To call Dr. Mark Smith, President of Columbia International University an inspiring person would be an understatement.

While interviewing him, I realized I was listening to someone with depth, character, unbelievable determination and tenacity, love for people and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Finding good leaders is not difficult. Finding great leaders may require some searching. Fortunately, CIU has one in Dr. Smith.

If you meet him, you will find him extremely gracious, courteous, humble and entertaining.

He has a way of putting you at ease quickly.

He has been happily married to his wife Debbie for 34 years. They have 2 sons.

He loves golf and playing at the Pebble Beach Golf Course which he has done for 13 years in a row.

He has also traveled around the world and is personal friends with many spiritual, business and sports leaders. A large collection of photos on a wall in his office with those friends is impressive.

Let me begin with some background on Dr. Smith. He grew up on a farm near Galax, VA, where his family raised black angus cows.

He was active in Future Farmers of America and won quite a few awards. He enrolled in Surrey Community College in Dobson, NC. to be a veterinarian but that changed soon.

Like most of us, he wanted to know his true purpose in life. He sought God for a year and received encouragement and guidance from George McIntosh, pastor at the independent church he attended.

Probably the best advice came during his 1st year in college. Dr. Robert Whittaker advised him he needed to pursue Education Administration which he did.

One admirable quality about Dr. Smith is his focus on setting goals and doing whatever it takes to reach them. His original career goals were to have a Master’s Degree by 25, a Doctorate by 30, become a pastor and write a book by 35 and to become a college president by 40.

All were achieved on time despite being in a terrible traffic accident that left him in chronic pain for life.

He tells the story in his new book, ”Oh, God, I’m Dying,” written with Terry Powell and published by Morgan James Publishing.

His left side was crushed, and he spent more than a year in recovery.

He struggled through demanding physical therapy but never gave up. The recovery was only partially effective and he will never be 100% pain free again.

He said he has accepted that and deals with it by relying on God daily.

His ordeal and recovery process taught him so man things, including learning about urgency.

“Life demands things be done quickly. You must get things done before it is too late” he said.

More importantly, he learned to rely on God every minute every day. Now, his sense of urgency is one trait that sets him apart from many other leaders.

I asked about other lessons he has learned that have made him successful as a leader.

Here are some of them

• Listening is the key to understanding. He added that he learned some hard lessons by not listening.

• Ask hard questions. Dr. Gordon Gee, an Ohio State University mentor, taught him the power of questions. He says the way Pres. Trump asks hard questions is a good example.

• Establish goals. Prioritize and do all the little goals that make the big goal a reality.

• Networking to build connections with the right people and organizations.

• Build teams. So much more can be accomplished when you help others see the goal, believe in the goal and share in the goal.

Those traits helped him raise CIU from 1,000 to 2,000 students, raise $25- 30 million for projects and improve the community around the CIU campus.

He listened to his staff, community leaders and his team. From their conversations they saw that growth was stagnant. That brought online learning, the LAUNCH program for businesses and missionaries, an IT program and opening a School of Business.

Future goals focus on medical missions, nursing and physician assistant programs, an Asian Institute, a whole sports ministry and coaching programs.

Let no one doubt that they will happen. His creativity and infectious positive attitude will ensure that every becomes reality.