Human capital. David Brooks has been talking about it. He’s the “New York Times” columnist who noted recently that he is turning into the guy in the movie “The Graduate,” who said the future is in plastics. However, he’s telling anyone who will listen that the future is in human capital.
Brooks doesn’t use this phrase or intend his prophecy to be interpreted in the traditional definition of human capital. Economists and policy makers have mostly treated it as simply the set of skills and knowledge that people need to get jobs and thrive in a modern economy. Brooks sees this as the most superficial of measures. He says it’s the underlying components that are critical to the U.S. comparative advantage with nations in Asia and Europe. Peter Rea, chair of B-W’s Division of Business Administration, and his faculty couldn’t agree more. This probably explains why they have launched a mentoring program for students and did so in concert with Pierre Everaert’s speech on campus. “Learning is a lifelong experience,” said Peter Kelly, associate professor and director of graduate business programs at B-W. “It is made easier with capable and caring mentors. We’re committed to encouraging students to seek out personal and professional guides, counselors and mentors. Our hope is this life skill is one of the many takeaways that make the B-W experience unique.”
Just as Brooks prescribes, B-W’s mentoring program is intended to foster relationships where students are motivated to supplement classroom learning with investments in areas such as:
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Cultural capital, the aggregate of the habits, assumptions, emotional dispositions and linguistic capacities we unconsciously acquire from families, neighbors and ethnic groups.
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Social capital, the knowledge of how to behave in groups and institutions; in other words basic politeness and its applications.
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Moral capital or credibility. Brains and skills are worthless, suggests Brooks, if no one trusts you.
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Cognitive capital or inherited brainpower. This is more than a high IQ. It’s the capacity for self-evaluation and empathy, both of which are not fixed and, thus, can help continually strengthen the other components of human capital.
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Aspirational capital or the drive to prove naysayers wrong. This is a trait found in almost every entrepreneur and is fundamental to innovation.
The mentoring program at B-W already has some early investors. They come from B-W’s Business Advisory Council and Glengary LLC, the venture catalyst organization that invests expertise and financial resources into early stage companies that almost exclusively reside in Northeast Ohio.
These professionals and current/former executives bring diverse sets of experiences, everything from entrepreneurial start-ups, to philanthropic institutions, to manufacturing companies of all sizes, to large service operations and healthcare organizations. Despite their different paths, a common thread runs through their motivations.
“Throughout my career someone has always helped me,” said Michael Benz, president and CEO, Greater Cleveland United Way Services, as well as a former executive at COSE and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. “My only way of repaying my mentors is to serve as the same to someone who is just starting out on the career path. This way I can give the kind of guidance that helps students avoid stepping into something as many before them have done. When it comes down to it, I enjoy being a link in someone’s career.
”The program is delivering dividends to the mentors as well. “My experience as a mentor in the fall was rich,” said Rick D’Angelo, operating partner with Glengary. “I counseled students who were at vastly different points in their careers, as one was a graduating senior and the other an EMBA who had ten years experience. It was quickly clear with each of us that the contact resulted in value. I know I felt more enlightened from hearing their experiences.”
Both Benz and D’Angelo will be investing again, as each has signed on for the next mentoring program at B-W, which coincides with the Kamm Lecture Series program in March.
“My career benefited greatly from mentors,” said D’Angelo. “They influenced my decisions to go to graduate school for organic chemistry and, while I was at GE, they helped me recognized that I was better suited for a business career than one in the sciences.”
“My only way of repaying my mentors is to serve as the same to someone who is just starting out on the career path.”– Michael Benz,Greater Cleveland United Way Services
“Our hope is that this life skill is one of the many takeaways that make the B-W experience unique.” – Peter Kelly, director of B-W graduate business programs
“It was quickly clear with each of us that the contact resulted in value. I know I felt more enlightened from hearing their experiences.” –Mentor Rick D’Angelo, Glengary LLC
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