Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group (MEL)
WHO WE ARE
The Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group is for anyone who has led a team or has started a major initiative (a business, a non-profit group, a major project whether commercial or not), and wants to join a close circle of smart, like-minded individuals. Some, but not all, of our members belong to Mensa.
We are establishing an international network of entrepreneurs, social innovators, and leaders to support each other through online and face-to-face meetings and workshops, online communities, accountability partners, and other means.
Our acronym MEL reflects our focus on mentorship, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
Our “Leadership” vision includes entrepreneurs and social innovators, and also includes people and teams who are working to contribute to society in a meaningful way through other initiatives. Our focus is action-oriented: The Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group is leading the way to have a beneficial impact on society!
How to Join
Send us an email at:
and/or visit our page on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MentorsEntrepreneursLeaders
and/or visit us on LinkedIn.
We are eager to know
** how you found out about this group, and
** how you hope to benefit from membership and/or
** how you might be able to contribute to this group.
We look forward to hearing from you!
How Can You Contribute to this Group?
Mentoring: You can offer to be a mentor, and/or you can request mentoring.
If you are an entrepreneur, you can network with other entrepreneurs, and you can contribute articles and links that provide resources for entrepreneurs.
Leadership: Are you actively contributing to society to make an impact? Have you done so in the past? We are building a community of leaders. Join this community. Contribute articles and links that provide leadership resources.
Perhaps you will submit a proposal for a new project, and use this website as a forum to discuss the project and grow a team of people who will engage with you on its implementation.
Our Affiliation
The Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group is a Special Interest Group under the constitution of the Mensa Canada Society. The Society recognizes our group and promotes awareness of our group within Mensa, even though our group (and indeed all Special Interest Groups) is a separate entity from the Society itself.
To visit the Mensa Canada website, head over to this page: www.mensacanada.org
What will you find if you join and log in to the MEL website?
Visit the “Look Inside” tab (see below) for extracts or full articles that are posted by MEL members on the MEL website.
Who designed our favicon (site logo)?
The winner of our contest to design the logo is W. Ben Towne. You can read about Towne at the Administrative tab below.
LOOK INSIDE
You have been directed to this version of the public-facing MEL website solely because our full version of the website is hosted by a web service with limited capacity for ‘number of visitors’.
If you join MEL, you will have access to the full version of the website including resources available after logging in there.
The MEL Group is in the process of obtaining a paid web hosting service with greater capacity.
Introducing: Zhengyang Chen
Founder and CEO of Breeze Parking Technologies
Offering to be a mentor to other MEL members
MEL member Nick A. Shepherd, a management consultant, writes on crucial ingredients for business success in “Leadership done right”. The full article is shared here:
Leadership “done right” by Nick A. Shepherd
Let’s cut to the chase. After 50 years of business experience I am now at a place where I have some firm beliefs in what makes an organization succeed. Since my background is in accounting and finance, I thought for many years that if you “manage by the numbers” you are in control. Yes, numbers – and especially cash availability and cash flow are critical, but without two ingredients I believe success will elude you.
These two ingredients are interwoven and inter-dependent. Culture and Leadership. Culture is the “crucible” within which EVERYTHING takes place. Having a great culture means fostering innovation, creativity, communications, cooperation, and collaboration. Doing this you will attract, retain and set the stage for motivating the human talent necessary for success. Culture comes from behaviour and this must be founded on a consistent set of values, the most important of which is trust.
The responsibility for establishing and enabling an effective culture rests with great leadership at all levels. If a leader does not foster the quality of trust and the desired behaviours, then there will be no followers. Leadership skills come from different personality traits; some leaders are naturally inspirational; some focus on analytics; some lead through their drive and enthusiasm and some lead from their strong ability to build human relationships. Great leaders know themselves and where their strengths come from. They are realistic and humble enough to seek guidance, help and advice in areas where their natural strengths require support. In short, great leaders are great human beings.
After almost 30 years of working together, Dr. Peter Smyth and I decided to put our experience of developing leaders and leadership groups into a book. “Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations” – it is available as an e-book, softcover or hardcover. Look for it al your local bookseller, order on-line or go to https://www.amazon.ca/Reflective-Leaders-High-Performance-Organizations-Relationship/dp/1462072674
In January 2021, Nick Shepherd announced the publication of another book: How Accountants Lost Their Balance: How the profession has drifted away from reality and must adapt to an intangible world
Leadership: A lifelong journey of discovery
Ketan Kulkarni is a clinician, a researcher, a scientist, a passionate entrepreneur, technology and investment geek, an advocate of financial literacy and independence with alternative income streams, an avid learner, a traveler, a photographer, an artist (and art enthusiast and antique collector) and a music buff.
He is a MEL member, and the founder of The Savvy Physician Facebook Group. His personal website may be found here: https://www.savvyphysician.ca/
Kulkarni writes: If you are like most people, you learnt about leadership from mainstream media, peers, your cultural upbringing, circumstances, workplace, social circle and life challenges. What if I told you that most of what you learnt may be wrong? Or maybe you always knew the truth? Don’t believe me? As I continue to develop as a leader, I have confronted may “myths” about leadership. See if my experience resonates with yours. Read the full article inside the website…..and see if you agree or disagree.
