Although mentoring has become a trending word, it still evokes little or no meaning to some people. To some people, seeking advice is either a sign of weakness or even something of which to be ashamed. While many parents are very excited at the idea of their kids and wards going to schools that run effective mentoring programmes for students, some of the kids do not see the value. It is actually a developmental opportunity for students to go to institutions that put premium on mentoring. Such institutions match students with staff members who guide them with their work and studies and often provide officially mandated internship programmes for most courses. Parents who send their children to such schools often get shocked to their marrows when they discover, mostly after the fact (when something has already gone amiss, e.g. the student’s Grade Point Average has tanked), that the children they very much want to be properly mentored, do not use the school’s mentoring services. Some students actually make it a point of duty to avoid their mentors, either due to shyness or some other reasons.They end up not getting the full benefit of the learning and experiences of their mentors.
The same situation prevails in business. Many budding entrepreneurs are either too shy or proud to seek knowledge and learn from their precursors – those who have done or are doing the business they plan to go into. Experience may be the best teacher and so one may prefer to learn by doing. However, we do not need to spend valuable time trying and probably failing to reinvent a wheel that is lying just beside us. The best thing is to first try the wheel on the ground and if it doesn’t roll properly we see if it could be repaired, reshaped, adapted or modified. That in itself is entrepreneurship. The wheel beside us is most likely to give us an idea or point the direction we should go in our new invention than anything else. Young entrepreneurs should seek and find mentors in their field of interest. Mentors are a special gift to us, no matter what the subject matter of our interest is – family, business and education inclusive. Some of those close to us have already achieved some level of success, experience and insight in the business we want to do. We should be humble enough to seek them out and learn from them. These people can share their insights almost always for free.
Some successful entrepreneurs, if not most of them, feel elated or even flattered when asked to speak to younger people or those coming after them. It gives them a sense of true success and fulfilment. We notice how excited the invited guest speakers to public for a usually are when they get a chance to speak on their experiences, especially in the areas they claim or are seen to be successful. They like the glamour and the glitz that comes with the mention they get among the success stories of the time. I watch some people who have made names in one field or the other enthusiastically mount the rostrum to “prophesy” on the subject matter of interest and their speeches are usually high-pitched. They are usually excited to be invited to share their story. Successful people often crave the chance to share their experiences, mostly as a service to humanity but sometimes to enjoy that feeling of arrival. Some not only like to share their experiences, they actively seek out opportunities to share it, especially in the limelight. It makes no business sense therefore, for young entrepreneurs trying to discover something which somebody else has long found out and is willing to share his ideas with you.
There may be a caveat there and it is to the effect that one has to be careful whose mentee one becomes. In societies where political patronage is key to success, the risk of holding out mere beneficiaries of state favour and prebendalism as icons of enterprise and success is very high. This risk is even much higher where impunity and discretion have crowded out accountability and social justice. Most developing countries find themselves in this mould. Government remains the heaviest spender in such societies, and they have used this position to pick and choose where they direct both development and financial resources.The favoured individuals become icons but not real icons because they have only one story to tell – how they got connected to the powerful.
This is not to say that the skills they deployed or applied to win the contest for favours from those in power are not important. However, we have to be careful what ethics we promote. When people become wealthy by appropriating what belongs to the public, it may be necessary to exercise some care when using them as mentors and models. If I have an oil well allocated to me today, I become a Forbes Millionaire before long. Am I really a model of enterprise to the youth? These are some of the issues in mentorship that need to be understood and managed. The ethics of my success must inspire, just as my success does. In many countries today, those with access to the mostly opaque governments, especially in developing countries, have been assigned public assets such as mines and oil fields. They have become so rich and some are now itinerant preachers of the ethos of entrepreneurship, and are now mentoring the youth on how to succeed in business. This, sometimes gives the impression that the end justifies the means or that it does not matter how you succeed but just succeed. There may be something wrong with that thesis in regard to the moral fabrics of society.
Young entrepreneurs should also not be afraid to consult professionals who have good understanding of the business. Consultants are available and they are not always as expensive as we think. You are not too young to seek professional advice whenever the fog thickens.
Emeka Osuji
@Emekaosuji_
