Rey Carr was a thought leader before we called them thought leaders, an influencer before we called them influencers, a pioneering online aggregator before there were aggregators, the one-man-Wikipedia who would tell you where to find a grant, a book, a product, an idea, a plan. All this with zero grabs for your wallet. Rey never charged rip-off prices, never an effort to upsell, cash in, fleece the flock. Rey’s pure intention and integrity create the impression of a saint on earth, but anyone who is getting a halo polished up for him should get a load of his devilish sense of humor. Rey is a source of wisdom. Yet he has mostly curated and disseminated the wisdom of other voices in coaching, mentoring, and personal development.
In my opinion, no one person has given greater service to these fields, no one person has performed a greater labor of love in creating a body of work. How many times has he said he was going to do less? His sense of duty to the work kept calling, thank goodness. It would be impossible to gauge the impact of Rey Carr’s contributions, the ripples in the pond are too great for us to imagine. What comes to mind is Genesis 26:4, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” I am so grateful to be among those who have been given much by Rey, grateful indeed to be so blessed. Amen.
What are the ingredients that made up Rey’s stardom and devilish sainthood as not only a loving husband, and greatly admired coaching colleague, but also someone’s who’s work rippled out in the world? We frame the answer to this question by looking at each of the four generative roles.
Generativity One: We begin with a bit of history about Rey’s early work as a coach. It is offered by Cy Charney, President of Charney & Associates Inc.:
About 30 years ago I created and began facilitating a course on Coaching and Mentoring at the University of British Columbia. Soon after the program was published, the dean of the business school received a letter from Rey Carr enquiring about the program, it’s legitimacy and credibility of the instructor. My enquiry as to who the said gentleman was, opened a new world to me – that of the one and only Rey Carr. I discovered that Rey had been a stalwart in the area of self-directed help especially among youth. At the time he was a professor at the University of Victoria, and unlike most consultants in the area, had done a considerable amount of research in addition to many years of real experience. In addition, Rey had established an institute for professional mentors and produced a publication which grew over the years to be the most of its type available anywhere.. . . . Happily, I got to meet Rey in person at an outdoor café in Victoria, BC a number of years ago. He arrived on his bicycle for an informal and warm conversation. I was struck by two attributes that distinguish Rey from many of his peers – authenticity and humility.
In this excerpt from a longer statement, Charney has identified two key features of Rey Carr’s Generativity One. He was assisting people directly through his teaching, writing and establishment of a widely viewed web-based publication (the Peer Bulletin). By relying heavily on the term “peer’, Rey was demonstrating the humility that Charney identified. By being willing to offer frank questions and offer honest appraisals, Rey was demonstrating his authenticity. I suspect that both humility and authenticity contribute in a major way to one’s success as a coach, mentor or consultant. Furthermore, these two attributes might be principal components of Generativity One—however it is being enacted in our world.
Here is a more detailed description of the impact which the Peer Bulletin has had on the professional practices of at least one coach, Wayne Townsend:
Download Article 1K ClubI have read, for many years, almost all 231 publications and consider it to be the best international magazine on mentoring and coaching. His magazine, Peer Bulletin, contributes much to foster and nurture a wide range of people interested in peer support, mentoring and coaching. Through Peer Bulletin, Peer Resources sustains a platform that is positive and promotional for beginners, strengthening for practicing mentors and coaches, and challenging for experts who lead in this field. I particularly like that Peer Bulletin is commercial-free so that I don’t have to wade through marketing in order to find useful nuggets. Peer Bulletin is constantly at the forefront of technology, encouraging their products to be user friendly, and creating a multidimensional magazine that is of the highest interest and easy to access.
In the latest issue there were four different authors featured. Often new programs and approaches are recognized. Many of the contributors have academic expertise and/or practical frontline experience to share for the readership. Peer Bulletin is innovative and creative with numerous contributions to those interested in peer assistance, mentoring and coaching. I have found many of these articles to be current, enlightening, informational and practical.
