Whenever I hear of certain areas gaining popularity for churning out successful business moguls, I always dig into their history and I always find that they received inspiration and perhaps some mentorship from an earlier generation which established themselves in various industries.
Similarly, I have been researching on the academic prowess and success of some of the country’s professional giants and realized a pattern – there is an ingrained culture of looking up to and mentoring others by people; that develops among communities or societies over time.
The trend is also visible in sports such as football in countries like Brazil, Argentina and France where the cultural perspective led to establishing traditions which established strong systems including academies and successful clubs in the countries.
It is no wonder then that many Kenyan children with parents successful in a certain career end up following suit. They may not be as successful while others exceed the set bar.
In many places in Nairobi and other major towns, it is not unusual to see members of a certain community establishing themselves in a certain business through their linkages and end up establishing useful networks and value chains to help build thriving businesses.
You can also easily see them socializing together as professionals and others in chamas for their economic advancement. So, one can theorize that human beings by nature love learning from others through observation, association, inspiration and nurturing among others.
That is what informs my positing that there is urgent need to mentor young minds early enough and help identify talents and abilities to help establish their career and behavior growth patterns. It helps especially in the context of economic, political and social trends.
I strongly advocate for not just proper schooling but also great mentorship, career guidance, career coaching, right inspirations and pushing for opportunities through good networks among each other.
It might be difficult for a youth dreaming of one day starting a big business such as an auto garage or a manufacturing plant but the only inspiring figures he sees in his village are a few teachers and nurses.
To soar high in many careers including politics and corporate leadership, one has to learn and move faster through guidance by his or her predecessors.
Similarly, even a person establishing a successful all rounded life of family, investments, networks and linkages and own personal growth gains a lot from mentorship opportunities and networks.
Yet there is a lack of genuine mentorship in our society on a large scale.
Today, cut-throat competitions and limitations in economic advancement make many individuals selfish perpetuating jealousy which progressively destroys society and limits growth. No wonder there is a lot of backwardness in our society, yet there is so much not learnt in school that one needs to learn in the course of life.
By Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda
The Writer is a Political, Economic and Social Analyst and Commentator. hm.ikunda@gmail.com
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