According to Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, “no matter how incredibly smart you think you are, or how brilliant, disruptive or plain off -the-wall your new concept might be, every start-up team needs at least one good mentor.¹” Thankfully, here at IUCG, our Vice President of Internal Development, Louis Higgins, successfully fills the role of mentor, providing guidance and educational workshops for all members to feel prepared to succeed in their future careers.

As an organization, our three core values are: collaborate, solve, accelerate. In his development workshops Louis incorporates these three principles into everything we learn. Whether Louis is teaching our members the values of certain programs in Excel, or defining the rules and applications of statistics; club members are naturally collaborating with each other to solve problems, and in the process are accelerating their development as individuals and young professionals.

Like every good mentor, Louis comes into each and every workshop with enthusiasm and a goal in mind that reaches far beyond the confines of the classroom. His vision as VP of Internal Development is to pass on a way of thinking, rather than a cut and dry set of solutions for a given array of problems. He uses the topics of the development workshops as a basis from which he can provide our members with a “toolbox” to solve a multitude of problems. With mutual interest and concerted effort, this toolbox grows and becomes an intrinsic quality within every member, allowing them to quantitatively and qualitatively reason through problems they could face in a real world situation.

As a graduating senior Louis’ time in IUCG is not permanent, but his vision will certainly be realized and have a lasting effect on IUCG. Our members come from a variety of backgrounds, majors on every end of the spectrum, and each has something unique to bring to the table. Opportunities arise every day to learn from each other. This is the nature of mentorship within IUCG. In the words of our president Evan Lynch, “We want IUCG to be a place where it is natural for a freshman to approach a senior when they are struggling to understand a new concept.” This system of mentorship is predicated upon every member stepping up to the plate and being open to building relationships. More tenured members act as a resource for the younger members when they struggle, and younger members must actively engage with others outside their comfort zone. The exchange of knowledge and willingness to help at a deeper level is something that we foster in IUCG and certainly something that cannot be taught in a development workshop. “It has to become our culture.”

At the end of the day, there is only so much knowledge that can be acquired without being in the industry. Keeping this in mind, Vice President of Development, Davies DeCesare-Fousek reaches out to professionals in the consulting industry who can provide us with some of the knowledge about consulting that many students are only exposed to after they enter the workforce. Earlier this semester, consultants from Grant Thornton came and spoke to IUCG about their experiences in the industry. This external mentorship is another way to accelerate the development of our members.

Thanks to the leadership and vision of our upper classmen members like Louis, Evan, and Davies, IUCG is well on its way to creating this culture of natural mentorship. As a result of the development workshops, external speakers, and IUCG’s culture of mentorship, our members have a constantly growing toolbox, which is used every day inside and outside the classroom, and serves as an asset for their future as they enter the professional world.

¹http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/the-importance-of-having-a-mentor-in-business