How a Lifetime of Experience Finds Its Purpose Through Mentorship
After more than fifteen years as a clinician, working in emergency care, intensive care, and anaesthesiology, and later serving as a tutor in family medicine, Bakhodir Rakhimov’s professional path took a new direction. He went on to spend over sixteen years in international development and humanitarian work, including leadership and senior management roles across complex and high-pressure environments.
Today, he brings that experience to Micromentor – the world’s largest free online business mentoring platform, introduced by the EBRD – where he supports young entrepreneurs and professionals in Uzbekistan through mentorship.
For Bakhodir, this is not only about sharing knowledge. It is about passing something forward.
He has reached a point in life where the most important question is no longer What have I achieved? but What am I passing forward? With time, experience, and age, that question has become more personal and more urgent.
“The older I become, the more strongly I feel what I can only describe as a sense of legacy, a quiet but powerful pull to be useful not only to the organisations I serve, but also to the next generation of my own people, the young entrepreneurs, professionals, and changemakers helping to shape Uzbekistan’s future,” he says.
That is why mentorship matters to him, and why now.
Through Micromentor, Bakhodir offers young founders and professionals practical support in areas such as leadership, decision-making, strategic thinking, navigating uncertainty, and finding clarity in moments of transition. Drawing on his background in medicine, education, international development, and leadership, he helps mentees step back, see challenges more clearly, and move forward with greater confidence and direction.
His own journey, from clinical practice to postgraduate study in Japan, from teaching medicine to navigating humanitarian environments across the globe, has taught him lessons not only about systems and leadership, but also about people, pressure, resilience, and continuous growth. Through mentorship, he now translates those lessons into grounded support for young Uzbeks building their own futures.
For him, this work is also deeply personal. “I want to remain in the memory of my nation through service, not through titles or recognition, but through contribution,” he says. For Bakhodir, that contribution means being a steady presence for someone at a critical moment, helping a young person think more clearly, decide more boldly, and move forward with greater confidence.
His commitment to mentorship is also part of his own continued development. He recently completed a mentoring course with Micromentor, while also advancing on his Level 2 learning path towards ICF accreditation as a professional coach and mentor.
“The knowledge gained over a lifetime becomes most valuable when it is shared”
