Robin's Mentoring Matters Blog
Encourage and inspire youth to reach their potential
We Are Living Through a Connection Crisis – Why mentoring matters more than ever
"The deepest human need is not simply to be successful. It is to know that someone genuinely sees us." In recent times, I asked a group of business and other leaders a simple question: "Who had the greatest positive influence on your life?" The answers came quickly: a...
The Phone Call I’ll Never Forget: A Life-Changing Moment
"Robin... I nearly died. Before anything happened, there was someone I needed to thank." It was a Saturday evening in New Zealand when my phone rang—a WhatsApp call from Los Angeles. The voice belonged to Jabu, a former student from a school in South Africa where I...
The Story Behind the Barnabas Prayer
Sometimes a prayer takes years to write, impacted by changing scenarios—that was my journey. In 2016, shortly before retiring after almost fifty years in education, my wife and I travelled through Eastern Europe on a river cruise. As a history teacher, I had long...
What Fifty Years of Mentoring—and the Research—Agree On
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." That well-known saying has been repeated so often that it risks becoming a cliché. However, after nearly fifty years in education and mentoring, I have found it to be remarkably true. Over those...
The Day God Quietly Confirmed My Calling
"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act." — Psalm 37:5 One prayer. One dream. One extraordinary answer. There are moments in life that quietly change us. They don't necessarily make headlines, or answer every difficult question about life or faith,...
Are We Fixing the Right Thing? Why Belonging May Be The Missing Foundation In Aotearoa New Zealand’s Schools
Every few years we rewrite the curriculum, yet New Zealand continues to rank among the highest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for school bullying, while too many of our young people struggle with loneliness, anxiety and...
Be a Gardener: How Ordinary People Can Help Others Flourish
Walk through any garden and you will quickly notice something interesting. The gardener does not stand over the flowers shouting at them to grow. They do not criticise the seed for not becoming a plant quickly enough. They do not compare one flower to another....
Tall Poppy Syndrome: It’s Time to Stop Cutting People Down
In New Zealand and Australia, many people are familiar with the phrase "Tall Poppy Syndrome." We use it so often that it has become part of our cultural vocabulary. Most of us know exactly what it means. It refers to the tendency to criticize, undermine, ridicule, or...
Inspiring Hope and Possibility For Emotional Wellbeing
Hope has a powerful influence on the way people view themselves, their circumstances, and their future. When people lose hope, they often stop trying. Challenges begin to feel permanent, setbacks seem overwhelming, and possibilities become difficult to imagine. But...
Helping People Take Ownership For Long-Term Growth
One of the goals of effective mentoring is not to make people dependent on us, but to help them grow in confidence, responsibility, and independence. This can be challenging. When we care about someone, it is often tempting to solve problems for them, step in too...