There’s an old African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Its origins trace more specifically to a Luo tribal saying from East Africa: “Alone a youth runs fast, with an elder slow, but together they go far.” It’s a truth leaders have recognized for centuries and one we’re in danger of forgetting today.
CEOs from companies like Apple and PepsiCo have said what a lot of us feel: Leadership can be lonely. Oftentimes, the higher one climbs on an organizational chart, the greater the isolation. Many leaders are socially oversubscribed and constantly surrounded by people, while still lacking meaningful counsel and authentic peer or mentor relationships. Although leadership can be lonely, it doesn’t have to be—and it’s perilous to let it stay that way.
We’re living through an interesting cultural moment, marked by the continued rise of AI and its ever-changing impacts on the workforce. New generations of leaders are entering the marketplace every day who are brilliant, purpose-driven, and hungry for meaning. Yet they’re also stepping into leadership with a profound mentorship deficit.
Many leaders today find themselves without healthy models to follow or reliable wisdom to draw from. Several cultural shifts contribute to this gap: the breakdown of multi-generational family systems, the erosion of traditional marriages and families, the weakening of local churches, and the widespread absence of spiritual or familial “fathers.”
We now live in a time of unprecedented access to information but diminishing access to formation. AI and technology can enhance data, information, and even aspects of knowledge, but they cannot replicate or replace genuine human connection and mentorship. This reflects the DIKW framework—Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom—and highlights a growing imbalance: while D-I-K are rapidly accelerating through technological advances, W remains a distinctly human element, essential for channeling the horsepower of the former.
This creates a significant problem. We are building businesses in an era of dizzying acceleration, marked by AI, supply chain upheaval, political volatility, and global economic flux. The pace of innovation is outstripping our ability to adapt with discernment. The result? Leaders often find themselves running out of time to think critically amid the speed of AI-generated content. This can leave leaders to fend for themselves, like novice golfers without caddies, trying to navigate complex terrain alone and under pressure.
Part of the challenge is that mentorship often feels elusive. We imagine it as finding a singular, sage-like figure—a Yoda, a surrogate father, someone who holds all the answers and can show us “the way.”
However, that ideal can keep us paralyzed in disappointment. The truth is, most leaders don’t need a single mythical mentor to fill every gap. Instead, we need a composite of mentors, a constellation of trusted voices whose strengths and perspectives complement our own weaknesses.
You might have one mentor who helps you think about marriage and family, another who sharpens your financial acumen, a peer who challenges your leadership blind spots, and a younger colleague who helps you stay connected to emerging technology and cultural trends.
Mentorship, in this sense, becomes augmented knowledge and applied wisdom. It’s a dynamic network of learning, rather than a linear transfer of mere ideas.
This is why peer-based mentoring and group learning environments are gaining popularity and becoming increasingly necessary. The world is too complex for any one person to have it all figured out.
When you gather a group of leaders with diverse strengths, experiences, and blind spots, you create a living organism of shared wisdom. The diversity of thought, industry, age, and experience becomes an advantage.
Mentorship isn’t always top-down, either. Reverse mentoring—learning from those younger or earlier in their careers—has never been more relevant. The next generation is closely aligned with trends, technologies, and cultural shifts that older leaders must understand.
When humility and curiosity intersect across generations, wisdom flows in both directions. Mentorship becomes less about hierarchy and more about exchange.
I experienced this firsthand as a young dad. Meeting with other parents of toddlers was comforting. We shared the same sleepless nights and toddler tantrums, but none of us really knew how to define success.
The breakthrough came when I began spending time with parents who were further down the road. They helped me see what truly mattered, what pitfalls to avoid, and what moments to cherish. At the same time, being around new parents reminded me of the sweetness and wonder of the early days of parenthood.
That rhythm of learning from those ahead and encouraging those behind is what healthy mentorship looks like in business, too.
On International Mentoring Day, we’re invited to remember that business was never meant to be a “go it alone” venture. The myth of the self-made leader is just that: a myth. Every strong leader stands on the shoulders of others who invested, corrected, encouraged, and believed in them.
If you lead people, you have the opportunity and responsibility to mentor others. If you lead without mentors in your life, you’re missing one of the greatest catalysts for growth.
The marketplace needs wiser leaders, and wisdom comes from intentional relationships. Leadership might be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want to go far, go together.
