we'd go out to lunch or something. And he would say, okay. What went well and what didn't go well? And so we would just have a conversation about it.
Speaker 2:And I remember a few times, he would say he would just get very serious with me. He says, you know, Aaron, never ever say this again. And they he'd he'd correct me on some things, and and he'd say, instead of saying that, say this. And just really gave me very, very direct, open coaching feedback on on how to have those conversations with with our donors. Right?
Speaker 2:That was invaluable. I mean, that was that was just awesome because I was I needed that. I was hungry for it. I was green in that area. So that just really helped me know how to communicate and handle myself in those those type of conversations.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, those are two big ones. I could keep going, but but those are two really those are things that I I still carry today, you know, with every single meeting. Really crafting a vision, crafting a message is really important to me. I think something that we've we do well, and I can point back to to Chuck and his influence on that.
Speaker 1:I mean, it sounds like that guy's a total stud. I mean,
Speaker 2:it it He is. He's a great guy.
Speaker 1:I mean, it sounds like he was secure in his spot as the ED. It sounds like he was selfless and very intentional about investing into you. And, I mean, that's I am real big on succession on if you're the executive director, who are the one to you know, who are the people who might be able to take your job one day just because you you never know. And I also think just as we mentor the kids, if we have the opportunity to mentor our staff as well, well then, you know, we mentor the staff. The staff mentors the volunteers.
Speaker 1:The volunteers mentor the kids. And I don't know. I just that's that's how it should be done from my perspective. But that's awesome. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about Mentoring Kids USA. It says that you guys invest into specific areas across the Phoenix Valley.
Speaker 1:You guys are doing after school programs, things during the summer, mentoring, youth, kinda leadership development. Can Mhmm. You just kinda give us the pitch on what is Mentoring Kids USA and some of the cool things that you guys are too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely. So we we've been around since 1997. We were founded under the one to one mentoring model, so one adult, one child. And we did that for for quite a few years.
Speaker 2:When I joined in 2005, that was the model that that we were we were under. Really, you know, when when Chuck came on, kind of that transition happened in in o nine. And we were we the Great Recession really hit us. Our budget just tanked. Everything just went went downhill.
Speaker 2:I I talked about kind of this revolving door of leadership and which really hurt the organization in in several ways. So we were kind of at our our, you know, a low point at Mentor Kids. And when Chuck came on, it was a chance to basically revisit who we are, how we wanna operate. We said, instead of being spread out, you know, Phoenix the Phoenix Metro Area is a big metro area like like many. Right?
Speaker 2:We're a small organization. So and we were spread out all over. I mean, our footprint was just huge with all the where we had these one to one relationships. So the first thing was to say, hey. Instead of being spread out all over the place, what if we brought you know, focused our efforts in specific areas, small areas, and went deep in those areas over the long term.
Speaker 2:And what if instead instead of just doing one on one mentoring, what if we opened it up to group things? We didn't know what that meant at the time, but but group things so we could reach more kids. And and so focusing on a specific area, making a long term commitment to that area, doing more group things over that long term, we would see some pretty special impact. Also, sustainability is a huge thing, especially, you know, immersion from the the recession when we saw budgets just tank. I'm sure you you experienced that too to some degree.
Speaker 2:How can we make this more sustainable? How can we bring more people, more organizations, whatever, you know, around this thing so that when things do we do go through tough times, we're more resilient, sustainable in that? And then how can we grow this thing? You know, what's a what's a model that we we can really impact more kids, not just in the in the immediate areas, but also in in other areas? So that was kinda the the genesis of that and our thinking around changing the model.
Speaker 2:And what's evolved since o '9 to where we are today is what we call a promised neighborhood model. And so we we run Christian programs, right, after school programs and summer programs in specific neighborhoods. We make a long term commitment to those neighborhoods, and we serve kids kindergarten all the way up through twelfth grade in those neighborhoods. And with the ultimate goal of not just running great after school programs and summer programs, the ultimate goal is we say we build leaders who build leaders in our promised neighborhood. So the big goal is to build up the the young folks as leaders, and then turn around and unleash them.
Speaker 2:Right? Empower them, equip them to to be the next generation of leaders in their neighborhood, and build up the next generation of leaders in their neighborhood.
Speaker 1:So do you guys, like, partner with the schools? Do y'all partner with apartment complexes? Why don't you give me some of the details about kind of the how y'all do the after school and the summer programs? Programs.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, again, this has kinda gone through a number of different iterations. And as we as we, you know, we say we fail forward. Right? So we've learned through through challenges and failures.
Speaker 2:And and so the way we do it now is we look for a neighborhood that's kinda that's struggling, you know, that has low academic academic performance, maybe lower income levels, higher levels of crime, that kind of stuff. Also, a neighborhood where where there's some sort of neighborhood identity. You know, there's kinda you you know when you're in the neighborhood, and then all of a sudden you cross the street and you're like, oh, I'm I'm out of the neighborhood now. You know? So there has to be that that identity.
