This week Grant Nash (who you can read about here) asked me what I say when I’m asked what my legacy at 5FM is. So I made a list. And one of of the things that I’m most proud of on that list is the 5FM Mentorship Program. This is a program I designed and implemented to allow youthful South Africans interested in the media biz and the power of 5 to join the station for a week and see how all of us do what we do. The program runs two to three times a year and we take a maximum of 10 mentees for each intake. We get hundreds of applications.
Last week we took in the first 10 for 2018 and as usual I insisted on delivering the first talk at 5FM. What I like to do is ask each one of them what they are pursuing in terms of their careers in the media landscape. I make careful mental notes of what they say and then I tell them that at the end of the week, when I will see them all again for a final presentation on a Friday afternoon, they will all have changed their minds. I’m always delighted by how a single week completely transforms their ideas about the industry and clarifies what they are going to do next. It’s as though that week with my 5FM family just pulls them into focus and they leapfrog forward into a place of confidence.
Now why am I droning on about this? Because there is such an enormous gap between graduates and first-jobbers that are capable of coping, let alone thriving, in the world of work. There are lots of reasons for this – I’m a Simon Sinek acolyte on the millennial phenomenon – but knowing something and doing something are distinctly different. So the 5FM Mentorship Program is what I’m doing to try and bridge that gap. And it’s working! The 5FM Family is doing our part to build a nation. Just look at this.
For details on how to apply for the 5FM Mentorship Program click here.
And a special thank you to Ms Mikaela Oosthuizen for her blogpost here.