How important is mentorship?

MSG, I don't we ever will be absolutely without the need for mentorship. A leader will need to evaluate the needs of their soldiers.  For areas that my soldiers are weak in will conduct research if needed so that can provide the proper mentorship.

I don't believe it should be mandated, but there is always room to grow. This grow stagnant and you get stuck in you'r own complacency when you stop trying. 

I do not believe mentorship should be mandatory but I whole
hardly believe that it is important. I strive to learn from the senior leadership
that I fall under. Getting the point of view from someone who has seen it all
seems more valuable than getting from the junior leader who is still learning.

Mentoring is essential.  I have seen people take better care of equipment than they have mentoring someone.  Equipment maintenance is no doubt important our military hardware has high dollar values.  The mechanic is going to take care of the truck, aircraft, or armored vehicle, who is going to take care of the mechanic?  It takes a lot of time and money to recruit and train personnel from raw civilian to soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or Coast guardsman.  When you mentor you make the person better as well as yourself and your unit.  You have the experience, share your knowledge don't take it with you.  Don't guard it like it's a national secret.  Mentoring doesn't have to be a big ugly thing.  Some of the best mentoring I received only took a few minutes or a series short talks.

MSG S, I feel that mentorship never ends because it does not necessarily have to come from your chain of command.  As a cadet and young LT, I sought mentorship from an officer that at one point was over me and who I kept in touch with as we both moved around (I still keep in touch with him and still ask for his advice).  As an S2, I was directly under the XO and BC, but it was the S3 who took me in.  In CMD, again I learned from the BC and BDE CDR, but (I was a young CDR) it was senior CDRs who were on 2nd CMDs who I stuck close to.  So while it was sad that your former CSMs refused to mentor you, I've found there are always people learn from and lean on.

I believe mentorship never stops. If we look at the highest levels of service (such as our command and chief the President), we still see the example of mentorship. Th idea of making it "mandatory" and "required" is an interesting concept that could add significant value (perhaps included in some way in the evaluation reports process?

Great question for discussion MSG Shepherd. I do believe mentorship continues at all levels, I know that I enjoy receiving mentorship and I enjoy passing knowledge on to others when the opportunity presents itself.  Mentorship is not neccessarily something that has to be passed from one leader to another either. Mentorship can include learning through reading (Leadership and Motivational books are a good resource) the same as setting the right example for others to follow can be considered mentoring. As long as you have room to grow mentorship should be part of your growth.

AWESOME responses. I posted this question because I am sure that there are a great many among us that do not understand what the word MENTORSHIP really means or it's importance. I was told twice as a First Sergeant by two different Command Sergeants Major that they were not going to mentor First Sergeants. They were true to their word. I was always taught to pour into everyone I met exactly what I had and it would pay dividends. At a minimum mentor two levels down. I pride myself on learning from everyone so that I can have different tools in my toolbag. Good, bad, or indifferent.

Here are some tips and rules for good, solid mentorship by Melanson:

Mentor Rules:

When initiating any discussion on mentoring, a natural question to ask is where to begin? Do you start with the mentor or the one being mentored (protégé)? Well the contributions of both participants are important, mentoring successes or failures most often depend upon the skills of the mentor. If the mentor is not prepared to do his or her job, then the entire mentoring process may be ineffective and, consequently, discourage the protégé from any future mentoring opportunities. It is hoped that by considering these 10 simple rules, mentors, present and future, will be better prepared to assume this very important role

#1 It's Not About You!
#2 Always Maintain Confidences
#3 Set and Enforce Boundaries
#4 Know Your Limitations
#5 Keep Your Promises
#6 Listen and Ask Questions
#7 Reach Out to Junior Officers
#8 Don't Sugarcoat Feedback
#9 Be Yourself
#10 Commit to Continuous Learning

Protégé Rules:

The key points of the above rules include remembering that mentoring is about the protégé, not the mentor. Confidences must always be maintained to ensure trust. The mentor needs to set and enforce boundaries in the relationship to ensure professionalism. A mentor must know his or her limitations when giving guidance or advice. Promises made by the mentor need to be kept if the relationship is to last. During the mentoring, the senior officer must use effective listening and should refrain from simply telling the protégé what to do in order to develop problem-solving skills in the protégé. Potential mentors must be approachable if junior officers are to feel comfortable in seeking them out as mentors. Feedback needs to be specific and, when necessary, include constructive criticism. Mentors must understand themselves and develop a mentoring style that is authentic and consistent with who they really are. Finally, mentors need to dedicate themselves to continuous learning, technically, tactically, and as mentors.

#1 Cherish your Mentor's Time
#2 Always Maintain Confidences
#3 Learn from Your Mistakes
#4 Be Receptive to Feedback
#5 Keep Your Promises
#6 Genuinely Consider Advice Given
#7 Clarify Your Expectations
#8 Respect the Chain of Command
#9 Bring More Than Just Your Problems
#10 Commit to Continuous Learning

You will notice some very similar rules for both parties involved and that is not on accident. I cherish being a mentor and thankful for the ones who were ahead of me and taught me how to do it right!

MSG S It is very important for every soldier, from PVT to General. Everyone can learn something from the ones they serve with. And as professionals we should be teaching coaching and mentoring the younger soldiers no matter if enlisted or officers. Being in Recruiting mentorship is very important from the 79R's to the new detailed recruiters to a New Company or BN Commander. They have never been in recruiting and if we don't mentor and train them they will fail. Sure a Commander has a 1sg/CSM but with a million and one things going on in a day, they can not bee the only one training. As NCO's is our job to train and mentorship is part of training. Just my thoughts!!