When a young Yogi Berra reported for Yankees spring training, he was fearful that Bill Dickey, the team’s long-time catcher, would be protective of his job and favor a fellow veteran player instead of Berra. The opposite happened: Dickey was a wonderful mentor to Berra, or as Berra put it: “Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.”
Of all of the famous Yogi-isms, the one about Bill Dickey has always been one of my favorites, and recently got me thinking about the mentors I’ve had through the years and what values I learned from them:
It’s alright to skin your knees along the way to get to your goal
Plan your work and work your plan
Work hard, be strategic and have fun along the way
Stay cool and calm
Try to find humor even in the darkest times
Be flexible and compassionate
Be transparent
You can never say thank you enough
What is a value or lesson you learned from one of your mentors that impacted your career?