The Most Important; Part 9 of How To Master Mentoring

“The Most Important” is the subject of podcast episode # 57 by “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday,” which is the ninth episode in the “How to Master Mentoring” mini-series. 

In the How to Master Mentoring mini-series, each episode starts with a story of how a mentor taught me a valuable lesson and continues with one of the individuals I mentored in life and another in my side hustle business. 

I hope that sharing different ideas on how to focus on what is “the most important” in this podcast episode of the How to master mentoring mini-series inspires you to analyze where you spend your time in your life and your business.  You only have time for the critical activities in a side hustle!

I’m Rabbi Dave, and most weeks, we explore the challenges and triumphs of achieving business success while living a #dreamlife. I hope you enjoy “The Most Important.”

How to master mentoring Story #25: The Most Important

While living in the old city of Jerusalem, I was privileged to be mentored by many excellent teachers.  Rabbi Zelig Pliskin taught me how to understand individuals very quickly, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach taught me always to be over-prepared to be called upon to speak in public, Rabbi Meir Shuster taught me never even to think that you can’t do something hard if it is the right thing to do, Rabbi Edelstein taught me the value of creating a mentoring system, Rabbi Berger taught me how to show love to students, but most of all what Rav Noah Weinberg taught me can be best described as The Most Important.

Rav Noah taught me how to create and give a class on the topics that moved me.  If I’m excited about a topic, it comes across as infectious.  Rav Noah was excited about every topic IF it was really important.  I was privileged to have a short weekly private meeting where I would first study recordings of his classes and ask questions about them to gain five-finger clarity on his message and method. Soon, he began giving me assignments to mentor people who came to him with their big ideas.  If nothing else, Rav Noah was all about the big ideas and turning them into reality.  

Everyone he assigned me to mentor had already met with Rav Noah, who instructed me on what direction to guide them in. Yaakov M., Rivki S., and Michael F. stand out in my mind. They accomplished huge life missions without knowing that Rav Noah was helping them. He made them feel that they and their mission were the most important thing.

I was determined to help bring the world to perfection by working with teens in NCSY and the alumni when they went to college.  Rav Noah told me that if he had 100 million dollars, he could create a program for all Jewish adults to recognize the Creator, but teenagers were beyond him.  He told me if he had a second 100 million, he would use it for NCSY.  Rav Noah worked with me to develop a program for the alums of NCSY who were in college that created an Army of activists for the Jewish people.  He found a donor to sponsor the project and assigned his best mentor, Eric Coopersmith, to be my mentor in implementing this project in America.  He made me certain that this project combining both worlds he would invest 100 million in if he had it was the singular most important project in the world.

We had some great success together, and even though NCSY initially wished us luck but had no interest, a few years later, they asked me to bring the project under their auspices, where it remains until this day.

Fast forward to many years and thousands of students of my own later, I was running a trip for young adults to Israel, and as always, when they had a shopping break in the old city of Jerusalem, I ran to visit Rav Noah.  As I walked into his office, I noticed he was in the middle of a very serious life discussion with one of my friends and colleagues. I was sweaty and dressed in my trip clothes, and he stood up, gave me a big hug, and said to my friend, now that’s Simchas Hachayim (Joy with life).

That was to be my last visit with Rav Noah, and it is a wonderful memory!

After he passed, all his close students shared a similar story.  They each had a grand slam idea.  Rav Noah gave them each a mentor and made them feel that theirs was the most important project in the world.

Rav Noah could do this because he truly realized that each and every one of us and what excites us is the most important.

How to master Mentoring Story #26: The Most Important as a Mentee

When I moved from Israel to America to start work on the project, one of my student leaders we mentioned before, Ira E., introduced me to a new leader from Brooklyn College, Keren S.

Keren was the type of leader that people listened to because they knew she truly cared about them and had no self-interest.  At the same time, when she felt a project was the most important, there was no stopping her!

She made all of our programs work, but the bigger they were, the more she made them succeed.  Finally, we took on the big one, affecting the outcome of the Nobel Peace Prize.  

That year, one of the candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize was a mass murderer.  We felt that even if he was turning over a new leaf and we were not sure he would accomplish this, he should not receive a peace prize!  

We made a poster with his picture alongside previous recipients Eli Weisel, Mother Teresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King with the headline, “Which one doesn’t belong?”  Regardless of your opinion, you must admit this was pretty creative!

We arranged a meeting with one prize committee member and began a campaign to collect signatures of college students on a petition to hand him.  We collected thousands of signatures, but who collected 10 times more than everyone else? Yes, Keren, because to her, this was the most important.

And yes, this prize committee member resigned rather than give the prize to this man because integrity was the most important to him!

How to master mentoring Story #27: The Most Important in business

Sometimes, we want things for those we love more than they want them for themselves.  The most important thing is to be patient because for them to succeed, it has to be important to them. Suzann L. is my little sister, and she and her husband always worked very hard to give their family everything they needed to succeed.  I always gently offered to help her create a business with me, and she always lovingly did everything but say yes.  

When Covid came, they became a one-income household, and suddenly, it became the most important thing to her.  She is a very successful occupational therapist and a local mental health community leader, and she has absolutely no business experience.  She had the essential ingredients for success: she was consistent in her actions, like constantly growing her knowledge, and that meant learning diligently then, practicing, and applying new business skills as she was learning them.  

She also had a good mentor (if I say so myself).  She had an initial burst of real success in the first few months and then came reality.  Not everyone sprints to the finish line, but the most important thing is to move forward consistently at your pace and watch your income steadily grow.  Suzann has continued to grow her business steadily every month and has had several successes and setbacks along the way, and I’m so proud of her!

Whenever we discuss her business plans, she is full of ideas and new prospects and is focused on the critical activities she needs to succeed, which is the most important in business.

How to Master Mentoring Recap and Weekly Podcast Challenge

I hope you enjoyed the eighth episode in the miniseries “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday Shares Mentorship Mastery.” This week’s challenge is to identify the most crucial action you can take to move your side hustle (or full-time) business forward and do it!  

Please share your efforts and results, even if small, with me. It is the small efforts that mean a lot!

If you’re looking for a mentor and ready to take your personal growth seriously to see how it can transform your business, I’d love to help you. Visit my website and use the Work With Dave link to set up a free consultation. Let’s unlock your full potential together.

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