Doug Blevins and the Empowering Realities of Mentorship

Doug Blevins has a unique YouTube channel. It’s not because it hasn't been updated in six years (there are plenty of old neglected channels on YouTube) or the videos which all look the same - 78 thumbnails of football fields facing the goalposts with high school and college youngsters frozen just before the kick. No, the Doug Blevins YouTube channel is unique because despite being an NFL Hall of Fame nominee, he has only ~50 subscribers. Doug's videos, which showcase up-and-coming kickers, average only a few hundred views, many of which were posted after his Hall of Fame nomination and being publicized on USA Today and the Washington Post.

You might think all that tension would draw viewers to Doug's YouTube channel and his mentees. The funny part is that it would have been if Doug was just a normal superstar coach. Instead, the media seem to fixate on Doug’s disability. Despite being the NFL's expert guru of kicking, Doug himself has never actually ran a play; He's never kicked a football through the goalposts. Because Doug Blevins was born with Cerebral Palsy, and he lived his life coaching from an electric wheelchair. That’s right. The best kicking mentor in the league has never played football and everything he knows about kicking (enough to be nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame) he mastered from a wheelchair. With that, he only has 50 YouTube subscribers.

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Mentors like Doug aren't just underrated. Underrated is to light a word. Despite their literal game-changing contributions, mentors are hardly recognized when athletes, actors, pop stars, and CEOs take the stage to collect their trophies. Mentors end up getting their do like it's the credits of a movie - just another name in the long list of people who made it possible. Or worse, the star who wins the trophy takes all the credit, leaving out the people who made it possible and deeming them just another false underdog narrative.

Regardless, mentorship at any stage is absolutely vital to success. Just ask any of the kickers Doug Levin boosted to NFL stardom. The funny thing is that the importance of mentorship is something we can prove statistically at any stage, from childhood to million-dollar entrepreneur. Because of that, we're devoting a whole episode to mentors and mentorship. We will discuss why we should have a mentor, why you should be a mentor, and where you can find one. With that, we're starting with three myths.

Myth 1: Michael Jordan would still be Michael Jordan with or without coaches. The cream rises to the top, and anyone who is destined to be great will be great.

Joe: Todd, would you say it's harder to mentor somebody in art or sports?

Todd: I think art because there are no subset rules like there are with sports.

Joe: I think that you're right. I think that most sports you can like rely on conventional wisdom if you can't figure out how to mentor them effectively. So, what are some mentorships in the more artistic avenues that have looked fruitful from the outside?

Todd: One of my favorites was the woman named Stella Adler. She became a mentor to a lot of successful actors and actresses. She formed her own acting school, and the best actors in the world sharpen their blades there. I'm not going to go through the whole list, but my two favorites were Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando.

Joe: Turning to the mentorship between Todd and me, we were in a public speaking group, and Todd is very good at emotionally compelling a crowd. However, he just needed some help working on the story structure. My background is the opposite. I get up and I sound like a professor, but my background is story structure. Basically, we became mentors to each other. The best part is that Todd and I have a larger age gap, which goes against the notion that age has any factor in mentorship at all.

Todd: You don't need the big sister or a big brother - it can be anybody.

Let's get into the statistics about what mentorship looks like in youth. This is where we want to build our case for mentorship. We want to give you a whole picture here and show that mentorship should be something that is started early and should continue throughout your life. To start, these stats are listed on mentoring.org and come directly from places like the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA. The first one we want to talk about is the two early warning indicators that students may be falling off track, which are absenteeism and skipping class. Apparently, if you have a mentor who is older than you and is taking you aside regularly, these kids are about 52% less likely to skip class and they are less likely to repeat classes. Having somebody care about what you're doing day to day really means a lot. Mentorship also lowered reoccurring behavioral problems as well.

We've talked about opportunity gaps, especially socio-economic before. Well, according to one of the studies, young adults who face an opportunity gap are 50-55% more likely to be enrolled in college than those that did not have a mentor. So, if nothing else in this study speaks to you, that one should. Lastly, youth who regularly meet with mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking.

