Mentoring: This week I attended the Graduation ceremony for TIME - the industry mentoring group, doing a great job. It was a chance to think carefully about who had been my greatest influence. My career spanned a time when "mentoring" was not formalised, and if you got any, it was by good fortune. It took me only a little time to understand that the way I behave today is firstly because of my parents. My father had high expectations of all of us, and when he was working, we were expected to. Work was to be shared. If he was mowing the lawn, then we were all expected downstairs to rake up the grass. That stays with me today. One in, all in. Doesn't always happen, but when it does it is great. And my mother - she never stopped working from early morning to late into the night. She cooked and sewed and cleaned and washed and made things better every day of the life we spent together. She was tireless and selfless. How lucky was I to get such great lessons from them. And the other huge influrence was Qantas. They taught me to smile at every person I passed, greet them courteously, and remove my sunglasses when I spoke (I cannot speak to anyone with sunglasses on even today). They taught me to take an interest in how everyone's day was. That was what crew were expected to do. It was boot camp, and what simple lessons they were. They were re-inforced every day for fourteen great years on the Qantas Jet Base... and that sticks with me today. That was learned behaviour!! We were all young. We were not all outgoing, and confident, but we were trained to present a strong and confident front... and "front" is what it is, and hasn't that worked well! Thank you charlie Q