04/07/2026
Looking back on 38 years in business, my success comes down to one thing: people.
Early in my career, I had individuals take me under their wing. They were mentoring me long before I even knew what mentorship was. Around my ninth or tenth year in this trade, I was introduced to my first business coach, Joe Farcht. That changed everything. He shifted how I thought, how I approached problems, and how I saw opportunity. From there, more people came into my life who believed in me more than I believed in myself. It took time to realize it, but those individuals were shaping me, guiding me, and holding me to a higher standard.
To this day, I still have mentors. Some challenge me directly. Others influence me without even realizing it. Entrepreneurs’ Organization has played a big role in that, surrounding me with people who lead, push limits, and raise the bar.
The reality is, mentorship is everywhere if you are paying attention. Every day, we are exposed to both positive and negative examples. There are lessons in both. What to do and what not to do.
Take something like Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. If you really listen, it is a wake-up call. We have shifted from a society that figures things out to one that immediately calls someone else to fix it. That shift matters. Kids are not being pushed to develop practical problem-solving skills. Instead of learning how to troubleshoot, they are learning how to outsource and throw money at problems.
Work experience is another issue. Many young people do not work until late in life, sometimes not until after college. By then, they have missed years of learning accountability, work ethic, and real-world problem solving. When someone has no stake early on, it shows later. It does not prepare them for the workforce. It sets them up to struggle in it.
Then there is failure. The school system teaches that failure is something to avoid. That creates fear. In the real world, failure is trial and error. It is one of the most effective ways to learn. People do not truly learn from a book. They learn by doing, by getting it wrong, and then figuring it out.
Look around today. People are afraid to make even simple decisions. The question is, do we enable that, or do we build confidence? Do we punish failure, or do we ask a better question: what did you learn?
When you shift the focus from the mistake to the lesson, everything changes. People grow. They take ownership. They improve.
That is mentorship.
Mentorship is not about building people. No one can build another person. Growth comes from within. It requires want, drive, and desire. A mentor cannot give that to someone who does not have it.
What a mentor does is show the path.
They provide guidance on a road that is long, lonely, and full of challenges. They do not walk it for you, and they do not carry you. They help you see clearly when things get difficult.
A real mentor holds you accountable. They do not accept excuses. They push you to own your decisions and your outcomes.
And when you fall, because everyone does, they do not pick you up. They teach you how to get back up, learn from it, keep moving forward and how to reset.
At every stage of your career, you need mentors. You will never know it all, and the moment you think you do is the moment you stop growing. Different stages of life require different perspectives. The right mentor at the right time can change your trajectory.
You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. That is not just a saying, it is reality. So ask yourself: are those people pushing you forward or holding you back? Are they a positive influence or a negative one?
Here is the bottom line.
We are building a mentorship program at Tel Tech. The vision is bigger than just our company. The goal is to expand this across all trades.
In 2026, we are starting with Tel Tech mentees. We are building the foundation, refining the process, and making sure it works. I am fortunate to already have about a dozen strong mentors who want to be involved, but as this grows, we will need more. We are looking for people in the industry who want to make an impact, who are willing to guide, challenge, and hold others accountable.
This is how we raise the standard. Not just for our company, but for the trades as a whole.
At the core of all of this is personal mastery.
The progression to mastery looks like this:
1. Awareness – you do not know what you do not know
2. Learning – you begin to understand the fundamentals
3. Application – you can do it, but it takes effort
4. Competence – you can do it consistently
5. Mastery – you perform at a high level without thinking
6. Teaching and training others – the final step
That last step is where it all comes full circle. When you teach, you solidify what you have learned, and you pass it on. That is how people grow, and that is how industries get better.
