Guest post: Mentorship

My beloved Hubster was asked to be the guest speaker at our high school's JROTC fall Dining In, an event for the senior battalion leadership to practice army traditions and celebrate a positive start to the school year.  He spoke about mentorship, and I enjoyed it so much, I asked if I could repost it.  He wanted it to be known that this was not word-for-word - he improvised some, but here's the bulk of his text:

In the year 68 AD, the Apostle Paul wrote his last known letter, later known as the book of 2nd Timothy, from his jail cell in Rome.  The letter was addressed to Timothy, the young pastor in Ephesus, and in it Paul includes his final instructions for Timothy’s ministry and encouragement for what he knew were to be troubling days ahead.  He exhorts Timothy to remain steadfast in his proclamation of the Gospel, to endure suffering with patience, and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office to which he had been called.  Throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles, Paul’s relationship to Timothy is portrayed as being special even among the rest of the Apostle’s followers.  Paul refers to Timothy in several places as his son, and where the younger man possesses weaknesses, Paul lends him strength in the form of encouragement, example, and most importantly prayer.

Would that we were all lucky enough to have a “Paul” in our lives.  To have someone who was both qualified and willing to guide us in our personal and professional lives is, I think, one of the greatest gifts a person can receive.  Unfortunately, while people of this caliber can be few and far between, there is no shortage of poor examples in our society.  Our day to day lives are littered with competing voices offering their guidance and opinions; members of the entertainment industry and the political arena as well as individuals we may know personally all offer to show us a path, but in far too many instances are ill-equipped to do so.  It seems there are few things so common as bad advice and poor examples.  This is nothing short of a tragedy, because lacking a positive example will, more often than not, result in compounding levels of mediocrity.  Every important aspect of our lives, from our education to our profession and even how we interact with our spouse and raise our children require a positive example to follow.

Like most anything worth having, good mentorship must be sought out.  Very seldom do these people just fall into our laps, and when we do run into them we often run the risk of overlooking them or taking them for granted.  After all, taking on a mentor requires a certain level of humility on our part, because it requires us to admit that we don’t have all the answers nor have we mastered the best practices.  Adding to this assault on our hubris is the fact that a good mentor will often tell us things about ourselves that we don’t want to hear, forcing us to come to terms with our own failures and shortcomings.  In a world where giving offense to anyone for any reason is considered a cardinal sin, how hard must it be to find someone willing to do so in order to make you better?  That is precisely what a mentor does, and it is the reason why it is so important to find a good one.

As leaders, this message rings especially true for you.  While it is true that some people are more naturally disposed to being good leaders than others, it is impossible to execute good leadership without having first learned it from someone else.  When I was serving as a platoon leader, my company commander took every possible opportunity to form me into someone worthy of leading American Soldiers- while this often resulted in late nights, endless studying, and a few butt chewings, the fact that he was willing to spend the extra time and effort to ensure my success made all the difference between accomplishing and failing the mission.  You will never be too experienced or too high in rank to require good mentorship; many of the officers and professors I looked up to while a cadet at West Point still offer insight and perspective to me long after graduation, even on non-military matters.  On the contrary, an effective leader will always maintain a close relationship with those who have shown him or her what right looks like, and who continue to serve as a positive example.  Leadership is oftentimes ambiguous and uncertain, and you need to be able to count on the insight of those more experienced in order to have any chance at being successful.  

This is what puts every cadet sitting in this room is at an advantage.  Other JROTC battalions may be more proficient at drill.  The numbers on their rosters may be higher, they may score higher at the Annual Command Inspection, and their rifle team may shoot better.  These things do not make you the best.  What makes this battalion the best isn’t the senior staff, the Raider team, or Snap Squad- instead, it’s the people sitting among you who aren’t cadets.  While other battalions may have immaculate precision on the drill floor, they do not have SFC Conrad.  They don’t have MAJ Schaeffer.  They don’t have Mychal Thom.  They don’t have Diane Lewis.  They don’t have the faculty of Concordia Lutheran High School personally invested in making sure they are able to go out into the world after graduation and lead.  I understand it may seem like I am blowing smoke, but please be assured I am not- I am here to tell you that I would not be standing here with bars on my shoulders if it weren’t for some of the people sitting in this room.

Your education is taking place in an abundance of mentorship opportunities; all you need to do is walk down the hall.  While you may not always think so, your teachers and administrators always have your back.  They want to see you succeed, and constantly strive to ensure you have the support you need to accomplish your goals.  Your focus needs to be on taking advantage of the tremendous resources they offer, and on making their efforts worthwhile by working to meet the high standards they demand.  I promise that you will not regret the hard work.

Don’t leave this institution without having asked someone here to be your mentor, even if it’s a salty NCO who spends most of your senior year crabbing at you.  The impact it will make on your personal and professional lives, wherever you end up or whatever it is you do, will be drastic and will place you well ahead of your more nonchalant peers.  Meeting life’s requirements is easy- excelling is difficult.  Do yourself a favor and seek the voice of experience.  Work hard, get your feelings hurt a few times, and demand excellence.  You will not only benefit from having a mentor, but will likely become one as well.

Thank you.