Speaker 2:Also, with a local elementary school with a critical mass of kids that's open to who we are, and then a local church that's ideally within walking distance of that elementary school. And that's kind of an ideal setup. So after school, the kids line up, and we walk down the street. Or in a couple neighborhoods that we we don't have that setup, so we have they jump in a van or a couple vans, and we we drive them just a few minutes down the road to our program site, but at at a local church. So our programs are at local churches, and we carry out the after school programs for a couple hours.
Speaker 2:Usually, it's Monday through Thursday for the after school programs. So
Speaker 1:I just love that model because you are parting with churches. You're parting with schools. Like, you are you are kind of the hub that connects multiple different orgs all throughout the neighborhood. So that's good. That's good.
Speaker 1:I really like that, Aaron.
Speaker 2:And it's really I I see this as a big and it was kind of a unintentional thing, but I think a beautiful thing, is the local church and these are usually small local churches, you know, not a lot of resources. They're kinda struggling, you know, in a lot of aspects. And all of a sudden, you know, they they go for we had one church where a lady said, I've been walking by this church for ten years. I didn't even know it was here. I thought it was dead.
Speaker 2:I thought it was closed up. And all of a sudden, you know, this church that people had forgotten about in the neighborhood now becomes a focal point of the neighborhood. I I just think that's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yeah. So tell me how you guys measure impact. Like, what are your metrics? Where what are your stories?
Speaker 1:What are the things that kinda matter most to Mentor Kids USA?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So so we we are always collecting stories, right, because you you share things within the context of stories, and it's it's fun. So we have our team collect stories, and we have a schedule for that, right, built into their their expectations and responsibilities. So we're constantly getting kinda a new influx of impact stories. We also do assessments, you know, program assessments three times a year.
Speaker 2:And in three specific we we have three program, we call them our pillars. So academic success, spiritual growth, and leadership development. And so our team assesses those three different areas three times a year to see how we're doing. And just as a sampling of is that okay? Did that yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's
Speaker 2:great. Of how we measure that, what we're looking at. So with academic success, our third graders reading at grade level, this this past year jumped from twenty eight percent of third graders reading at grade level at the beginning to 54% of our third graders reading at grade level, which is which is huge, especially for third grade. When you think about, in general one of our schools, about 17% of the kids are reading at grade level proficiency. So to move to 54% with our kids is awesome.
Speaker 2:Spiritual growth, 72% of our kids report a better relationship with God. 62% actively apply biblical principles learned at Mentor Kids in their homes or at school or with their friends. So we try to get, you know, really specific on, hey. Are you using this? You know, tell us a story.
Speaker 2:Tell us an example of how you used it. Right? Leadership development, seventy one percent of our students demonstrated measurable improvement in their leadership abilities. So that's a sampling of what we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it it is so important to be able to talk about these kinds of metrics. Right? Because Mhmm. It is very important that we collect stories, right, that we have that qualitative data to be to be able to talk about what the Lord's up to, right, to share those testimonies.
Speaker 1:Those matter a ton. But the quantitative data is just as valuable, especially as you're talking to schools or potential funders. Right? Like, people want to see, hey. Why should I invest into this not for profit?
Speaker 1:Why should I support you? Why should I allow you guys access to my kiddos? And those metrics just speak volumes. So Yep. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So if by by chance you're out there, you're a not for profit, and you're not collecting this data, you're not doing surveys, I would encourage you to make that a top priority. So
Speaker 2:And it's work. You know? It it took us a long time to get to this place. Believe me, we did not start out at this place at all. And and and we've got room to grow.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's a lot of room to grow. But it it takes intentionality. It takes working with your team to convince them and to actually do do the assessments regularly. And it takes kinda that fine tuning, you know, of are we are we asking the right questions? Do we how do we measure this specifically?
Speaker 2:And and I would say just if you're not measuring, just start somewhere, anywhere. Doesn't matter where. Just start with something, and then you'll, you know, after a little while, you'll you'll say, maybe there's a slightly better way to do this, and and then better way, and then better way, and you'll you'll grow pretty quickly in that process.
Speaker 1:Alright, man. So, I mean, you've been with the organization now for a long, long time. What what are some things that you think has caused you guys to grow? You know, it it says on your your website that you guys, you know, kinda started out small, but now you guys are serving, you know, five, six hundred kids. What has enabled y'all to grow, and then what are some of the challenges that came with that growth?
Speaker 2:Yeah. A couple things. I'd start with, you know, it starts with vision. You gotta have a vision for growth. You gotta know where where you wanna go.
Speaker 2:Right? And but that's not enough. A lot of people have vision, and it never goes anywhere. Right? And that was happening to us.
