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“I like what Raquel (Trooper of the Quarter – MD Line,
Summer Edition) said: you need one person you're helping,
one peer that you're developing with – someone to support
you day to day – and then you need that well-roundedness
from three mentors above you,” Hart said.
Self Evaluation
Bring me
your bio
Before you even take a step
toward looking for a mentor, you should:
- Seek someone who works in your desired career field or has
your desired status in life.
- Conduct a self-evaluation. This step can be executed before
or during the initial meeting between the prot�g� and mentor.
“The first thing I normally do when someone ask me to be their
mentor is tell them to bring me their bio,” Hart said. “When you
write your military bio, you're really doing a self evaluation.
You're breaking down your past and your present. So you can say,
well, I didn't deploy, I need a deployment or I need my degree, or I
need this level of experience.”
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November 21, 2014 - Command Chief Master Sgt. Glenn D. Hart, senior enlisted adviser
for the Maryland National Guard shares his experience and knowledge
on mentorship with Soldiers and Airmen in five phases. (Photo by
Staff Sgt. Michael E. Davis Jr., Maryland National Guard Public
Affairs Office)
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The prot�g� could determine their strengths and
weaknesses by reading through their bio and determining what
they have accomplished and what they haven't. “Let's say
maybe their weaknesses are in writing or speaking,” Hart
said. “What I'll do is, through networking, pair them up
with someone who can help them in their weak spots.”
Hart then said once he learns his prot�g�'s strengths, he
can now place them in the seat to teach someone else.
Self-evaluation is the first step toward mentorship, but it
will help you learn more about yourself and likely to lead
you to a productive relationship with a mentor.
The prot�g� and the mentor relationship
Both parties win if they practice communication and work as a
team
Communication is the key to a healthy and constructive
relationship with your mentor. Hart suggests that there should be
constant communication between the prot�g� and the mentor.
Communication may not be face-to-face, but both parties should agree
on a system that doesn't conflict with their work or family
schedule.
Hart also said that the mentor should give homework
assignments to the prot�g� that aims them towards a particular goal.
Just as the mentor needs to be proactive in developing the young
Soldier or Airman, that prot�g� needs to be serious as well and
complete the assignments for their own self-development.
The
mentor wants to teach while the prot�g� desires to learn; both
parties win if they practice communication and work as a team.
Your Accountability Partner
Seek encouragement and inspiration when aiming for a specific goal
Find someone on your level who you can motivate and whom you can
seek motivation from. Hart said you and your peer, or accountability
partner, should be motivating each other and bouncing ideas off of
one another. Seek someone who serves as an encourager for bad days.
“You're going to have good days and bad days and it's nice to
have that support group,” Hart said.
Taking advice from
inspirational speaker, John C. Maxwell, Hart said he finds an
enthusiastic Soldiers or Airmen when he feels he needs some
encouragement. “I walk around the armory and I find some young
person that's got stars in her eyes who says ‘One day I'm going to
make E-7 or I'm going on this deployment,' they make me feel good,”
Hart said.
You should seek a peer or accountability partner
who is an encourager.
The Mentor
Mentorship is a team effort that improves the organization
Your life doesn't just center on your work or personal goals.
You should have at least one mentor for every function of your
lifestyle. “I say three mentors because you're going to get
different perspectives and you want that in different MOS' [military
occupational skill] or different career fields,” Hart said,
referring to occupations.
Multiple mentors will keep you well
balanced in your goals. Those goals may be excelling in your
civilian job, family and school or simply excelling in three
different areas of the Army or Air Force.
“They
[Soldier/Airman] should have a strategic view of what's going on and
how their specific MOS or AFSC [Air Force Specialty Code] plays a
big picture to get the mission done in the Army or the Air Force,”
Hart said.
Mentorship is a team effort and the mission is to
not only improve themselves, but their organization as well.
Mentorship should act as a succession of development amongst the
Soldiers and Airmen in the MDNG. The one being helped today should
aspire to become the helper for tomorrow. Hart's method of
connecting mentors to network becomes a cycle and an equation for
success. A developed Service member plus another developed Service
member is likely to equal to a developed Army and Air Force.
Reverse Mentorship
You're never too
old to be mentored and don't be afraid to be mentored by a
subordinate
Seek help, even if it's from someone
of younger age. John F. Welch, Jr., chief executive officer of
General Electric from 1981-2001, is said to have discovered the
method of reverse mentoring. He describes it as the younger
generation teaching the older generation. According to Technopedia,
reverse mentoring refers to an initiative in which older executives
are paired with and mentored by younger employees on topics such as
technology, social media, and current trends.
“That [reverse
mentorship] is a term used in the civilian world,” Hart said. Hart
mentioned that he read an article about this method and how people
are using it in civilian organizations. To him, what he read made
sense and he decided to put it to the test in the MDNG.
After
practicing some of the things he learned, Hart realized that it
works. You should not allow pride to get the best of you when
seeking mentorship. “You're never too old to be mentored and don't
be afraid to be mentored by a subordinate,” Hart said.
Mentor: An experienced and trusted advisor. “When you mentor
someone, you're like cloning them,” Hart said. That being said,
Soldiers and Airmen, make you sure you are following the Seven Army
Values and the Air Force Core Values when mentoring for a more
vigilant MDNG, state and Nation.
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael E. Davis Jr.
Maryland National
Guard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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