Lynn Smith Master Mentor Profile

Director of Leader Development NextLEVEL Leadership Toronto, Canada. www.nextlevelleadership.ca Lynnn@nextlevelleadership.ca 416 494 1480

Kind of work that I do and who I work with
I am part of a not-for-profit organization providing Leadership Development for Christian women in all sectors of our society. We practice shared leadership as we help women develop their character, competence and confidence in order to find their voice and influence their world.
I am the author of Gender or Giftedness: a Challenge to rethink the basis for leadership within the Faith Community and Mentoring: Leaving a Legacy.

Values, vision and mission
Values: Growth, integrity, vulnerability, compassion, generosity, hospitality, encouragement, wisdom.

Personal Vision
To be a person who respects others, gives wise counsel, reflects the attitudes of Jesus, is a life-giver (being a channel of living water), has peace in the midst of confusion, brings stability and calmness, can share deep emotions, is able to discern the best from the good, is generous with time and possessions, uses my God-given time wisely and lives with integrity.

Mission
My mission in life is to allow the Holy Spirit to transform me so that I bear the fruit of the Spirit and use the gifts of the Spirit to uplift, inspire and empower others to walk in the freedom and fullness of their identity in Christ.

What are your current spiritual practices?
Praying and reflecting on Scripture with others is a very significant part of my spiritual nurturing. As an extravert, the stretch and growth for me is always in the area of solitude – being completely silent before God – therefore this becomes a discipline. Journalling is not something I do routinely but it is my way of conversing with God when I need to sort through difficult situations and my regular ongoing conversation with God doesn’t seem to bring clarity.

What service are you performing for charitable purposes?
I mentor formally for Arrow Leadership and informally in my church, lead a Ministry Development Team in my church, and my NextLEVEL Leadership involvement is all voluntary.

What Real Power/Janet means to you
Real Power gave me the framework to understand my own journey of growth and therefore to understand the journey others are on which allows me to walk more confidently with them. And Janet exemplified the giving away of power of Stage 5 which is so attractive and so unusual in our competitive world.

What is one of your favorite quotes from Real Power or Critical Journey?
The more of God we have, the less of everything else we need.

Why I joined the network
I joined because I was attracted to the concept of collaboration that was evidenced in the way everyone shared materials and offered assistance and encouraged innovation in others and I wanted to be part of that kind of community.

Why I chose to become a master mentor and what it means to me
I chose to do the work of becoming a master mentor simply to benefit from the wisdom of Janet as I sought a deeper walk with God. The self-reflection that was required to fulfill the requirements was an encouragement to me as I saw the changes that had taken place in my life over the years.

Summary of what I did to become certified
Besides answering the questions, getting feedback and fulfilling the requirements for letters of references, etc., I created, as my project, a combination of the stages of power reflected in dance and my personal story of how the various “dances” of my life changed as I grew.

Testimony from a person I mentored in Real Power
Lynn’s wisdom and experience with people has granted her the ability to respectfully share truth and knowledge with others that stimulates but does not coerce change. She is a powerful agent for change in others’ lives and is always willing to be personally involved (specifically sharing out of her experience) when needed. As Lynn is a good and insightful listener this also provides her with the ability to help others see things they may not have otherwise seen. She does so in a gentle and caring manner.

How I am using my certification
I use the learning that resulted from doing the certification process in all of my mentoring and in teaching the women in NextLEVEL Leadership.

My mentoring approach, personality
My Myers Briggs personality type is ENFP which means that I am an intuitive idealist who is energized by being with people, lives by a set of values, and am very flexible. I have overcome one of the negative sides of my personality type by learning to be structured when I need to be.
As I mentor others I expect that they will take the initiative while I walk alongside them in their journey, using me as a resource to ask questions to help them clarify their path, reflect what I see back to them to help them see themselves more clearly, and pray with them for God’s wisdom to be revealed.

What an ideal mentee would be for me
An ideal mentee for me would be someone who is a learner by nature and is motivated to find a deeper meaning for life than the happiness and success our culture offers as the ultimate fulfillment.

Anything else we should know about you?
I long for a ever deepening intimacy - to dance with God – and hope you do too!!

Other Mentors

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Ellen Duffield

LaRee Ewers

Janet Hagberg

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