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 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 Coaching — What’s 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:
- 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…