Speaker 2:We had vision. I felt like we had a good, you know, a clear vision, but we just weren't gaining a lot of traction, and it was really bothering me. And then I stumbled upon five dysfunctions of a team. Patrick Lencioni, are you familiar with with that?
Speaker 1:Dude, those are my favorite books. I've got Alright. All of his books just sitting right there. I mean, he is my Wait. Wait.
Speaker 1:Wait.
Speaker 2:Wait. Have the same over here.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Man. Hey. Hey, Patrick. I mean, he is my guru.
Speaker 2:So Okay. Yeah. Alright. So we're we're you get it. So I I was and I was hungry for something.
Speaker 2:Right? And and so I I read that book, and I said, it's worth a shot. You know? Because we're not whatever we're doing now isn't working. So we went through that process and and to to gain clarity, to be to to build the pyramid.
Speaker 2:Right? We went through the playbook, building the playbook. And it was a very interesting process because one of the things is that that you answer one of the questions is, what do we do? And so when we answer that question, what do we do? There were five people in the room, and we had eight different answers.
Speaker 2:And that really get you know, it was clear, like, oh, we we're supposed to be leading this organization. We all have different ideas of what we do and where we're going and and how to get there. That's not good. So we went through the process. It was a difficult process.
Speaker 2:It was painful, but that brought tremendous clarity to exactly who we are, what we're doing, how do we behave, where we're going, why we're why we're going there, and and it started to answer the question of, okay. How are we gonna get there together? And once we went through that process, something very interesting happened. Everyone left. Literally, the entire team that that put together that playbook over the course of, I think it was about two years or so, I either let them go or they left before I let them go.
Speaker 2:Some Some of that was very difficult. In fact, all of it was very difficult. But what I noticed is because we had such clarity as to who we were and where we're going and and all those values and those core things, when we brought new people on, that was a part of the interview process. And I was very clear in saying, this is who we are. This if you cannot buy into this, don't join this organization.
Speaker 2:You're a great person, but if you don't buy into this, I don't want you here. And by the way, you don't wanna be here because you're gonna be miserable. And that process has has just been that's been it. I mean, that's that's changed everything. As soon as we we got people who really bought into this thing, we just started moving forward very, very quickly, and it was it it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:And that exact same thing happened to me as well. And there's a couple things that I've learned. Like, one, it's it's it's so vital for me as the leader to continue to learn and get better. Right? I mean Mhmm.
Speaker 1:There are people out there that I was their boss in 2000, you know, '13. And whenever they see my name, they probably tell them think awesome things. But that's because I was young. I was immature, and honestly, I had no idea what the heck I was doing. But Yeah.
Speaker 1:As as the org grows, you have to also grow. And oftentimes, the people who got you from a to b are not the same people who will get you from, you know, from where you're at today to where you hope to go tomorrow. And so it's important if you are an executive and you might be experiencing that. Just my encouragement is that it is normal. There's a there's a a thing out there called the life stages of a not for profit.
Speaker 1:And hold on one second. I'm gonna see if I can find that. But it's a it's a cool deal. It is created by the social impact architects. It talks about startup and how to grow and how to mature and what happens after that.
Speaker 1:So I I I'd encourage you guys to take a look at that. And then, Aaron, what what you were talking about comes out of out of the book called Patrick Lencioni called The Advantage. And it talks about how to how to create a cohesive team and then how to create, being super clear and then overcommunicate what's clear and then reinforce what is clear. And then those those five dysfunctions, how do we build trust? How do we engage into healthy conflict?
Speaker 1:How do we say how do we figure out what we're gonna do and say that we will do it? How do we hold each other accountable and gain results? And so Yep. Man You're hired. Two of us are speaking the same kinda language there, but thanks a lot for sharing all of that for sure.
Speaker 1:But Yeah. Man, so so if if you were to give advice to a leader starting a youth mentoring org today, tell me some of the things that you would tell them.
Speaker 2:Man, I would say find a good mentor. You know, someone who's been been down the road, someone you respect, someone who has not only the passion. There's a lot of people with great passion and great vision, but someone who has a track record Mhmm. Of of just accomplishing accomplishing things. I would say get five dysfunctions of a team and and really understand it.
Speaker 2:Get really sharp about your vision, about your, you know, your playbook, your strategy, and then use that to to build your team. And and then don't stray from that. You know, I think the temptation and myself included. I find myself doing this and having to, you know, kinda correct myself. You know?
Speaker 2:And and then Tony talks about this too. Staying focused on the fundamentals is boring. And as a leader, sometimes we, you know, we crave that next big thing. Right? And that that the next book.
Speaker 2:Right? The next the next, I don't know, breakthrough in leadership. Doing the same thing over and over again consistently day in, day out is kinda boring, but it works. It it achieves results. So I I would just say just stick to the fundamentals.
