Notes to Grandchildren – January 28, 2021 (Mentor)

Dear Grandchildren,

Find a guide … a role model … and mentor.

Get some help navigating life and the world of work.

Great ships do not enter harbors until a local pilot is onboard to guide and advise of local rules, policies, practices, and dangers. It is a way of life; thus, it should be for you with a guide … a role model … a mentor.

Beware of those who claim to know everything; they are fools.

Some people use a mnemonic device as a guide like WWJD — What Would Jesus Do.

Some use a parent.

Some utilize a teacher.

Just as people know you by your actions, you may know your guide … role model … mentor by theirs.

Use your reasoned judgment and decide wisely. Your mentor will aid you.

Love,

Grandfather

Notes to Grandchildren – November 20, 2020 (Mentor)

Dear Grandchildren,

Get a mentor. Grandfather has gone it alone too many times. This involved reinventing plans, procedures, and techniques that others had perfected.

Two instances come to mind.

When I was in college, I had a general education requirement. So, I took some math, some science, some philosophy, some psychology. No one told me nor was I smart enough to ask what courses would get me certified to teach specific subjects. For example, instead of taking physics, chemistry, and geology if I had taken three or four courses in geology I could have been certified to teach Earth Science. Instead I had this smattering of courses across the science curriculum that satisfied the graduation requirement but didn’t open any doors.

Similarly in law I should have clerked or volunteered somewhere. For example, working with the public defender when coupled with my experience as a criminal defense attorney as a Navy Judge Advocate could have opened the door to a successful criminal law practice.

Don’t believe that you know it all. Listen to the ones who have walked that path before. Learn from them. You don’t need to do it all on your own.

Love,

Grandfather

Notes to Grandchildren – June 7, 2020 (Mentors)

Dear Grandchildren,

Find a mentor.

My nephew, Denny, wanted to hunt.  His father wasn’t a hunter.  Denny found people to teach him.  He found a mentor.

I admire the Amish craftsmen.  Watch them work.  The effort includes teaching the skill to the next generation.  It’s mentoring in action.

There’s no excuse for not finding a mentor.  Look.  Many mentors can be found at the library.  Read biographies and autobiographies.  They’re tales of people’s lives.  Scan my library:

• Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jonathan Jackson
• James Ewell Brown Stuart
• Omar Bradley
• Audrey Hepburn
• Marcus Aurelius
• Seneca
• Epictetus
• Thomas Edison
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
• Gerry Spence

These are some of the biographies on the shelves in my library.  The list doesn’t include the books obtained from various libraries.  I specifically recall The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean who described the lives of various scientists.

I’ve had teachers and colleagues guide me.  I’ve watched or read about other lawyers.

Everyone has served as a mentor in one form or another.

Don’t just take; give.  Help.  Demonstrate.  Pass on a skill.  Share some knowledge.  Guide.  Critique.  Encourage.  Support.  Be a mentor.

Love,

Grandfather