Mentorship: Without It We Will Perish
A survey of Fortune 500 executives reveals that 96 percent of them saw mentoring as an important influence in their professional development (Hagevik, 1998). In years past, when most senior Army officers spoke of success; they often made reference to an individual or individuals who spoke words of wisdom into their lives, shared experiences and lessons learned. Senior leaders refer to these individuals as mentors; people who, throughout their careers, have invested countless hours to both their personal and professional development. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, this concept has been lost. Lieutenant Colonel Barbara Fast (1996) defines a mentor as an influential, experienced individual with whom you establish a personal relationship and who actively helps you reach your goals. While this definition seems quite simple, she asserts that the Army has enjoyed mixed success as it has struggled to define and formalize mentorship. As a Captain with almost six years in the Army, I agree that leaders have lost numerous opportunities to impart into the lives of subordinates. As a whole, the Army has not fully understood the definition of mentorship, and because it has not fully understood, the implementation of such a concept
Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (1999) surveyed approximately 7,500 officers who cited a lack of trust in superiors and a lack of organizational identification as reasons for the mass exodus of junior officers from the Army. In 1999, Matthew Culbertson argued that, "Formalization could result in a sacrifice of quality for quantity and effectively eliminate those rare but valuable instances of classical mentoring (Martin et al. The Army Training and Leader Development Panel Officer Study Report to the Army reports that Colonel Kolditz' view is widely shared in the field as officers report wanting mentorship, but not wanting formal, directed programs. In addition, the lack of mentors and the lack of mentorship opportunity with senior leadership was a major factor for many Soldiers who decided to make an exit from the Army. How Did We Get Here: Defining the Problem?Why were so many junior officers deciding to leave the military? General John Keane, the former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, believes that the, "Quality of leadership, as reflected in the mentoring process, has fallen off. The Army must shift from its perceived and often factual practices of senior level micromanagement and zero-defects leadership practices, to those that will empower leaders to lead and develop subordinates in a healthy command climate (Hale, 2001). Finally, the Army must be able to clearly define mentoring. We need to do better" (Martin et al. Trust between leaders and subordinates is paramount to an organization's success. How Do We Get ThereHow does an organization "grow" leaders? It's quite simple: through mentorship. I was not sure if I was moving on the right azimuth or if I was wandering aimlessly in an imaginary abyss.
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