Lead Upwards

CHAPTER TWENTYMentorship: How to Further Grow Your Career by Networking and Giving Back

No executive goes it alone. You may be a first‐time executive, but you have a lot to offer (and gain) from sharing with your peer network, team, and startup community.

When I became a mentor at Techstars, a leading accelerator with a presence around the world, I learned its manifesto “give first,” which means to give without an expectation of receiving (knowing we mentors will still likely receive a lot from the experience). I didn't realize how important this was to my startup philosophy until I encountered ecosystems where that mentality wasn't the case. It made me understand that generosity without expectation is truly the lifeblood of a successful startup ecosystem. There is so much to learn and limited resources to accomplish a startup's mission and goals.

MENTORSHIP POWERS THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

I know what mentorship means both to myself as a mentor and to the founders with whom I have had the privilege of interacting. Techstars says that mentor relationships almost always become two‐way. That's definitely been true for me as I have been a lead mentor in Sustainability and Workforce Development accelerators and with Backstage Capital.

One founder I mentored invited me to his baby shower two years after our mentorship relationship officially ended, and we regularly talk about life, relationships, as well as the startup world. Plus, we now send each other original songs about ...