Speaker 2:Build it. We we built it into our annual process to go back, and we start every year with reviewing our playbook, with going through the five dysfunctions of a team, you know, asking ourselves what is this still relevant? What do we need to tweak? You know? So we've built it into our annual process to to remind ourselves that that this works, and we gotta stick with it.
Speaker 2:So that that would be my few pieces of advice. That's good, man.
Speaker 1:What I hear whenever you say all that is just be faithful. One day at a time, one, you know, conversation at a time, and you'll be amazed at what the Lord can do whenever you show up in his name. So it's good. Amen.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Alright. I think what if oh, sorry. Go ahead. We're we're No.
Speaker 1:No. No. Please.
Speaker 2:I I think well, you you you nailed it, but I think the attitude the attitude behind that, I think, needs to be one of humility. And if if we're in this thing to make a name for ourselves or to, you know, to change the world, you know, and not that sure that's a bad thing, but but that's a great thing. But to, you know, to do it for notoriety or because we think we can we're we're better than others and that kind of stuff, I would just say, really check your motive. You know? What what are you in this for?
Speaker 2:And and remind yourself constantly that it's about kingdom impact, and, you know, we we've gotta be we've gotta be doing this thing for for that, for kingdom impact to to invest into others. Because I I honestly, you know, there have been times when I I haven't been in it for the right reasons. You know? I I was in it for me, and that's it doesn't work. But when we put when we check that ego and we're doing it for kingdom and we're doing it for others, it's amazing what what God can do with that and and where God will take and all of a sudden, you'll be you'll be doing things, and you're like, how did we get here?
Speaker 2:Like, what? This is awesome. This is amazing. And I think it is because because God you know, what's the verse, the the story in in Scripture? I can trust you with a little bit.
Speaker 2:You know, I can trust you with little things, and now I wanna give you I I can trust you with bigger things. And I I I really take that to heart, and so let's keep that motivation in mind.
Speaker 1:Being faithful with the little master of much. And and I was talking today to someone, like, what if Jesus wants to do more than we could ask or imagine? He does. Feel like I feel like when we show up with humility, whenever we surrender our agenda, and we say, Lord, not my will, but yours be done, and then we have the boldness and the courage to do the things that he's asking us to do, I have seen him do more than I could ask or imagine. And so Amen.
Speaker 1:And and when that happens, we don't get all of the glory he does. And so man may make everything we do point back to the goodness of God, point back to his faithfulness and the fact that he loves these kids so much more than we do, that he is for them, not against them. And so, man, it's very, very important to remember, especially whenever times get hard, especially whenever you have Yeah. Issues with funding or issues with staff or, you know, issues with your board or your kids. They aren't, you know, they aren't kinda getting better at the rate that you hoped that they would.
Speaker 1:Right? And so may may we always remember that he is faithful. And sometimes we get to toss seeds, and we get to water them, and we get to watch them grow, and sometimes we just get to toss seeds. So
Speaker 2:My my area of weakness in there is comparing, you know, what Mentor Kids to other organizations. And so when I in my flesh, right, my weakness, seeing other organizations get more attention than than we get, maybe get more funding, whatever it is, man, that that hits me. So I just probably worth sharing because there's probably other folks who who feel that same thing, and and I'm right there with you. So but but, like you said, you know, when we when we can humble ourselves and let go of that, not worry about those things and remember that this is kingdom work, and God is working. And he may open those doors for us.
Speaker 2:He may not. You know, we may be on the cover of some magazine. We may not. We may get that huge grant. We may not.
Speaker 2:But doing what God has called us to do, you know, day in, day out is is a beautiful kingdom work. Obedience,
Speaker 1:my man. Obedience. So it's Aaron. Okay, man. Well, as we finish up, if people wanna learn more about Mentor Kids USA, tell them how
Speaker 2:to do that. Mentorkidsusa.org is our website. There's a great video in there. I think it's, I don't know, three minutes or so that kind of explains the model that's really good to watch.
Speaker 1:And if you aren't following Aaron on LinkedIn, follow him for some tips on how to lead not for profits, how to lead staff, volunteers yourself, all of that good stuff. So Aaron, tell me your last name, Carrott with two t's. Is that correct? Parrott. Parrott like the bird with two t's, p a
Speaker 2:r r o t t.
Speaker 1:That's great. Well, Aaron, thanks so much for taking time to talk about your story, talk about your journey, mentor Kids USA. Super thankful for you, my man. My pleasure. Thank you, Zach,
Speaker 2:and God bless you in in your endeavors. Thanks, man.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Share this with your staff, your volunteer, your mentoring friends, and remember, You Can Mentor. Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Our vision is to raise up and invest in mentoring leaders who will launch and grow thriving mentoring ministries. We do that by equipping and encouraging faith based leaders through relational connection, Christ centered resources, and collaborative gatherings.
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