September - 2016 - issue > CEO Insights
A Powerful Tool for Unlimited Learning & Development
Sarvesh Agrawal, Founder & CEO, Internshala
The best way to learn is to do. And an internship gives you an opportunity to do exactly that. And not just to the interns, but also to the managers who mentor these young, fresh, full of ideas, and ready to take on the world individuals. How an internship helps an intern is well understood. What is perhaps less known or discussed is how it also allows us to become better managers and eventually, better human beings. In my 5 years of running Internshala and interacting with hundreds of fellow entrepreneurs who have built their teams and businesses with help of interns; here is what I have learned about how interns help us become better managers and entrepreneurs:
1. You learn not to be afraid - Let's admit, our upbringing of 80s as well as years of experience have made us conservative and a little less open to risks. We think of consequences before possibilities and may discard a new idea just because it seems outrageous. Interns, the millennials, don't have any such baggage to carry. They are not afraid to try new things, take on the global competition and most of them actually enjoy it to venture into unknown.
As a supportive mentor, you have no choice but to accompany them in their journey of 'let me try this' and are often pleasantly surprised by the results. The experience teaches you to be young again.
2. You learn patience - An intern, by definition, know little and needs to be taught everything from scratch which requires you to be a great teacher. And being a great teacher is nothing but practicing the art of patience.
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