Sometimes you don’t have access to mentorship or influential thinkers in your immediate circle. You have to look for it elsewhere. And if you are like me, you’re not happy unless you’re learning something new. That is what mentors are for. My most influential mentors, however, have not been people I’ve met. Their mentorship has come through the work they create. They put their heart, mind and soul into their work and it connects with the people out in the world.

Here are few that I’d like to share with you:

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Matt Ridley
I’ve written about Matt’s book, The Rational Optimist. To date, he’s made the best case to me that we are on an upward spiral with our civilization. He has broken down human behavior and tied the nature of our interconnectedness to the positive results in our social, economic and technological development as a species. He manages to do so with wit and he conveys complex ideas with simplicity. Not an easy feat.

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Ken Robinson
I discovered Ken Robinson after watching his online TED talk about the nature of our education system and how it is killing creativity in children at the very time it should be encouraging it’s growth. This led me to buy his book, The Element, which expands on his premise. Ken is leading the conversation on something that is a personal goal for me—living your passion and being an advocate for personal growth.

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Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn is one of the few voices in the conservative movement that can actually speak with wit and intelligence. I’m not sure what that says for conservatism, other than it lacks idealogical leadership. Steyn resonates with me because his viewpoint is not so much rooted in the religiosity that has dominated the conservative dialogue recently as it is rooted in the basic principals of individual liberty. I’ve always felt that true conservatism is just practical libertarianism. I don’t agree with everything Steyn writes, but I enjoy the dialogue he creates and the thoughts he provokes.

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Dan Harmon
Clearly the odd man out on this list is Dan Harmon. Doesn’t really matter, though. I am fascinated by his work. He created a show called Community. I watch it religiously. There are few TV shows that I gravitate to and his is one of them. It’s creatively diverse, has psychological depth and a great big heart beneath it all. He describes his work better than I ever could: “If you want to know what’s on my mind that I consider worth the attention of five million people, that’s the place to look, Thursdays at 8 on TV. Those are the stories and the jokes and observations about life and personal confessions that I intend.”

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Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell completely changed the way I viewed religion and how I go about my life. He dedicated his life to the understanding of the world’s religions and finding the common humanity in all of them. He has many published works, but the best two for someone new to Campbell, is The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

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Michael Crichton
I was a fan of Crichton’s work when I started to read his novels. I became a fan of him as a person, when I read Travels, and started finding his interviews and lectures online. Crichton was a fascinating guy. Finished medical school and payed for it by writing fiction. Realized he didn’t want to be a doctor after all. Made movies. Made tv shows. And all along, kept his fascination with the world of science and technology at the forefront of his mind. He simply used storytelling as the medium to play “what if.” And he stood up for what he believed in.

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Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl lived through perhaps the most grueling human experience a man could face—a nazi concentration camp. He survived. And he managed to create something beautiful and meaningful out of all that horror. Man’s Search for Meaning has sold more than 3 million copies and is perhaps the most inspirational book I have ever read. Yes, a book about probably the biggest black eye in modern human history is inspirational. Frankl makes the case that what we are seeking as human beings is not power or pleasure, but meaning and purpose.

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Seth Godin
I probably write about Seth too much. It’s hard not to. He is very good at what he does and gives insights to his audience every single day. For free. Seth is in a position that I hope to be one day—offering insights of value by learning to view our experiences in business as an ecosystem. The nature of human behavior. The role of technology. The way markets operate and change. The reason one is in business. The value of education. All are relevant to what we do each and every day. I found Seth because I was searching for business insights. I
come back because of his cultural ones.

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These are just a few folks that have influenced me—the ones who are top of mind at the moment. The funny thing is, I know for a fact they would disagree with each other on a lot of things. That’s OK. Matter of fact. That’s pretty cool.

Like I said, they’d make one hell of a dinner party.