Mentorship & Economic Development

One thing I know for sure is that entrepreneur support organizations work.

I was asked, in the early 2000s, to launch a mentorship program.At the time, I didn’t think I knew enough about it, but as as I reflect on that initial program, I began to think about my career from years before.

I’ll never forget the people that had mentored, coached, or advised/guided me! If you are interested in learning the difference between those roles, I’ve blogged about it in the past you can read it on Medium at https://farisalami.medium.com/coaching-whats-in-a-word It is also available in my book about The Power of 7.

I think mentors are just as important as business advisors, coaches, and consultants.

The people who mentored me never told me what to do — they just shed light on their journey so I could learn from their experience any way I chose. There was no “This is the right/wrong way.” There was only “This is the path I followed,” or “This is what happened when I went the wrong way.”

It was about the individual journey.

Through my work I’ve seen several ways to deploy programs like that in your community. Here are three:

1. Create a mentor/mentee program in which you match the mentors and mentees. You must ensure the mentors are being trained, and the mentees are being trained and be clear about how that relationship works. 95% of the time, the mentorship programs are pro bono time for the mentor. On rare occasions, mentors might be paid a small fee to accommodate expenses incurred. This is why you don’t want the Mentor/Mentee to be a five-year-long relationship meeting on a weekly basis! You want to be targeted, specific, and short-term.
2. Having platforms in which individuals can share their stories about their journey. This is a form of mentorship because they are sharing what did or didn’t work for them. Find someone to explain that the goal of this is not to tell you to follow their steps, but to expose their steps so you can learn from them because your journey today may not be the same one they took 20 years ago, 5 years ago, or even last year. The world changes, the times change, the situations and backgrounds and knowledge and networking change, so you can’t apply everything you’ve heard, but you could learn from it.
3. Create an atmosphere in which mentorship is fostered. Whether it is casual conversation, coffee shops, or networking opportunities for people to just mix and mingle.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

As you engage your community in economic development, think about:

1. What mentorship tools, programs, or services can you provide to support small businesses or startups in your community?
2. What resources have you used to engage other types of support such as consulting, advising, and coaching?
3. What other tools have you used to keep economic development prospering in your community?

_____

Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.