I do not attempt to train nor encourage graduate students to be clones of me either from a theoretical or substantive perspective. I encourage students to reach out to explore new ideas and new theories. I have learned much from these explorations. A general systems approach which emphasizes the importance of the interrelationships of many parts is a critical element in my approach. This require an appreciation and some knowledge of a wide variety of other disciplines.
All disciplines have something to offer to the understanding of most problems.
For example, I have long believed that biology had considerable to offer sociologists in the understanding of human behavior in groups and that we are ignoring this potential at considerable risk to our discipline. For this reason, I feel comfortable and even prefer graduate students who have training in other disciplines and who come into sociology. Graduate students should be capable of self direction and self motivation. They should be capable of taking small tasks at first and larger one later and carrying out these tasks without very close supervision from me. If they are to become successful professionals, self discipline and self-direction are essential characteristics.