Yesterday I happened to visit the Howard University’s Compass chapter. Compass Partners is my host organization that teaches youths at universities about social entrepreneurship. It also engages them to be in leadership roles by involving them as Mentors and Regional Directors- who are leading the universities at the different regions.
Although it was late evening and the outside was dark, when I entered into the school, I found that the inside of it and especially this classroom was enlightened with joy, potential, and inquisitiveness! I witnessed the fascinating ice-breaking session of India – one of the amazing mentors of the chapter at Howard. She was charismatic, full of energy and enthusiasm, and was facilitating the activity where the mentees had to come up with a ‘bucket list’. As easy as it may sound, it in fact takes a lot of skill to think outside the box and there it was – the mentees outwitted my ‘creativity’ and made their list outrageously creative! As they were sharing their ideas the room was fueled up with fun. I loved how India was shaping the lists towards the learning goals of the fellowship of the mentees. It was extraordinary because although she was a sophomore her presentation skills along with the skills of mentoring and inspiring were that of a ‘leader’! We did not quite get to realize when the session came to an end. The participants left feeling energized.
After the session, Jordon, India, Sydney and Pamela were there to chat with me. We were talking about the two big events that are going to take place soon. At one point I was dumbstruck as Jordon mentioning about “Soft Skills”! I was very surprised that he, although focusing to develop entrepreneurial attitude among the students, can relate it to the different Soft Skills and their importance! Moreover, he related them to the different types of Soft Skills such as Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence and Religious Intelligence. Surely he realizes how one whose knowledge and attitude are brimming with such types of intelligence could prosper as a Social Entrepreneur!
It is a fact that there are many people who come up with brilliant ideas and are also able to turn them into businesses. However, a relatively a much lower fraction can pursue it and make it sustainable. I am sure that we need young leaders like Jordon as a role model who has awareness and motivation to instill Soft Skills among his peers, demonstrate leadership through actions and shine as a Social Entrepreneur. I am sure that we need community leaders like India who understands the importance of Soft Skills such as Public speaking and Team Work and can go a step further by injecting inspiration, critical thinking and “Social Entrepreneurial attitude” among her peers through Compass Partners.