More of this Feature • Officer Information • Guard/Reserve Officer Info

Join the Discussion Visit Our Military Message Board

Related Resources • Officer Job Descriptions • Joining the Military • Army ROTC • Army OCS • West Point

Today’s leaders have the critical responsibility to develop fu­ture leaders prepared to meet tomorrow’s challenges. An essential component of this development is mentoring. Mentoring is usually an informal, familiar exchange from seniors to juniors conducted with a professional and caring rapport. Mentoring will often focus on our unique military culture and will frequently address profes­sional development concerns. It is real-life leader development fore very subordinate . Mentoring is a bout one-on-one, face-to-face counseling, focused on preparing junior leaders for increased re­sponsibility. A successful mentor can significantly influence charac­ter and values while guiding officers through the fundamentals of branch and functional area competencies.

Mentoring begins with the leader setting the right example. Leaders mentor soldiers every day in a positive or negative way depending on how they live the Army values and function as a leader. Mentoring allows junior leaders to see a mature example of values, attributes and skills in action and to develop their own leadership abilities accordingly. Mentoring is not without a degree of risk as senior leaders share their own personal and professional experiences with junior leaders to exemplify a coaching point that builds their confidence and competency.

Mentoring requires leaders to look for and take advantage of teaching/coaching moments; opportunities to use routine tasks to build skills and confidence in subordinates. Mentoring should not be limited to formal sessions; every event should be considered a mentoring opportunity, from quarterly training briefs to after-action reviews to casual, recreational activities.

The most important legacy of today’s senior leaders is to mentor junior leaders to fight and win future conflicts; mentoring develops great leaders to lead great soldiers.

Return to Officer Career Information Menu

Above information derived from Army Pamplet 600-3