the Village Elder
Looking at the development of people, you can broadly speaking classify 4 stages: learning & development to around 20, finding your place in society till 30, make a career & start mentoring others till early 50’s en then it’s the final stretch – easing out of a working life and retirement.
For most entrepreneurs this is an easier scale – you grow up and learn and then you are an entrepreneur for the remainder of your life – sometimes with a short stop in the corporate world where quickly you come to the conclusion that that’s not it for you. A so-called Bubble Entrepreneur is somewhere in between – mostly these are lifestyle entrepreneurs such as lawers, consultants or accountants – starting their entrepreneurial careers due to (economic) circumstances.
In other cultures, think of Africa or Asia, you see a lot of respect for the elderly. In many regions the phenomenon of "village Elder" is still very much in use. These are the people that often rule when there is a village conflict, find solutions and provide advice on all sorts of matters from relationships to work. In short, these are people you go to when you are struggling yourself or need a second opinion.
Often it is the village elders, after all, that have lived a full life – have often experienced war, survived natural disasters and crop failures and have seen many different seasons.
In our Western culture – so focused on being young, looking fresh and running along at an incredibly high pace, there is no time for the elderly. No time to spend waiting for a carefully considered and thought through advice. Beyond 50, people are pushed aside to make place for those in their twenties and thirties.
It does seem as if in the latter years there is a growing appreciation for the generation that grew up during and just past World War II and that had to work hard, with a lot of discipline to rebuild a world or country in which the new generations could live. This generation has seen a lot of conjecture and ofcourse recessions too. They have seen immense technologic developments, like computers, laptops, mobile phones, PDAs not to mention the internet and social networks. It is this group of older, often wise people, with a tremendous amount of experience that are becoming a very important growth group of computer users as they now have time to spend and a willingness to learn and share.
As a young entrepreneur you need a Village Elder, someone with experience in life, who is prepared to listen and provide guidance and advise. And someone that ultimately knows that it is the entrepreneur him/herself that will ultimately take the decision.
With E.Factor we are looking for these Village Elders who can teach, advice and share their experience and wisdom – and we are looking to connect them to all the young entrepreneurs that are on the platform so the two can benefit from one another.
Hurray to the Village Elder!