Insights from the Marine Corps Organizational Culture Research Project: Rethinking Mentorship

Abstract

The Marine Corps and its Marines practice mentorship in a way that is closely aligned with leadership. Specifically, mentorship is often conceptualized, both in organizational publications and by Marines themselves, as an intra-unit endeavor and as something that senior-ranking Marines do to junior-ranking Marines. This unit-hierarchy model of mentorship has served many Marines well, but, according to Marines in our study, it has some significant blind spots. This report discusses those blind spots and addresses choice as an important element of the mentor-mentee relationship. We suggest that promoting mentorship choices outside of the unit and chain of command may provide Marines with maximum mentorship potential. We provide examples of how some Marines have cultivated beneficial mentoring relationships outside of their command, highlighting how this choice is particularly vital for women.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 15, 2020
Accession Number
AD1096699

Entities

People

  • Kerry Foster
  • Kristin Post
  • Rebecca Lane

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Anthropology
  • Families (Human)
  • General Officers
  • Instructors
  • International Relations
  • Marine Corps
  • Mentoring
  • Military Organizations
  • Perception
  • Personality
  • Personnel Management
  • Schools
  • Social Sciences
  • Sociology
  • Students
  • Training

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Systems Analysis and Design