At a recent Rotary Club meeting, our speaker, Mike Sheppard, a retired college and professional football coach, remarked that, “the best coaches teach at three levels: basics, art and heart.”  This simple, but elegant phrase captures the essence of what our best teachers, coaches and mentors do to reveal and build, the talent and character of those in their charge.

Whether in it’s in our school classrooms, on our sports fields, or in our workplaces, there is no more important role, nor a higher calling, than that of teacher, coach or mentor. They inspire us to reach our potential, they generously share their knowledge and experience to help build our skills, they teach us how to trust and be trustworthy, and they show us how to be better leaders and followers.

For all those who teach, coach and mentor… who help us understand, perform, and learn how to treat others…THANK YOU!  This limerick is my gift to you.

Basics, Art & Heart
You coach the basics at the start
Then the subtleties and art
But the job’s not done
Until you teach someone
How to do it all with heart.

                     Don McAlister
16 September 2015