In their new book, Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and 
Social Innovation, authors, students, and social innovators Nina Vasan and Jennifer Przybylo guide students, young people, and emerging professionals in harnessing their inspiration, talents, and collaborative efforts to make an impact next door or across the world. We sat down with them recently to talk about the role of mentorship and leadership in doing good well and making lasting social change.
Why is mentorship so important?
Mentorship is an absolutely essential component of an individual’s development as a leader. As current students who regularly work with, and seek the advice of, our mentors, we can say with confidence that our mentors have been, and continue to be, instrumental in our everyday efforts to become better leaders. Our mentors are not only individuals we respect and hope to emulate, but also invaluable sources of perspective and advice. Their experience and resultant intuition are resources for which there is no substitute.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about leadership?
The most critical thing we’ve learned from our own experiences in the non-profit sector is that a big part of being a good leader is being an effective leader—that is, knowing how to do good well, and sharing that knowledge with others. Doing good well means understanding your strengths and weaknesses, how your unique talents might be best applied, and when to ask others for help. It means seeking out evidence-based solutions and subjecting your own efforts to frequent measurement and evaluation in order to improve upon them. Finally, doing good well means learning from both your successes and failures, and being willing to broadcast that knowledge to others so that they might benefit from your experience.
How can mentors help their mentees do good well?
Our favorite mentors have been those who speak candidly about the things they’ve tried that have worked, and the things they’ve tried that have failed… sometimes, miserably! Frank discussions like these not only impart valuable knowledge, but also make a mentor more relatable on a personal level, thus promoting a stronger mentor-mentee bond. Another key action mentors can take is to encourage their mentees to spend some time in self-reflection. While mentors often ask what mentees’ goals and aspirations are, this assumes mentees, who are often early in their careers or still in school, have these larger life and professional questions ironed out. But this is often not the case! By encouraging all mentees to spend some time getting to know their own strengths and weaknesses, goals and values, a mentor can have a profound impact on a mentee’s personal and professional development. Finally, mentors can help their mentees do good well by directing them to a helpful resource. We wrote Do Good Well, a comprehensive and practical road map for turning idealism into impact, in order to specifically address these and many other points necessary for effective leadership.
What can readers expect to find in Do Good Well?
Do Good Well is a practical, personal guide aimed at empowering the next generation of nonprofit leaders. The book is divided into three parts. In Part I: The Vision, the reader, through a series of self-reflection exercises, gains a better understanding of his or her core values, key interests, and personal strengths and weaknesses. With these insights in mind, the book guides the reader through the process of identifying a cause or specific problem that not only matches the reader’s interests, but also makes the best use of his or her unique skill set. Next, the reader is engaged in brainstorming activities and a series of exercises to help generate and refine potential solutions with a strong emphasis on innovation and “out-of-the-box” thinking. Once a strong vision of the potential solution has been developed, Part II: The Method outlines three major tenets (sub-divided into 12 specific points) to consider when formulating and implementing an action plan. Finally, Part III: The Toolbox features “how-to” chapters on a variety of specific tasks and skill sets (e.g., fundraising, identifying mentors, establishing a 501(c)(3), etc.) to help readers hit the ground running. And along the way, there are plenty of anecdotes, humorous illustrations, and case studies to keep things interesting!
Read an excerpt from Do Good Well here.
Nina Vasan has been honored as one of America’s Top 10 Youth Volunteers, a Young Adult Winner of the National Caring Award, a Girl Scouts National Young Woman of Distinction, and one of Glamour magazine’s Top 10 College Women.
Jennifer Przybylo’s leadership has been recognized by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, the United States Senate Youth Program, and the Toyota Community Scholars Program.