Posted on Apr 19, 2015
How can leaders in the Army become better at mentorship, both as mentor and mentee?
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In my career, both as enlisted and as an officer, I have heard the value of mentorship repeatedly. However, it seems most leaders' definition of mentorship is a counseling statement that is either read to you, or handed to you to read (if you choose). Sometimes you may get cornered and offered some sage advice from a superior on general career development then sent on your way. I do not think it should be a program nor necessarily include those within the chain of command. I believe mentorship is a relationship. It is an in-depth, long-term personal connection between two people that have an asymmetry in either knowledge or skills that choose to meet consistently for development.
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Mentorship
Leadership
Mentorship Leadership
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Responses: 12
I think one major shortfall is the Be. More leaders need to be the example before they can expect to be a good mentor. There's a lot of "do as I say" going on in the army.
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I agree there is a lot of that going on right now. I always have tried to live by the mantra, "Set the standard and lead from the front by example." It's pretty cliche and I hear similar talk, but it is not practiced as much as it should be. I think it goes back to mentorship. To be the example, you must first know what a good example of a leader is, then you can emulate it and put your unique leader mark on it.
Mentorship is "sharing" knowledge.
The way you get better at mentorship is by spending quality time with the troops. Working on projects, 1 on 1 with individuals. The scope of the project isn't really the issue, it's the time investment.
The idea is that you are developing someone.
As example, let's start micro to macro.
You are squad leader. Grab one of the junior guys (not your team leaders) and just have him shadow for the day. As you go about your tasks, explain what is happening, why these things are important. How they fit into the big picture. How they fit into these things. They act as your assistant for a day, but their real take away is the knowledge.
Some of it may seem really inconsequential. Like who you saw for what... You went to X office about this problem/issue, but think about how big of a lesson that actually was to you as an NCO later on in your career.
The way you get better at mentorship is by spending quality time with the troops. Working on projects, 1 on 1 with individuals. The scope of the project isn't really the issue, it's the time investment.
The idea is that you are developing someone.
As example, let's start micro to macro.
You are squad leader. Grab one of the junior guys (not your team leaders) and just have him shadow for the day. As you go about your tasks, explain what is happening, why these things are important. How they fit into the big picture. How they fit into these things. They act as your assistant for a day, but their real take away is the knowledge.
Some of it may seem really inconsequential. Like who you saw for what... You went to X office about this problem/issue, but think about how big of a lesson that actually was to you as an NCO later on in your career.
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You have just said exactly some of the things I did when I was a squad leader. Once a week I had "squad leader of the day" where one of my E4 and below soldiers would shadow me and do the same tasks I did, sometimes doing it while I was watching from the side. It taught them to take action and be responsible for their decisions. They learned what being a leader was and the weight it carries. I even once had a soldier tell me to do push-ups because I was two minutes late for a function - then commenced telling me the importance of punctuality! It was fun for the whole squad but lessons were learned from hands on experience.
I always enjoy getting to know my soldiers, their family, what their interests are, and goals. I want to know how to best help them develop and motivate them. And I have no problem getting in the dirt and breaking track with my crew to help out. Soldiers like a leader who is not afraid to get dirty and who leads by example. Its cliche but it is true.
I always enjoy getting to know my soldiers, their family, what their interests are, and goals. I want to know how to best help them develop and motivate them. And I have no problem getting in the dirt and breaking track with my crew to help out. Soldiers like a leader who is not afraid to get dirty and who leads by example. Its cliche but it is true.
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