Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that mentoring is the single most valuable ingredient in a successful career. So now everybody wants a mentor.

Margaret Heffernan, fastcompany.com columnist; and Saj-Nicole Joni, CEO of Cambridge International Group Fast Company's Fast Take newsletters@fastcompany.com

Assertive men and women who want to rise up the ranks of leadership and influence recognize they need to find someone who can give them guidance. The difference between a smart, well trained person with potential and one who is living out that potential is wisdom and wisdom comes through experience and listening to people with experience.

As I look around at some of the new, fast growing influential churches I see some that will produce long term fruit and many that are destined to be little more than flashes in the pan. The difference is wisdom.

Wise leaders build people and systems that can carry on without a flashy personality in the pulpit. Wise leaders develop balanced organizations consisting of interlocking webs of hidden networks and serving people who are deeply committed to Christ and His mission. Wise leaders recognize that the success of any ministry comes from the cooperative efforts of numerous humble people.

Almost nothing I read about in Leadership Magazine or get from major conferences covers these topics. Seminaries are designed to appeal to those with a graduate school mentality and the American Theological Society not the needs of ministers and certainly not the needs of members or non-Christians. Seminaries, like most grad schools, love the impractical, the fuzzy and the arcane. Real people need practical support and counsel about God, self and family life.

Several books point out the sad fact that there is an inverse relationship between seminary training and church growth. Finke and Starke studied the growth patterns of Christianity from 1776 to 1990 and write in, The Churching of America, that one of the best ways to kill outreach is promoting higher education of the leaders.

Where can potential leaders learn? Find a Mentor/Coach who can take you under his/her wing and help you discover your gifts and the best ways to release them. Find a person who is successful and knows why but who can see that your gifts differ from his/hers. Find a person who wants to see Christ exalted not his/her resume.