Now, I started reading about tutoring too because I really want a well-rounded look at mentorship at young ages and stumbled across a Turkish study from the University of Kansas and a Polish study on tutoring for what's called a gymnasium test. Both of these studies completely separate parts of the world wanted to look at tutoring, how it is used in school, and how well it bridges the socio-economic gap. It seemed like both these studies pointed that tutoring is used as a band-aid. In short, it is grade-based, not personality-based. We want to point out that tutors, as much as they can bridge the opportunity gap. It makes it to where kids are more likely to pass tests and get into the next grade. However, it is not a replacement for mentorship. It's better to seek out a mentor who will stick with you all through your life, not just for an as-needed basis like a tutor.

Myth 2: Adults and professionals don't need mentors. Once we're past our 20s, the days of needing an Obi-Wan are over.

If you're wondering if you should be a mentor, what is the most specific thing you are good at and that you would be able to pass on? Is the information you want to share at a business level? There's a Forbes article that I got into during this, and it stated that 76% of people think mentors are important but don't have one. That's like writing your goals down but not doing it. Perhaps it's because they don't want to take more on their plate or don't want someone holding them accountable. That's a tough thing to get over because everyone's got a busy day, but being held accountable is hurtful to the ego.

Now, roughly 37% of people do have a mentor, but most opt for same-sex mentors. This might be because they have the same communication style and relatability. As another side note, 14% of mentor relationships started by asking someone to be their mentor, and 61% of them develop naturally, according to a college study from Nazarene University. It's more like you find a friend who knows a whole lot, and then you just keep going to them for advice. Then at some point, you realize you're in a mentorship; that is what that looks like naturally. And the last statistic I want to list is that 71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentor programs. The two things that Fortune 500 companies seem to have a lot of are mentorship programs and public speaking programs. So, communication and mentorships seem to be the big separators of who's big and who's going hungry.

While digging into the research, we found that one of the greatest world conquerors of all times, Alexander the Great. He had a mentor, the soft-spoken, foreign philosopher Aristotle. Why would he have a philosopher as a mentor? Well, his dad didn't want his son making the exact same mistakes that he had while running his dynasty. His dad assigned Aristotle to him as a way to instill positive morals through a third party and from a non-authority figure.

Myth 3: Okay, so if we need adult mentors, it's going to be expensive, right? How else will I get a mentor in my corner? If not cash or incredible talent?

How do you find a mentor in real life? I think getting out of your comfort zone and showing your potential. For people who listen to the podcast, the biggest part of it is keeping good practice and using that as a way to network with good mentors. So, then they see you and start to recognize your name and what you're made of. This may entice them to reach out to you as well. Also, feel free to reach out to them as well. Compliment them and approach with friendly, open-ended dialogue. Make sure that there is no pressure or obligations wither, as that can turn people away.

There are two other approaches that I want to point out that usually work for mentorship building. There's the old friend of a friend - if you want to get mentored by somebody and you have an in, you just have them introduce you. That kind of speaks for itself because you don't really need to do too much here. The other is the “I care about what you care about” approach. This means if you find somebody who is advocating the same cause, champion in on the same thing. It's much easier to get somebody to mentor you that way because you're fighting for the same thing.

Some other tips include clarifying what you want. You can't just say that you want to be better at something overall; you have to be precise and direct. For example: “I want to be better at finances.” Get very granular, think outside your cubicle or home, and don't restrict yourself. It’s okay to get a little uncomfortable during the process as well because you have to get uncomfortable setting up a meeting and be clear with your mentor on your intentions.

Final Thoughts

Mentors make stork differences in people's lives, from Alexander the Great being mentored by Aristotle to Tim Grover helping Michael Jordan elevate his game through 6 NBA championships. We're never too old to benefit from a mentor and mentorship at a young age can keep us in school, guide us to academic success, and close the achievement gap, especially in math.

However, why do school tutors and mentors only use it as a band-aid for underperforming students? Why is it that 76% of professionals think mentors are important for everyone, yet only 37% have mentors? This may be a case of greatness worshipping. We may assume that achievers will naturally rise to the top with or without help. Or the notion that mentors will seek us out when we’ve got big enough to stand out. However, that's not always the case. Some mentors, like Doug Blevins, are out there waiting for us.

These people are under-appreciated, under-followed, and they don't toot their own horn nearly as much as they should. It's up to us to seek out the best mentors in our field. Pay them a little respect and listen to what they have to say. Even better, if you have a specialty or talent, go out and be a mentor. Don't be afraid to sit them down and give them a little of that mentor treatment. Because you never know, your mentee might just be the next Alexander the Great.