Post-COVID, mentoring young adults can make all the difference

Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of our six teenage and young-adult daughters.

Like millions of other parents, we watched in sadness as they navigated the isolating effects of social distancing, the disappointment of canceled events and the loss of valuable internships and professional experiences.

Our daughters and their peers didn’t merely miss opportunities: They missed a chance to build the extra-meaningful connections and relationships young people rely on to discover who they are, determine where they’re going and build lasting, trusting ties with their community.

It has been just over five years since the COVID lockdowns. digitalskillet1 – stock.adobe.com

These scars are not merely personal but societal.

Over the last decades, American’s trust in key institutions has eroded. The promise of opportunity — the American Dream — seems further out of reach. 

Reviving meaningful connections and rebuilding trust isn’t just nice to do but essential for a brighter future. 

What helps? Transformative mentoring.

Powerful things happen when trustworthy, seasoned professionals invest in young talent.

These relationships foster rich conversations, full of insight and wisdom, and shape aspiring individuals in profound ways.

We experienced the power of such mentors when we were young.

For David, it was a high-school coach who saw promise in a mediocre football player, made him team captain and ultimately paved the path for an appointment to West Point.

For Dina, it was a Texas senator who took a chance on a 20-year-old University of Texas student and part-time waitress, offering her an internship in Washington that a decade later led to senior White House roles.

Note the word “transformative.” That’s deliberate.

Traditional mentoring is usually transactional: An employee seeks advice from a supervisor to secure a promotion, strengthen a résumé or expand a network.

While valuable, this approach focuses solely on immediate, professional goals.

We are aiming for something bigger, something deeper. Transformative mentoring focuses on the whole person, addressing values and character.

A transformative mentor inspires new possibilities, instills clarity and confidence and encourages the mentee to embrace a higher moral purpose.

Career advancement and networking may result but are secondary to the true mission: empowering individuals to grow into and achieve their fullest potential.

Shortly after the 2020 lockdown began, concerned about how a lack of mentoring might impact our daughters’ generation, we launched a targeted project to learn more.

We interviewed high-profile leaders, recording their stories and exploring how mentors affected their rise to prominence.

Our investigation into the superpower of mentoring had nothing to do with politics. In fact, we went out of our way to talk to people we disagree with — we’ll never achieve transformation at scale if we only focus on people of like minds.

We spoke with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, fashion icon Tory Burch, Hollywood producer Brian Grazer, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others.

Their stories, and the stories of who believed in them, were so rich and inspirational that we turned their answers into a book.

Time and again, we heard the same profound refrain: Transformative mentors had changed their lives.

Key figures had connected with them and invested in them during their formative years, doing far more than simply dispensing advice.

They offered wisdom and hard truths. They recognized potential in their mentees and helped them fulfill it, often before the mentees saw that potential in themselves.

We also heard how the benefits of transformative mentorship aren’t one-sided. As these leaders came into their own, they began mentoring others in turn.

For mentees, the relationship opened doors, built confidence and fostered growth.

For mentors, it offered a satisfying chance to make a lasting impact, not just on individuals but on organizations, communities and institutions.

As America’s 250th anniversary approaches, we’re called to renew and revitalize our nation by restoring our bonds of social trust.

That trust is not built solely through competent managers, innovative policies or economic principles.

It’s cultivated through wise, authentic human connections — the kind that transformative mentorship provides.

Our daughters’ generation holds immense promise, but like every generation before them, they need guidance and encouragement to reach their full potential and find their purpose.

Each of us can and should commit to this virtuous cycle of transformative mentorship.

Now is the time to identify tomorrow’s leaders, reach out to them and invest in them.

Young Americans are ready to rise. For their good and the good of our nation, let’s help them succeed.

Dina Powell McCormick, a businesswoman and former national security official, and David McCormick, a US senator from Pennsylvania, are the authors of “Who Believed in You? How Purposeful Mentorship Changes the World.”