Written by: Gene Oswalt, Vice President, Benefits, Compensation, M&A, Robert Bosch LLC, and Vice-Chair, AutomotiveNEXT
What is my passion? Mentoring others. Why? It’s like giving a gift, and being able to watch someone open it—the joy really is in the giving. I also think of mentoring as my way to “Pay It Forward.”
When I was in an early leadership role, and was struggling with a particular challenge, my boss showed me a piece of paper that he had taped above his desk. On it were these words:
Good judgment comes as a result of experience.
Experience comes as a result of bad judgment.
There is no shortcut to maturity—it comes one day at a time.
He then gave me the piece of paper, which has been taped to every desk or office wall I’ve had ever since—for more than twenty years.