Mentors

“Get a good mentor.”
This is advice that we hear early in our working careers. But sometimes, it is offered in a rather casual way almost like, “find a good dry cleaner and, oh yea, get a mentor while you are at it.’ However, a good mentor is like a true friend — neither comes along that often.
I have been blessed to have had a few good mentors in the various stages of my working life. Some I still keep in touch with, while others I lost contact with over time. One of the important mentors in my entrepreneurial career was my father, Bob Cornwall, who is still active as an entrepreneur himself at 85. My father called me yesterday to tell me that one of the most important mentors in his life, a man named Jack Murray, passed away this past weekend at 93.
My dad worked for over 25 years at a company called Speed Queen in Ripon, Wisconsin. Those of you my age and older probably remember this company as a popular brand of washers and dryers in the mid 1900s. Those of you who are a bit younger may recognize this name from laundromats. Dad started out working there in purchasing not long after the end of World War II.
Early in his career at Speed Queen a man named Jack Murray took my dad under his wing. Jack’s grandfather, Joe Barlow, was a co-founder of Speed Queen. My dad progressed through the ranks at Speed Queen under Jack’s mentorship. Jack became not only a mentor to my dad, but a close friend.
In the late 1960s Jack took a position with the conglomerate that owned Speed Queen at that time and my father succeeded him as President. Eventually my dad left corporate life and began the entrepreneurial phase of his career, which has been going strong for about the last 30 years. However, even after leaving the corporate world, Jack and my dad kept in touch.
When you find a person who is willing to invest the time and energy it takes to be a true mentor to you in your career, cherish that relationship. I appreciate the support and guidance I received from my father, just as I know he appreciated his relationship with Mr. Murray. May he rest in peace.