ASA Norcal President’s Message for February 2012 – Robert P. Lentz III, ASA

What It Means to Have a Mentor

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Chinese and Occidental!!! Beginning on Monday, January 23, 2012, this is the Year of the Water Dragon, an especially auspicious one in Chinese tradition. According to Wikipedia, “In Chinese Taoist thought (which describes the underlying natural order of the universe), water is representative of intelligence and wisdom, flexibility, softness and pliancy; however, an over-abundance of the element is said to cause difficulty in choosing something and sticking to it. In the same way, water can be fluid and weak, but can also wield great power when it floods and overwhelms the land.”

This President’s Letter is intended to follow-up on our December 8, 2011 Mentoring Night. It was among our most successful Chapter meetings of recent years.

Many of you Candidate ASA Members of our Chapter have already expressed interest in being helped by one of our more senior ASA members. Thank you for doing so. The road to achieving recognition as an Accredited Member (“AM”) or an Accredited Senior Appraiser (“ASA”) may seem like a long and treacherous one. But it can be made far shorter and much more enjoyable with “just a little help from friends.” Though I’m no fan of Mao Tse-Tung, he once said, “The longest journey begins with but a single step.”

Our goal in ASA is to give you the members, whether Candidates or otherwise, the most comprehensive training and networking resources that will enhance your chosen appraisal profession. According to Webster, the word mentor means “a trusted counselor or guide who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague.”

The American Society of Appraisers, we know, is “the gold standard” for good reason. WE have the highest standards of ethics (the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, training (the most comprehensive Principals of Valuation and other course offerings), and peer review and experience requirements that no other professional appraisal association can match.

In today’s competitive job market, WE all need to insure that our job skills have lasting economic value to our clients. By linking ourselves with a mentor, we can align our training and experience with the expectations of those clients, the appraisal industry, and of course government regulation.

Finally, we should look at the local ASA Chapter and ASA as a “community of friends.” It is so easy to take that first step along the road to improving our professional appraisal practice. It is these friends in the ASA that can give us renewed optimism and allow our dreams to be accomplished.

‘A great way to begin the New Year, both personally and professionally. Have a happy one, and see you at the next meeting!

Bob

Robert P. Lentz III, ASA NorCal Chapter President 2010-2012           

Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuation

Lentz & Company, Inc.

8 Waldeck Ct.

Oakland, CA   94611-1744

Direct:                        510-530-0296                       

Fax:                        510-530-0237

robertlent@aol.com