Who Do You Think You Are?

6Can You Have a Career Helping Others without Sacrificing Your Own Needs?

My father, John Fanning, barely made it out of high school. He led a rowdy, hardscrabble life as a kid growing up in a small town nestled within the mountains of southern West Virginia. As the youngest of four brothers, he always lived in fear of his own hot-tempered father, who traveled constantly as a railroad engineer and drank heavily when he was home. He and his high school administration were rarely on good terms. Some of his teachers arranged students in rows by their grade in the class, with the worst performers in the back, so he rarely sat close to the teacher. Nevertheless, no matter how far back in the classroom he sat, he knew college would be in his future. His mother, a well-educated and determined woman, had made it clear to her sons that no matter how much mayhem they caused growing up around town, they would go off to college and earn a degree.

Determined not to let his mother down, he managed to squeak out of high school with some help from a few kind teachers. He attended a nearby college, hitchhiking to and from campus each semester. There, he soon realized that he was bright enough to succeed; he just needed to learn how to study and find a larger purpose for himself. He found in himself a deeply rooted desire to fix people, and maybe somehow fix himself as well. That purpose ultimately propelled him to complete multiple advanced degrees and spend his entire career as a leader in ...