mentorship
canvaIn this new era of leadership, CEOs are paying attention to their personal brands by connecting authentically with their stakeholders. The shift toward an open, individual approach has the power to drive brand value, organizational growth and social impact. But the trend shouldn’t stop with the C-suite: Mentors will have a greater impact if they bring their authentic selves to their relationships.
Take Laura Alvarez, who was born with a condition that affects one out of every 700 children: a cleft lip and palate. She was fortunate that her parents could afford the necessary treatment, which saved her life. But she still knew she looked and spoke differently, a feeling that was reinforced when she was 10, and her classmates in elementary school made fun of her.
Rather than try to hide from her condition, Alvarez decided to use her experience to help others. She started volunteering with the global non-profit Operation Smile, which provides thousands of surgeries a year worldwide to help children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates, and related challenges. Last year, Alvarez, now 17 years old, mustered up the courage to tell her own story for the first time, at an Operation Smile student leader conference in Virginia.
Since Alvarez first spoke out, she hasn’t stopped. She spoke to 30 schools across Virginia and has given talks before thousands of people as an Operation Smile Ambassador in Switzerland, Utah, and New York. After a talk at an elementary school in Virginia Beach, a 10-year-old girl named Faryn with a cleft condition ran to give her a hug, and told her she was the only other person she had ever seen with a cleft condition, Alvarez recalls. She discovered the transformational power of mentorship.
“My five-minute story changed how she looked at herself,” says Alvarez. “This experience has helped me transform my biggest weakness into my greatest strength, and now I can be the mentor, a person that I never had in my younger life.”
Operation Smile is just one of many organizations today that are focusing on authenticity. Mentors share their personal experiences to inspire young people. Programs prioritize ongoing, lasting relationships with mentors rather than one-offs, and encourage young people to show up fully and embrace their whole selves — as Laura Alvarez did.
For Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, one of America’s oldest and largest youth mentoring organizations, mentorship means connection. Their new brand campaign, “It Takes Little to Be Big,” is all about bringing “authenticity to the forefront.” The campaign puts a spotlight on “the little moments” of mentorship that can make a big impact on the lives of young people — from a mentor taking a young person to their first baseball game to stories of mentors who attended school plays and presentations, making it clear they were invested in the relationship.
“One of our most common expressions,” the organization’s CEO, Artis Stevens recently said, “is, ‘You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to be present.’ If you look at our mentors, they come from all walks of life. They’re all backgrounds, all ages, all demographics. But the commonality they all have is they believe in showing up.”
In Washington, D.C., Spark The Journey believes mentoring means a path to economic mobility – regardless of whether a young person strives to attend college, start a career or achieve personal goals. Too many young people lack the connections or relationships to achieve success. Spark the Journey students are matched with a dedicated mentor, who shares their own ambitions and goals with students. Mentors become a presence in students‘ lives, partnering with them for four to six years and opening up their own personal networks and connections to help advance the students‘ goals.
At Ricoh North America, CEO Carsten Bruhn has started doing informal coffees and small group conversations each week with employees. These are conversations about work but also about whatever is going on in their lives – a way for the CEO to understand his team on a personal level.
“Sometimes the best thing you can do as a leader is just to listen, to ask questions and to show people you genuinely care about their lives and perspectives.” Bruhn said. “I’ve also shared my own experiences coming up in the company, and my own vulnerabilities around developing new skills and learning the culture. It helps me connect more deeply with employees, and helps them to build trust in the company. It’s very powerful.”
Justin van Fleet, executive director of the Global Business Coalition for Education, sees mentorship and continuous learning at all stages — from early childhood education to youth mentorship to professional training and development — as not only a “nice to have,” but essential. “We have a massive education gap today,” he said. “In order to increase the caliber of the global labor force, companies must transition from being consumers of talent to becoming creators of talent. The future depends on creating an environment that nurtures and develops skilled professionals.” Just last week the nonprofit organization issued a report outlining the “business case” for corporate engagement in the early years, arguing among other points that it helps young people as well as their caregivers, who can be better parents and more productive employees with the right support.
These models of mentorship that emphasize empowerment and connection are inspiring to me as someone leading an organization that mentors teens and trains them as entrepreneurs and leaders. At WIT – Whatever It Takes our young people can be mentored by someone who is in their field of interest. This access is game-changing and empowering.
Often, mentorship is seen simply as charity or “soft” activism. That’s a part of it, and it can be powerful. But today, mentorship is also emerging as a solution to some of our biggest challenges — a transformational idea that is driving connection and progress. As Laura Alvarez said, “Mentorship allowed me to show someone a different future.”