Thursday, September 15, 2016

Finding My Tribe - Day 6

Finding a mentor these days is a tremendously difficult task. The paid coaches often would just provide a standard template for you to work from. Sometimes they could not even be able to comment on specific challenges, let alone helping you to solve a problem. Even though I do not have a mentor now, I, during the early stages of my former work life, had two persons that influenced me a great deal.

My grandfather was a visionary and a man of perseverance. He opened the first hardware store in a new subdivision in Hong Kong in the late 1960’s before half of the buildings were occupied. When he owned a vegetable farm in the suburbs of Vancouver, he experimented with new farming practices and seeds from parts of Asia that have similar climate as Vancouver. I probably inherited his adventurous spirit and learned from him courage and persistence.

The second mentor was my friend’s mother. She was a highly educated lady who was an accountant. Mrs. Chen was well known for her generosity and willingness to share knowledge. When she saw that I was running into many roadblocks looking for a job in Beijing after I got my MBA in the mid-1990’s, she took me to see a high ranking company officer in the state-owned company where she used to work. I always try to emulate her generosity in helping the next generation.

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