The image above is part of a building that holds a special place in my heart and inspired my choice of Forge CMC for my work as a coach, mentor, and consultant.

That photo is of the front doors of what had been my grandfather's blacksmith shop in the village of Salem, Nebraska. An unknown photographer snapped the black and white images on this page, and they were part of a 'war at home' news story in the early 1940s. Someone put them into an album, and my father gave that to me.

In one photo, my grandfather, Virgil Emmert, is laboring at the forge he built. My father, Virgil Emmert, Jr., is pictured working at a lathe, and an uncle uses an arc welder. There are several other photos from that same day over 80 years ago.

The previous blacksmith taught the trade to my grandfather, who taught my father and uncles. Those young men worked at the Emmert Blacksmith Shop until they went off to war, and my grandfather continued working at the Emmert Blacksmith Shop until he died in 1959. My father did not remain a blacksmith, but he put the skills and common sense he learned from his father to work as an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force and then as a machinist after retiring from the military.

My father passed down skills and common sense he learned working beside his father at the forge to my brothers and me. And he did that in three ways. He mentored us, and I remember the strength of his rough hands guiding mine as we worked the table saw or router. He imparted his skill and expertise to me, and I put them to work. That's mentoring. 

He coached us. I'll never forget when he allowed me to use the table saw alone. He asked great questions, challenged me to do better, and affirmed me for achieving something new in his shop. He encouraged me to learn and grow and created a safe space for that. That's coaching.

And when I didn't know how to fix something or wanted to learn a new power tool, I turned to him for help. He made his vast skills and decades of experience available to me and was my consultant!

What the old blacksmith did for my grandfather, and he did for my father, and my father did for me, was, in a way, a type of apprenticeship—a master artisan passing their craft, common sense, and wisdom to the next generation. I am grateful for the many master artisans of work, life, ministry, leadership, and spirituality who generously passed their skills, knowledge, passion, and wisdom on to me.

The forge captures this spirit and symbolizes the work of the coach, mentor, and consultant. And that's why I named my work Forge CMC.