We get a lot of bad news. Every day. A plane crash. Failed new product with horrible results. Economic news that puzzles markets. Declining home sales. School shootings. Weather emergencies with tornadoes, floods, blizzards, straight-line winds, super cold, or super hot. Challenges for us to meet and survive. Negatives to process and integrate to our lives.
They mean something in the moment. Portent of future struggle, as well. Adversity survived and filed away for a future memory, a preparation for another shoe to drop. This is life. We learn to deal with it. We find survival tips in all of it.
Some people do more. They invent a new idea, a new product, a new service. They search for ways to bring the new into being. They invent not just the new, but the how to use the new.
These are entrepreneurs. Whether for profit or not, they dream up creative ideas that solve a problem. Maybe it is useful to a small group of people; perhaps it is for the public good and a ‘miracle’ waiting to be brought to the masses. Entrepreneurs. Risk takers. Thinkers and doers.
Often these creative types do it all by themselves. Other times they turn to others for help. SCORE mentoring is one such place for help. Started by the Small Business Administration in 1962, the idea was to recruit retired business professionals who would then mentor and coach entrepreneurs safely into launching new enterprises. The goal was to support greater job growth.
And this idea comes from the reality that job growth stems mostly from small business formations and their growth.
Today SCORE has over 12,000 mentors nationally. 2018 witnessed at least 100,000 new jobs created from these efforts. SCORE also helps existing small businesses with challenges to help them survive immediate problems and prosper in the near term. No estimate is available on the jobs saved from such work. Surely there are many!
This work, however, deals with creative people working to bring new ideas to the marketplace. The imagination and creative power of these people is legendary. And potent.
As a mentor it is hard to be negative about life when working with inventive souls. This weekend I worked with a small group attempting to start a new nonprofit focused solely on helping at-risk women and girls in Zambia. Their goal is to create safe communities with adequate and healthy housing, mentoring, clothing, food and job training for the poorest of poor Zambia communities. They hope to incubate small businesses as well in those communities, thus providing employment for the women and career options for the girls. A worthy goal; a heartwarming objective.
In the face of such positive thinking and effort, how can one be worried about our future?
Fresh generations of Americans are on the scene and making good things happen. While some people sit on the sidelines to complain and bemoan the state of the world, others are doing something about it. Right here. In our very own neighborhoods. Everyday these people work to make better days for others and themselves.
That’s what freedom and opportunity achieve. Fresh new futures. For all to enjoy. And participate in.
March 19, 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment