8-83.
Future battlefield environments will place additional pressures on developing
leaders at a rapid pace. To help these leaders acquire the requisite abilities,
the Army relies on a leader development system that compresses and accelerates
development of professional expertise, maturity, and conceptual and team building
skills. Mentoring is a developmental tool that can effectively support many of
these learning objectives. It is a combat multiplier because it boosts positive
leadership behaviors on a voluntary basis.
8-84.
It is usually unnecessary for leaders to have the same occupational or
educational background as those they are coaching or counseling. In comparison,
mentors generally specialize in the same specific area as those being mentored.
Mentors have likely experienced what their protégés and mentees are experiencing,
or are going to experience. Consequently, mentoring relationships tend to be
occupation and/or domain specific, with the mentor having expertise in the
particular areas they are assisting in, but without the requirement to have the
same background. Mentoring focuses primarily on developing a less experienced
leader for the future.
Mentorship is 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.
Strategic leaders develop subordinates through coaching, through providing policies and resources,
and sharing the benefit of their perspective and experience (mentoring). To
bridge the knowledge gap between organizational and strategic leaders,
experienced strategic leaders can help newcomers by introducing important
players and pointing out the critical places and activities. Strategic leaders
become enablers as they underwrite the learning, efforts, projects, and ideas
of rising leaders.
