The PMC Master – Project Management for International Cooperation attended at the Social Change School, helped me in defining my personal and professional path which provided me with the technical tools necessary in order to optimal perform on the field. The “post-master” feel is a unique moment for each and everyone of us, as it is the time of personal experimentsand experiences that opens up a path for an individual. I am an example of a person who previously worked at for-profit organizations and now work in the non-profit sector.
Regarding this fact, I decided to dedicate some of my free time to being a social entrepreneurial mentor also termed as a counsellor, or a crucial actor in the processes of business learning and education. I am also a part-time desk officer at the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation NGO and dedicate the remaining part of my time to being an entrepreneur in my family-owned business, this is why I conclude, the title “social entrepreneurial mentor” is a perfect title for me.
Despite not having a senior professional profile, I applied for a bridge-role that opened up doors into the social economy, not knowing all the answers that a “guide” should have, but knowing that having a right attitude is key and working hard will yeild results! This is a precious oppotunity to reach out with a concrete act, make a difference in my own little way, has produced promising possibilities.
Special thanks to the international mentorship programme, where I encountered a South African coetaneous, Henrietta, to whom, since October, I transmit my entrepreneurial and communicative competences to strengthen her potentialities and motivation that are necessary to manage her social business in the recruiting sector. My duty is to validate her ideas, analyze the enthusiasm, testing the project feasibility in theory; in short, making her dreams and visions meet the market needs. I realize how important and effective it is to stimulate the innate commercial skills, that the traditional school system has not been able to capture and implement. It is Henrietta who takes the final decision; I just simply guide her through the evaluation of all the possible scenarios.
In addition, this process is an excellent training for me as well; it gives me the occasion to have a 360° view of all the possible context and different alternatives that can arise and lead to the horizon. It is not a one-way relationship, but instead, a continuous exchange of giving and receiving, a parallel growth, while learning together. It is important to have a positive attitude of humility and predisposition towards a never-ending learning process, and also being open to other point of views.
In her, I find a professional and a woman with whom I can interact and compare, but also a cultural connection and potential work opportunities in new markets. The mentor collaboration is voluntary, therefore, I also have a sense of belonging by giving to the organisation, for this reason, I do not just have fun and gain more awareness, but I am also preparing a fertile ground for developing hypothetical new synergies.
Every young person that steps close to the job world, should have a senior figure of reference with whom working alongside, daring and asking for support…because if you don’t ask, you won’t obtain!
You are not born as a mentor, you become one.
It is not a job, but a role which I urge you to take up in life, because each of us has a responsibility and privilege to “give back a bit of everything we are gathering along our paths”.
