What does mentoring mean to you?

I can read all I want about leadership, but as a Co GySgt I had a 1st Sgt who was all about showing me the ropes and actually grooming me. He assisted me in getting were I am today.

To really be an effective mentor, you have to go beyond the teachings of the job, but you have to groom the mind to match. You have to get the individual to adjust fire mentally and see things in a way that could challenge his/her core yet accept them.

Lead by example with a firm but fair hand. Encourage. Motivate. Inspire.

Advocating for one of your protoges when the doors are closed and decisions being made behind his/her back

To me it means teaching, demonstrating, actually showing someone how to do something. And not just for a short period of time, but until they fully understand whatnitbis that they are trying to accomplish.

While I was active I would always try to mentor my soldiers and teach them the right was to do things. To let them know they needed to lead by example and to always teach the ones under them and to help out the problem soldiers. Now that I am a civilian I try to teach the young adults how to do the right thing. I will always tell the kids who work under me to tuck there shirts in and pull there pants up. To not be in there phones when customers are around. I tell them first impression last with people. I try to do the same with my children and my nephews. The lesson might not always get thru but I try.

This is exactly what Mentoring means to me. You have to truly know yourself and what you are capable of, the mistakes you have made and learned from them in order to be a successful leader. I'm currently a Personal Development Coach and I specialize in helping people step into their own power and find their purpose in this life. I don't lead them, so much as guide them based on their own experiences.

Mentoring is a form of teaching that I like to use to encourage and support individuals, whether they are children or adults. The goal is to point the individual in the right direction, so that learning is accomplished and skills are developed.

You have to have been there before you can mentor. I've seen some try to do it while they were still learning the job themselves. It was horrible!

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