Earlier this week, I was perusing the recently released O6 promotion list and an analogy came to mind about our shrinking Army. I envisioned a WWI scene in which ranks of hopeful O5’s clambered out of the trenches only to be cut down by raking machine gun fire…the next wave of O5’s ready to take their place. A grizzly vision perhaps, but the decline in promotion numbers will continue as the Army draws down in the wake of fifteen years of war.
Since then, several thoughtful and humorous articles have been published describing the role of luck and timing in promotions.[1] As I read these articles considering my own prospects and what I’ve done personally and professionally to prepare myself for promotion consideration, my thoughts kept returning to the role and value of mentorship, personally and professionally, exemplified in three former bosses.
The concept of mentorship has been around since Plato was an understudy to Socrates. The popularity of the concept has waxed and waned over time in business and in the military, but it has been a constant in my life for years. Although few know or remember it, the Army formalized a mentorship program in 2005.[2]
ADRP 6-22, Army Leadership, briefly describes the concept of mentorship, and AR 600-100 defines mentorship as “the voluntary developmental relationship that exists between a person of greater experience and a person of lesser experience that is characterized by mutual trust and respect.”[3] These attempts to define and formalize the concept of mentorship often miss the mark, however, because the concept is much more than simply a developmental relationship.
“Mentorship…I’ll know it when I see it”
The notion of mentorship is far easier to describe than to define. I visualize a combination rabbi-confessor-advisor-guide-advocate embodied in several senior officers for whom I’ve worked and who have steered my professional development. I refer to them as “Two Matts and a Pat.” All three share several characteristics I sought in a mentor: successful in their respective branches and well-respected by their peers; a wide range of professional experiences acquired in a breadth of assignments; diligent in their self-development; unquestioned integrity; devoted fathers and husbands; and possessing great senses of humor.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, all were genuinely interested in helping me become a more professional officer, preparing me to work at higher levels, and in the long run, helping me to become a better person. In short, they possessed the key characteristics I strive for. Clearly not all of these characteristics are necessary for a mentor, but therein lays the difficulty in defining mentorship – it will mean different things to different people depending upon each person’s unique personal and professional goals and how the two are intertwined.
The Intersection of Reaching Up and Reaching Down
Mentorship emerges when one’s desire to develop others coincides with another’s desire for self-improvement and professional growth. I submit that any attempt to institutionalize or formalize the concept only diminishes it – simplicity and informality are key components of a mentoring relationship and facilitate forthright and candid conversations. A true mentor seeks opportunities to guide less experienced officers, sharing wisdom and insights often derived from hard experience.
When they were my bosses, the Two Matts and a Pat were straightforward and sincere in their evaluations of my performance. They helped me focus on areas I needed to improve and challenged me to elevate my game. Moreover, they often served as sounding boards, allowing me to vent various frustrations while sharing similar experiences, giving advice on balancing professional and personal obligations, wrestling with ethical dilemmas, and dealing with situations that only military families understand. Occasionally I have had the opportunity to reciprocate and I’ve been glad for it.
Every few years when it is again time for the PCS dance with my assignment officer, I turn to the Two Matts and a Pat for their insights on the available locations and opportunities. Even if they do not have any personal knowledge regarding a particular opportunity, they usually know someone who does. Thus they have helped shape and inform my selection of assignments and schools, providing useful guidance regarding professional or family impacts. Furthermore, through their network of contacts, they have often made introductions on my behalf, paving the way for prompt onboarding at new assignments, and helping me to quickly develop contacts in the sea of unfamiliar faces at a new duty station.
Perspective from Quality Mentorship
Although my own shot at O6 is still a few years away, I continue to do everything I can to position myself for selection, despite my WWI visions. A big part of that preparation has been and continues to be guidance and lessons from the Two Matts and a Pat. Do I hope to be selected? Absolutely. But whether or not I am selected, the Two Matts and a Pat have helped me achieve success now and wherever my future lies.
Thanks to the three of them I am a better officer, a better teammate, a better husband and father, and a better person. My sense of accomplishment and self-worth doesn’t derive from rank or title, but simply knowing that I serve well and honorably, giving my best efforts under the mentorship and tutelage of Two Matts and a Pat. I hope for the opportunity to pay it forward.
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- See: Drew Steadman, The Role of Luck in Becoming a Leader; Nathan Finney, Proactive Luck; Steve Leonard, Luck be a Lady.
- Department of the Army, Army Mentorship Handbook (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 2005).
- Department of the Army, Army Regulation 600-100, Army Leadership (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 2007), p. 6.