Mentoring: A Useful Concept for Leader Development in the Army
Abstract
Mentoring became part of the Army's lexicon in 1985, when the Chief of Staff of the Army, General John C. Wickman, Jr., challenged every leader to be a mentor to his or her subordinates. Mentoring soon emerged as a primary concept in the doctrine for professional development of the Army's future leaders. The phenomenon of mentoring was not clearly conceptualized, and as a methodology for the development of leaders it is a poorly understood concept. This paper attempts to gain an insight into the mentoring process by analyzing the perspectives of military professionals and civilian academicians. A 'traditional' concept of mentoring, supported by both military and civilian perspectives, is the basis for an analysis of two generally accepted, successful mentor-protege relationships to establish its utility. This 'traditional' concept is then compared with mentoring as it is currently being practiced, as revealed in recent studies on mentoring in the military. The study concludes that mentoring as it is currently being practiced, as revealed in recent studies on mentoring in the military. The study concludes that mentoring means one thing to some and something else to others. The functions of coaching, role modeling, sponsoring, and related activities currently being practiced are not mentoring. They are only some of the many functions practiced by mentors. Therefore, although the concept of mentoring is valuable from an academic perspective, it has limited value to the Army as doctrine for professional development of leaders and should be eliminated from the Army's lexicon.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 11, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA223599
Entities
People
- Gail W. Wood
Organizations
- United States Army War College