Stalk Them!

I started working at McDonald’s when I was 18 years old. If you think their uniforms are bad now, you should have seen them then. I am still scarred from wearing those ugly things!! But as bad as the uniforms were, I learned some valuable lessons during those years.

The greatest lesson I probably learned was about setting and achieving goals. I wasn’t at the Big M very long before I knew I wanted to be a manager. (Don’t laugh, I know it’s not a very status-ey job but if you stick with it, the money is a lot better than you might think.)

So here I was, I wanted to be a manager but I had quite the dilemma because I knew I certainly wasn’t qualified to be one. That’s when I unofficially grasped the idea of mentoring. Back then, I didn’t know it was called that and I’m not even so sure the whole mentoring concept was quite as popular then as it is today. But I knew that if I wanted to be a manager, I was going to have to find someone that was not only a great manager themselves but was willing to invest the time to help me become one. That person was Tina Lightner. I stalked her. For real, I watched everything she did. I studied how she handled the employees and how she interacted with the customers. Anytime I had the chance to help her do something, I jumped at it. That gave me the opportunity to not just watch her but to do things myself while she stood close by.

At 23, when I decided I wanted to be a Classroom Trainer for Burger King; what did I do? I got around the classroom trainers. Again, I stalked them. When they were in town, I would go out to dinner with them and spend every moment I could with them. Not because I wanted the “status” of being with them, but because I had figured out pretty quickly that when I didn’t have the necessary skills in an area that I wanted to have success in, I needed to surround myself with people that did.

Over the years I have stalked several people; some of them in person and some by reading books and listening to CD’s. When Randy and I wanted to grow in our marriage, we spent as much time as we could with a very special couple. Some of you reading this know who I mean – Brett & Fran Deimler. We asked them questions, we watched how they interacted with each other. We spent so many Saturday’s out at their house, helping them do projects, playing ball, and watching them live out a great marriage in front of our very eyes. They told us that having a great marriage was just a decision. As crazy as it is, we believed them and today, I honestly don’t know one couple that has the marriage Randy and I have.

In March of 1999, I began my spiritual journey when a speaker named, Mark Gorman, spoke at a seminar I attended. I immediatly began to get my hands on every CD (well, back then cassette) of his that I could. When he spoke in my local area, I went. Without even personally knowing me, he helped to lay a great foundation for my spiritual journey and that played a big part in me becoming the Sherry you see today. So if you have a complaint on who I've become, feel free to contact him at MarkGorman.com.

A few years later, God brought Pastor Bob Kapp into my life. I saw characteristics in his life that I wanted in mine. Over the last several years I have grown leaps and bounds in each of those areas by watching him and being coached by him. He too, has helped to shaped me into the Sherry I am today. Most of you know where to find him, so if you have a complaint and can’t find Mark Gorman…

Today, I continue to seek out people that are where I want to be in the different areas of my life. Most recently, I joined Weight Watchers. Why? Well, obviously to lose weight but it is more than that. It may seem silly to pay money to have someone weigh you each week when, as my 13 year old son, Nick, informed me, “there is a scale upstairs.” But it is so much more than that. It’s about learning from people that have successfully achieved what I am looking achieve.

I don’t know what it is for you; what area of life you are ready to grow in. But no matter what it is, I want to encourage you to latch onto someone that is where you want to be and stalk them!