From the course: Being a Good Mentor
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Making time for mentorship
From the course: Being a Good Mentor
Making time for mentorship
Why do mentors matter now, when information is everywhere? If you want to learn how to do something, you can just search YouTube and get a solid answer. In earlier eras, mentors often served as the gatekeepers of technique and knowledge. But when knowledge is ubiquitous, what's a mentor's true value add? It's connection. When I asked a beloved mentee what her favorite course for the year was, was, she answered the cultural anthropology of money. In it, she learned about gift economies. Now in monetary economies, the value of a gift is primarily inherent in the gift itself. In gift economies, the value of the gift is primarily in the relationship between giver and receiver. A gift is given when it's needed. And if the receiver returns a favor too quickly, it can be a signal or a desire to sever the relationship. The economy is built on connection, on perpetual generosity and indebtedness. That framework highlights mentorship today. The gift of knowledge becomes truly valuable when…
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