Scott Abel Life Coaching: One Character Trait that Cannot be Faked

Everyone at the University knew this professor – staff and students alike. She was well-respected. That was one thing everyone could agree on about her. But as a professor she was becoming increasingly controversial, this year in particular. The popularity of her course and her teaching methods had led to increasing interest among the students. The professor didn’t really care about that. She preferred the smaller classes actually. But her lecture style was different and unique.

As well as she knew her material – and she owned it, that’s for sure – but she knew people even better. She didn’t so much lecture “on” the material as she did “to” the students. But this became more difficult as her class size grew and grew. This year there were 400 students enrolled. I was one of her TA’s (Teaching Assistants). As she strolled into the lecture hall and to the podium the first day – you could tell before she said a word, that this was someone you would be paying attention to. As she grabbed the microphone at the podium, the crowd of 400 students became silent. She made it clear right from the beginning that those students taking the class for an easy “A” might as well drop out now. There was no such thing in her class she said. She made it clear the material presented in this course amounts to her life’s work; and if a student is not going to respect that and take it seriously, then she’d prefer they do not attend her class or take her course.

But she was most diplomatic in her tone as well.

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