Nearly all great minds have one thing in common; they had great mentors.
I’ve learned that if you don’t have any great teachers in your life,
that doesn’t mean you should sit around and wait for one to find you.
You need to be willing to seek them out. Fortunately, you have an
endless number of great teachers to choose from. That is, if you accept
that many of these great teachers will be dead.
Many of the greatest thinkers made a habit of documenting their
discoveries. So while they are no longer alive, their words are still
here, and in them their wisdom.
But before seeking out a great teacher, you first need to…
Identify your problem
What do you need to work on? If you really want to improve, you’ll
need to accept criticism. Ask experts in your field for their opinion.
Tell them you want their honest opinion, no holds barred. If you don’t
know an expert, ask someone you know that’s reasonably intelligent.
Don’t be defensive. If they’re giving you honest advice, even if it’s
negative, that’s because they care. Recognize that and accept their
critique as a gift.
Now that’s you’ve identified your problem, it’s time to seek out your
mentor. Do some research, the initial time spent on this will pay off
in the long run. It’s better to ask for the best person someone knows
on a specific subject, then to blindly fumble for books at your local
Barnes and Noble.
If you don’t know someone that can personally recommend an author for
you, look at a book review site. Go to your local library and ask your
librarian what the most popular books are on your subject. They can
often see which books are checked out most frequently. Check out Amazon
and find out what books are getting rave reviews and which ones people
are making people scream bloody murder.
Now you’ve identified your problem, the question is…
How do you spot a great teacher?
One of the greatest teachers I’ve encountered is Alan Watts.
If you’re not familiar with Mr. Watts, he was a prolific translator of
Eastern Religion and philosophy. He adapted many Eastern wisdom
traditions into a frame of reference Westerners could understand. I
found Alan Watts when I was looking for a mentor that could elucidate
and explain to me the meaning behind Buddhist and Taoist teachings. Alan
Watts died in 1968, but many of his lectures and words were recorded
(either on the page or in audio) and are still popular to this day. It
was more than 35 years after his death that I discovered his work. I
learned a great deal from him because I resonated with him deeply, it
was as if we were in the same room.
What made Alan Watts such a great teacher for me is that he could
translate seemingly paradoxical and perplexing ideas into concrete
examples. The question is, are their common traits of great teachers
that can help us spot them? Here are a few I’ve found:
Innovation drives them. They are willing to change
their process to become better communicators. They are not afraid of
criticism and use it to their advantage. They don’t get defensive.
They meet you on your level. Great teachers know
that meeting their students on the same level makes them more
accessible. You’re more likely to learn better from someone whom you
can consider your equal rather than a mysterious deity.
Passion is their fuel for teaching. A passion and
deep desire to constantly learn more about their subject drives them.
They are able to leverage their passion in a way that inspires and
motivates you. Their enthusiasm is contagious.
They’re concrete. They move abstract ideas into concrete examples.
They overcome the knowledge gap. A great teacher
knows that their well of knowledge is likely much deeper than that of
their pupils. They are able to overcome this knowledge gap by building
on existing schemas.
Remember, be true to yourself. Just because someone
has 20+ years of experience on you in your field, doesn’t mean their
word is untouchable. What worked for them may not work for you. But at
least now you should have some clarity on where you need to improve and
how to go about it. The best way to learn is to find someone who’s done
exactly what you’re trying to do.
Who knows, a library card could be worth a thousand teachers….
0 Comments