How Do You Measure Your Life?
Spreading Hope Through Giving Back – Why Mentors Become Mentors
Abhishek Kothari, Ye! mentor and blog contributor discusses why mentors dedicate their time and energy to developing and working with young entrepreneurs.
A young boy once asked me, “What is your definition of Success?”
Honestly, I did not fumble for an answer. Rather, I smiled and repeated Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words:
“To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded”
Ye! Community and the tools it provides young entrepreneurs can greatly help in achieving the type of success described through Emerson’s words. In the following paragraphs, let us look at how the Ye! Community can help you, the entrepreneur, achieve success by providing you the resources needed to succeed. It is important for the success of the relationship that both mentor and mentee understand the reasons they are engaging one another.
Mentoring As Giving Back
Society is increasingly witnessing seismic changes primarily driven by rapid technological advancements. However, one theme that has strongly emerged throughout those changes is the pooling of resources for the greater good. For instance, Blockchain is a great example of pooling computing power to facilitate trustworthy communication between people across the globe.
Society is only as strong as its weakest segments. If each individual lends a helping hand to a cause they feel passionate towards, the cumulative effect on society would be transformational. Let’s look at one example: As per UN estimates, roughly 836 million people are living in extreme poverty. An organization such as CARE, which pools together resources from corporate and individual partners to fight poverty and combat other issues inhibiting social & economic growth, has helped more than 80 million people in 94 countries. Well-managed not-for-profit organizations can therefore act as force multipliers to scale their impact locally or globally. There are many ways of making an impact.
At the individual level, not everything is about writing a check. Providing financial aid is a powerful instrument of change but it is not the only one. For a lot of people, giving back to society is philanthropic. If they received help from a non-profit in the past, then helping a non-profit is a way of thanking society for the past assistance they received. The giving comes full circle.
However, as the proverb goes, teaching someone to fish is more powerful than actually giving them a fish. Giving someone an education that enables financial independence is the single greatest gift anyone can offer. Think of the jobs entrepreneurs create and the greater impact these opportunities have on society. The impact of these businesses and the employment opportunities they create promote economic welfare and uplift many people from the harsh realities of daily life. Therefore, providing mentorship support is a great way of enhancing the opportunities provided by these entrepreneurs, further increasing impact and changing lives in the process.
For others, giving back is about keeping the hopes of a bright future alive for their children. Irrespective of the cause, individuals who decide to give back understand that there are distinct skills and resources they possess which are uniquely suited to combat a specific malaise.
For young, working professionals, one of the greatest opportunities available is to serve as a volunteer for a non-profit whose projects and goals are aligned with their own personal goals and desires. The difficult part, however, is that young professionals today (like myself) are busy and want to make sure to optimize their impact. This is where organizations such as the Ye! Community play a vital role. The Ye! Community works to connect mentors who wish to optimize their impact with young entrepreneurs working on meaningful projects around the globe.
Ye! works in the following ways to bring young entrepreneurs together with mentors around the globe.
- Awareness Building: Spreading awareness about the demand for mentors. The Ye! Community, through partnering with corporates and individual mentors helps to spread knowledge about the opportunities that exist to support entrepreneurs.
- Access: Creating a single, easy to use platform for professionals to sign up, become mentors, and connect with young entrepreneurs in order to more readily share their expertise.
- Community/Network: Using an online platform to make matching with mentees with mentors easier and more accessible and in doing so, build a global network of support for young entrepreneurs.
- Mentorship: Providing ongoing partnerships between professionals and non-profits to bridge the gap between young entrepreneurs and their need for guidance.
Giving Back—With Impact
One excellent example of paying it forward is the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). The challenge began by asking friends and colleagues to pour a bucket of ice over their heads to raise money for research into ALS. The challenge resulted in a series of videos that raised $115 million for ALS.
If people truly live for others, the question, “How do you measure your life?” is redundant. In the words of Mother Teresa: “Intense love does not measure, it only gives.”
So, the questions to really address are:
Are you ready to give unconditionally and leave a lasting impact on society?
More importantly, are you ready to put a smile on someone’s face?
Mentorship means giving back to someone whose life’s ambition and passion can grow exponentially from the knowledge and expertise a mentor can provide. This form of sharing and knowledge exchange is a transaction that has value beyond monetary results. This act of giving can be the difference between a young entrepreneur seeing their life’s work through to fruition, or leaving them just short of accomplishing their goals. So, give back—with impact, and become a mentor to leave a lasting impact on society.
In fact, it has been shown that one of the most powerful forms of leadership is leading by example—mentorship is a perfect example of this! If you sign up as a mentor with the Ye! Community, it will undoubtedly inspire others, including your friends, colleagues and potentially the organization you work for to emulate the notion of living for others. Once again, the act of giving comes full circle. Empathy then becomes a true path to success.
If you are ready to take the next step, we are delighted to partner with you. Begin your journey here. Become a coach today!
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Abhishek Kothari is a regular contributor to the Ye! Blog. He is also a Ye! mentor and Citi Employee. He is an avid writer. You can find more of his work on Medium.