MENTORSHIP
The Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group offers the opportunity to provide and/or receive mentoring, among its members.
Search through our “Mentors” and “Find a Mentor” pages (after logging in to the MEL website) from time to time, as this list may be updated.
The listing here is for information purposes. Mentor/mentee pairings themselves are arranged on the MEL Facebook page, in the Mentorship section (seen near the top of that page after you log in). There, you can “start a conversation” to make your arrangements.
ENTREPRENEURS
For members of the Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group who have logged in to the MEL website, various resources will be visible on the submenus of the Entrepreneurs page.
The resources will be suitable for entrepreneurs at various stages.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership can take many forms
Leadership can take many forms. A few characteristics are essential regardless of what form it takes.
A leader has a vision: how a situation could be improved, what new product could be developed, perhaps a whole paradigm shift, how a group of people could relate to each other in new ways.
A leader could lead by personal example. More commonly, leadership is thought of in terms of guiding one or more other people in the process of making changes, interacting differently, or bringing something new into existence.
There is no one single definition of what leadership is, except perhaps that it is not synonymous with management.
How is the concept of leadership relevant to our group, the Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group?
We provide a platform for people who are taking action to make a difference. Thus, our concept of leadership involves the crucial step of – at some point – coming to a decision about how to bring a vision into reality, and implementing that. Thus, for us, leadership is more than vision, more than philosophy, more than discussion for its own sake. An action plan takes much thinking, discussion, and commitment, but crucially involves making decisions and implementation of those decisions.
Many platforms exist for people who are looking for opportunities to socialize, discuss, or even play games together. Our platform aims to provide a network of people who are looking for something more.
How can a MEL member contribute as a leader in this group?
Within our group, the leadership component will involve the following steps: Members could post the highlights of the leadership that they are (or have been) engaged in. Additionally, a MEL member could propose a project to the MEL executive for approval. If the project is approved, someone (most likely the proposer) will be appointed to lead that project, and a new project page will be opened within the Leadership section of the MEL website.
Examples of projects could be Green Energy (already approved; members can log in to the MEL website to view that page), a specific subdomain within cultural activity, or a subdomain within social organization. There is scientific literature on the subject of bullying; perhaps a MEL member will propose a project to reduce bullying in a particular location. Perhaps someone will propose a project to attract more manufacturing to a particular region within Canada.
Of course, one type of leadership is entrepreneurship. Within our group, entrepreneurship has a separate section on the MEL website (logged-in members: see Entrepreneur Resources).
ADMINISTRATIVE
Contest to design our site logo (favicon): W Ben Towne’s design has been chosen
W Ben Towne is a Mensan who recently moved to the Greater Toronto Area from New Hampshire USA.
Towne earned a BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering and a BA in Community Development followed by an MS in Computation, Organizations & Society and a PhD in Societal Computing. He also studied entrepreneurship while at Carnegie Mellon University for grad school, engaging with that exciting community and winning competitions for relevant skills in the area. He is an author of several scientific publications, as a technology researcher with a focus on platforms and technologies for large-scale collaboration around complex issues.
Current work areas include blockchain technologies, where he has commits in core technology repositories in the Ethereum ecosystem and works with business consortia on applications of the technology.
Dr. Towne also spends time on photography (which led to the development of some graphic and Web design skills) and aspects of elections administration to help strengthen democracy.
Towne writes: “Especially if you are in need of technology solutions through private or public-sector consulting, please feel free to get in touch!” 4th January 2021
The Executive of the Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group
Chairperson: Kathleen W. Smith
Vice-Chairperson: David Jorjani
Secretary: Debora Azevedo
Treasurer: Rony Gao
The Officers of the Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group
Web Administrator: Kathleen W. Smith
MEL Elections Officer 2021: Carlos Horna
Green Energy Officer (2019-2021): Hamidreza Dargahi
MEL Constitution and Policy
View and/or download the MEL Constitution here:
In accordance with the constitution of Mensa Canada, the MEL group, being separate from but recognized by Mensa Canada, does not hold a particular position on any issue, nor does the content of this website represent a position or opinion of Mensa Canada. Any individual’s comments, including comments made by members of the Executive or appointed officers, are to be taken as the opinion of that individual, and not of Mensa.
Under the constitution of Mensa Canada, any special interest group, including this one, is not permitted to use the name Mensa in its title. Our name is Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group. Our membership is constituted of people who are members of Mensa and people who are not members of Mensa. If anyone is using the term “Mensa” as part of the group name, this should be regarded as a violation of our constitution and that of Mensa Canada.
CONTACT
Welcome to this website.
To enquire about the Mentors Entrepreneurs & Leaders Group, send us an email at:
Would you like to join the group? We are eager to hear from you.
Please let us know
** how you heard about this group,
** how you think you might benefit from membership, and/or
** how you might contribute to the group.
We look forward to hearing from you!