MarkFord
Mentoring the Second Generation
I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring many young people throughout my career. With family members, it’s been mostly about watching them grow into responsible and productive adults. With employees, it’s been about helping them grow into business leaders on their own.
I can’t think of anything that has been more rewarding than watching those young people listen to my advice and put it into action.
But lately, I’ve been mentoring a different group of people, and it has turned into a source of extra special pleasure for me. I’m talking about mentoring my partners’ and colleagues’ kids. Sometimes, even their grandkids.
I got a call from DL, who said, “I’m off to Madrid for a few months, but I’d like your help with D, my son.” It turns out that, after a successful career as a yoga instructor in LA, D moved east and was trying to decide whether to start again in the yoga business or do something else. I’d seen D a handful of times in the last 30 years, but we barely knew one another. Because of my relationship with DL, though, I wanted to do everything I could to help him. And I did.
RR called my office to set up an appointment. I remembered him as the first son of NR, our partner in a publishing company in Germany. Several years ago, his dad retired, putting him in charge. RR said that he was going to be in Florida and wanted to hang out with me and talk business. I was honored to spend a day with this young man, as a tribute to the relationship I had with his dad. I took him out to Paradise Palms, where we spent several hours talking as we moved through the gardens. This kid is the spitting image of his father. And he has his dad’s intellectual and emotional intelligence. He even has the same smile and hand gestures. Can you imagine what a privilege and a pleasure this was for me?
AV, a partner in our Nicaraguan development, asked me to spend some time with his son who’s starting school in the US this year. AV wanted me to encourage the boy to keep his nose to the grindstone. To spread his wings, but remember that success in life is all about doing the work that others won’t. I was happy to do it.
And that’s to say nothing of the relationships that have been developed over the years between businesses I’ve started that are run by my children and businesses my colleagues and partners have started that are now run by their children. Can you imagine how much fun it is to be copied on correspondence between your children and the children of someone you’ve spent years working with?
I’ve had relationships like this in the past. But they are becoming common now, due no doubt to my age and the age of my partners and colleagues. It’s all good. All very good. I feel so lucky.
