Some of us are lucky enough to have great mentors in our professional lives. This is the story of one of mine.

When I first became Director, I saw one of my board members, Jim Garnjobst, as difficult. Argumentative. Contrarian. "This guy's gonna be the death of me..." I remember lamenting to my wife back then.

Fast forward a dozen or so years and I saw Jim as one of the most important people in my professional life. A mentor. A friend. Jim passed away recently and the hole he leaves on my board on on my heart is palpable.

I wanted to honor him by talking about how important mentors are to high-achieving folks like us and how cultivating space for debate and contrarian approaches makes our boards and organizations stronger.