Each One Teach One

Recently I sat next to a man named Mark Hoog at a restaurant in D.C. We struck up a conversation and I learned that Mark used to be a pilot for United Airlines. Eventually we started talking about careers and mentoring. He said he had a mentor at United named Jason Dahl who changed his life. He said Dahl took him aside one day and told him people talk about other people in business for two reasons – because they’re either great at their job or because they’re not very good at their job.

“But people don’t talk about you,” said Dahl. “Why is that?”

Mark told me this encounter made him think about his career in a new light, as if everything he did from that moment on had a new purpose. Personally, I believe that his story is yet another example of how mentors change lives.

Tragically, Jason Dahl was the pilot for United Flight 93 that went down over Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11th. At his memorial service, Dahl’s son read from a Dr. Seuss book that his father used to share with him every night before bedtime. Inspired by the power of books, Mark started a children’s publishing company called Growing Field (http://www.growingfield.com/) in honor of his fallen mentor.

And though we only spoke briefly, I’m sure he’s great at it.

{Reprinted from http://mondaymorningmentor.blogspot.com/ because some stories just have to be told.}