I had a pretty good rapport with the majority of teachers during my school years. There were only a few I didn’t take to. And it would be fair to say they didn’t take to me either. Our teacher-pupil relationship was relaxed, with several calling me by my nickname, even in class.

I learned a lot from my teachers at Bearsden Academy, and I loved my six years of schooling there. All teachers, I’d say, made some degree of impression, but probably the ‘most influential’ would have to be Miss Hunter / Mrs Walsh, in whose English class I was for three years.

English was my favourite subject, which helped – after P.E. of course. And the fact I fancied her probably influenced my judgement too. However, I’m genuinely certain my interest in writing, and love and respect for books and reading stemmed from her.

But the influence of ‘teachers’ is more far-reaching than in just the school or university classroom. In a sporting context, coaches and more experienced players pass on their knowledge and expertise. I learned so much from those who fulfilled such roles at both my athletics club, Garscube Harriers and the football teams I represented.

Despite the foregoing, some of Life’s most invaluable lessons are unwittingly handed out by people most certainly not considered ‘teachers.’ Let me explain.

I have been taught three enduring lessons by, believe it or not, three individual Bank Managers!

The negative first – I worked in Branch Banking with a total apology for a man. Nowadays, he would have been sacked for bullying, of that there’s no doubt. In the mid-Nineties though, the local top brass turned a blind eye to his antics because to a degree, the branches which he controlled were successful. But the way he set staff against each other; the way he belittled senior staff; the manner in which he talked down to junior staff – he was just such an obnoxious and two-faced individual.

(Years later, I had the tremendous satisfaction of refusing his handshake when he came to visit the Branch I was by then manager of. What a feeling! 🙂 )

But fair play to the git – he did teach me how to manage people. Or more importantly, how not to manage people.

It seems trivial by comparison, but another manager, one I did get along with, was regarded as slightly eccentric in his organisational skills. Now, forty-odd years later, I find myself adopting his colour-coding, highlighting and filing systems.

Another lesson learned. Never pre-judge.

And the final non-teaching teacher? Well, he was Regional Manager of the area I worked in England. He could be fierce! But unlike the manager mentioned above, he was fair. If you were on the receiving end of a verbal blasting, you most likely merited it.

However, what stuck with me, was his insistence on maintaining standards.

“You get slack be degrees,” he would often remind us. And as I’ve grown older, I realise just how true this is. As soon as second-best becomes acceptable, third place appears over the horizon!

This sentiment can be applied to all we do, in both our professional and personal lives.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they were the modern-day equivalent of the Three Wise Men, but those ex-bosses rank equally as my most influential teachers.

(Although, Miss Hunter was still ‘the best!’)

🙂