Legacy Magazine

Chris Christopher
President
Mentor Discover Inspire

I’d like to introduce you to Doug. He may not look like much, he’s really just a stick figure, but you know Doug. In fact, you likely know lots of Dougs.  Doug is Everyman.  

Why Everyman?  All men are on a journey, somewhere on the path from wherever they are to being – should they so choose – mature, masculine leaders.  True, not every man wants to make that arduous journey.  Since you are reading this, we can assume you are a man who has begun that trip;  or maybe you’re at the apex of your path, and are simply keeping the sword sharp.  Either way, MDI has contributed to your travels, and there are many other Dougs out there just waiting for us to get them started.  

In mid-January, MDI’s International Core Team, the Regional Coordinators, and a few select guests and production men, gathered in San Diego and met Doug.  We realized there are far too many Dougs who have not – yet! – been invited to walk the MDI path to mature masculinity.  Every man at that meeting renewed his commitment, both personally and organizationally, to building and executing a system that will attract more and more Dougs to our path, and to the joys of leadership that follow.   

We powerfully reconnected with the compelling desire we share to make the world a better place.  The men of MDI really can save marriages, hold together families, and powerfully change communities for the better; and we were all hungry to assertively step back into reaching out to men as part of changing the world for the better.  I do what I do as your president because I have seen many men change their own lives, and seen the other lives they touch improve for the better. I hope you will join us in embracing that mission, the MDI mission.

For us, changing the world begins with each Doug finding MDI, and today we have more paths to MDI membership than ever.  Our Expansion Initiative reaches out through Facebook to men all over the world.  One click on an ad and Doug can register for our Online Introduction Program (OIP). Upon completion, he can meet with an MDI team. 

Some divisions use Meetup®, and we’re now committed to bringing Meetup® to all teams – particularly face-to-face teams – to attract Dougs to a team in their area. When properly and enthusiastically executed, many divisions have seen a substantial number of Dougs find their teams via the Meetup® platform.   

In addition, teams in our Atlas division meet on Zoom, so Dougs who live far from other MDI men can now, nonetheless, join a team. 

And yet, with the advent of all these new electronic pathways, we seem to have lost the art of simply inviting men we know or meet to join us on our journey to mature masculinity. Many Dougs have come to MDI through the tried-and-true method of a personal invitation: when you or another MDI man simply invited a Doug to your team meeting or another MDI event.   Perhaps you saw something in that Doug’s life that called you to reach out to him.  Whatever the reason, many Dougs begin their journey because a man cared enough about him to invite him to the MDI brotherhood.  Watch for lots of training on how to find Dougs and engage them in conversation; to identify where MDI can powerfully assist each one on his personal journey.  We intend to increase our attention on encouraging those of us already in MDI to reach out to future Dougs.  We have asked Michael Fowlkes to lead this effort, to reenergize our collective enrollment muscle, and to get as many Dougs as possible into MDI.

There in San Diego we embraced yet another initiative which may allow more Dougs not just to find us, but to quickly understand what MDI can mean in their lives. By simply attending weekly team meetings, Doug may take a long time to learn basic masculinity – at least when compared to the various immersive men’s weekends many of us completed prior to joining a team.  It may, we realized, be better for Doug to begin with an immersive experience, one that will drench him in mature masculinity and showcase the power of a men’s team before he actually joins one.

Therefore, after considering a number of options – such as creating a new course or modifying our Legacy Discovery event – we have selected The Art of Masculinity (TAOM) as our initial introductory course for all Dougs to come.  [For a more extensive description of this event, see the article by Stan Snow and Matt Lyons in this edition of The Legacy Magazine .]

Upon completing The Art of Masculinity, Doug’s next step will be to participate in a Point Program.  The Point Program has long been a powerhouse for training Dougs in the workings of a team, building trusting relationships with other men, overcoming mens’ tendency to do things alone, and cementing important lessons of what it means to be a masculine man in our current world.  Doug will then join an experienced team where his preparation will continue via the Membership Training Program (MTP).  In this way, within just months of finding MDI, Doug has now attended TAOM, completed his Point Program, joined a team, and graduated from MTP. 

Next up for Doug is leadership of a team program, and perhaps becoming a team leader soon after, while our ongoing trainings continue to help Doug along his way.  When he is ready, Doug may attend Legacy Discovery, to master mature masculinity and identify his purpose.  Armed with all that, Doug will be ready to supercharge his life.  Doug may then continue up the MDI leadership ladder to division jobs, regional or international positions, or perhaps even my present post.  Equally importantly, Doug may then step into leadership in his company or community, bringing mature masculinity out into the world. And all the while, Doug will be a better husband and father.  

So now you know a bit about Doug and the journey to mature-masculine leadership that is available to him.  At our California meeting, the leadership team kept returning to Doug, placing him at the center of everything we’re doing and intend to do.  In the process, we will do an even better job of caring for the Dougs who are already here, and of those who ‘dug’ the MDI well before us.  We hope you are excited about joining us on Doug’s journey.  As a Doug on your own travels, you have a phenomenal chance to invite other Dougs to embark on their own journey to mature masculinity.  

We can do this – the world needs us to do this. Let’s go!