TX Mining Monthly
 

Executive Director’s Message by Ches Blevins

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Welcome to TMRA’s first TXMining eNewsletter for 2018 and first issue published by our new Partner, Naylor, LLC. Thanks to all of you we are confident this eNewsletter and this year will be a success! I hope that you have participated in providing content and/or ads for this publication and, if so, thanks. If not, join us and be a part of this effort and opportunity moving forward!

“Mentoring” as a term, concept or action is pretty broad and means different things to different people. To me, it at least includes your approach, your actions and then how you encourage and train others joining your organization or working on behalf of your company. What do employees and contractors, or your clients if you are the contractor or supplier, see and think about when working with you? Our TMRA Members are known for Honesty and Hard Work. We are also known for “Safety First.” Beyond or in conjunction with these we are known for mentoring in a positive way by example and by very conscious, positive and consistent training.
 
Having had the privilege of working with our TMRA Mine Owner/Operators and Support Members, and being onsite to see day-to-day operations, what I have consistently seen is leading and teaching, mentoring, by example. What I also know is that this teaching by example is an important part of the overall reason for success in operations. Mentoring includes teaching what we all understand as “skills,” like driving a truck, properly and safely handling a dragline or dozer, working with electrical equipment, sampling soils and water, planting vegetation and the like. Importantly, just as importantly, mentoring includes teaching and reflecting goals and objectives that include respect for each other, the environment, state and federal laws, regulations and permits, never forgetting that along with production must be compliance and safety.
 
A friend of mine has, in my presence and, I’m pretty sure, including me, said that “I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you”. While that statement is certainly true, what it really emphasizes is that mentoring is words, actions and consistency. Good leaders, good supervisors, don’t just tell you what needs to be done and how to get it done, they show you the way by their actions and, for sure, they don’t assume once is enough to both understand and incorporate.
 
My professional life is and has been filled with positive and, I think, effective mentors. You all get to learn whether I’ve been a good student. My goal is to keep listening and learning. More often than not my teachers, my mentors, include YOU, our TMRA Members. You that have been around me for a while know that my motto, my pledge, my goal is to “Always surround myself with those smarter, kinder, more caring and committed than myself.” My only success is thanks to you. TMRA’s success and successful future is and will be thanks to you and to your being a part, an active part and participant in TMRA.
 
Be an active TMRA member. Support us where you can. Be with us at our Quarterly Meetings, our Owner/Operator-Support Member events and attend our Annual Meeting October 28-30 at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort & Spa in Bastrop, TX. The Auction at this Annual Meeting is our opportunity to support our Teacher and related Outreach programs to assure our message with great and supported information is available to all.
 
Finally, thank you for your support and for all that you do.

Take care,
Ches Blevins, TMRA Executive Director

 

Back to TX Mining Monthly

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn