Next week I will be attending NBAA. For those of you outside of the business aviation world this is the National Business Aviation Association once a year meeting. For three days more than 30,000 members and associates will attend seminars, view static aircraft displays, and visit an entire convention floor filled with OEM and support company displays. Regardless of the fact that I have attended more than 30 of these shows during my lifetime, I still get excited about participating. I guess it’s my love of aviation and the folks that are part of it. To me, aircraft and the technology that comes with them represent the foremost advancements of humankind. Without airplanes the global economy would have the speed of a snail and the vitality of a couch potato. While the economy is still staggering from the blows it took last year, I expect the show to be upbeat, with most participants planning for the turn in the road shortly ahead.
When I reflect on NBAA I think of the many people I have been fortunate to meet and do business with over the years. I see many of these people at the show. Sometimes I even see those I consider my mentors. Let me be specific about what I believe a mentor is. It is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. This guidance is not done for personal gain. One of the most valuable assets of any one of our careers is to have a mentor showing us the way. So, for instance, when the FAA approved certain VLJ training with “mentoring,†as these instructors are paid they are not what I would, in the strict sense of the word, consider to be mentors. A mentor is one who takes you under his or her wing and, with patience and wisdom, demonstrates what you need to be or do to advance in your career.
One of the important mentors in my career has been Bill Collister. Bill will not be at NBAA so I will not see him. In fact, I have not seen him for many years now although we do talk occasionally. Bill is retired and living just outside of Pittsburgh. He was a founding member of both WAMA and NBAA and served as the Director of Maintenance for US Steel in its heyday when their flight department was one of business aviation’s leaders. Bill always took the time to council me on the many aspects and challenges of aviation maintenance. His views were never reactionary but always forward looking, forever promoting the status of the aircraft mechanic. He approached problems with the calm demeanor of a man who knew where he was going and how to get there.
Bill does not know I took this opportunity to publically thank him for his many years of service to his profession and for the guidance he provided me over the years. Hopefully he will read this blog.
In the meantime, how about you? We all, hopefully, have had mentors, and, I guess, most of us would name dad or mom as our first and most important mentor. But why not take a moment and reflect on who you might consider your mentor to be in this business, this career. Who is the person who has assisted and guided you without asking for payment of any kind? Perhaps you will do the same as I have done here and share with the readers the name of this mentor and how he or she has helped you. I think it’s a good way to say “thanks.â€
