Czech Professionals and The Mentorless Generation
Part one of a three-part series
By Pepper de Callier
The idea for this column came from a discussion I had over dinner in Prague almost two
years ago. My wife and I were new to Prague and anxious to learn about the city, the
people and culture of the Czech Republic. We were having dinner with former student
dissident leader and successful Czech entrepreneur, Jan Bubeník and his wife, Pavlina
Wolfová, a popular talk show host here in Prague. (In March of 2006 I joined Jan’s firm
as Chairman.) During dinner Jan spoke of his generation, the thirty-somethings, as being
a “mentorless generation” not only in the Czech Republic but throughout the former
Soviet-ruled countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
This generation, as he described it, is made up of young professionals who, having grown
up in a command economy, are building businesses and careers in a rapidly growing
market economy. They are the first in their families to “spread their wings” and, unlike
their counterparts in the West, they have no family or friends that they can call on as
mentors who have built careers and businesses in this market economy. Yes, there has
been the wave of consultants and expatriate executives who flooded into Central and
Eastern Europe, many of which have added significant value as mentors, by the way, but
only to a select few. In addition, the preponderance of these people who were old enough
to have built businesses and careers weren’t Central or Eastern Europeans. The younger
ones who were Central and Eastern European, many of whom were educated in premier
Western business schools, hadn’t had the length of experience in various cycles of
business and of life that a mentor needs in order to add the highest value -- hence, no vast
pool of mentors who were culturally relevant who could define and translate the Central
and Eastern European experience vis-à-vis the market economy.
All of that is about to change, though. Within the next five years this mentorless
generation will become the first mentoring generation of the market economy
professionals in Central and Eastern Europe. And, as this generation forms its
relationship with the one that follows, which will be the first generation of Central and
Eastern European professionals to have culturally relevant mentors, I would like to offer
some food for thought -- some observations to consider as these relationships are formed
and a truly Czech version of career mentoring is born.
Mentoring is an ancient and honored tradition in civilized society. In the epic poem The
Odyssey, Homer tells of the relationship between Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, and
Mentor, a trusted advisor of Odysseus who was asked to serve as Telemachus’s tutor and
guide until Odysseus returned to Athens from fighting in the Trojan War. Mentor
dedicated the next twenty years to the then infant Telemachus and served as his guide
until he reached adulthood -- thus “mentoring” was born.
As in ancient Greece, the role of a mentor is relatively unchanged today -- it is one of
teacher, guide, and trusted counselor. Or, in the words of Jan Bubeník, “A mentor is
someone who can accelerate the learning-curve and ensure that you are not the ‘pioneer’
of all of life’s dead-ends.”
In the last fifteen years there has been an explosion of research on the topic, and more
and more MBA programs are addressing the subject. All of this attention has brought
about an evolution creating several different forms of formal and informal mentoring
relationships. There is the traditional intergenerational relationship between the seasoned
veteran and the younger initiate. There is peer mentoring, which involves two people of
the same level in an organization, but one has a little more exposure to the corporate
culture and the position. There is even group mentoring and, in a twist that was
championed by Jack Welch at GE, reverse mentoring. Reverse mentoring is when a
younger person, who has very current technology skills, let’s say, is paired with an older
person who lacks the technology skills but can contribute valuable knowledge and
guidance in other areas. As the pace of change in business accelerates, the concept of
reverse mentoring will continue to grow in importance.
While there is broad consensus that quality mentoring is indeed a valuable experience,
questions arise such as: “How does one find a mentor?” “How do you qualify someone
as a mentor? “How do you approach someone to initiate a mentoring relationship?”
“What are realistic expectations of a mentoring relationship?” “What are the dangers and
potential abuses of a mentoring relationship?” “What does mentoring look like in its
highest and best form?”
These are some of the questions I asked in a series of interviews with recognized experts
in the field of career development and mentoring that will be answered in Part Two of
this series.
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