A520.7.3.RB - Importance of Having a Coach and Mentor

Write a blog entry on the significance, importance, and/or impact of having a coach and/or a mentor to help you in your professional journey.

I have experienced both mentoring and coaching from both side of the coin.  Both terms are often misunderstood; however when used correctly they can serve as important factors in the employee development.  I think the impact of having a coach and/or a mentor can be beneficial to help you in your professional journey.  However I also think if it is not managed correctly it can have a negative effect on your career.  I cannot recall a time in my professional career where I have not been exposed to some type of coaching or mentoring process.  We often take our parents for granted when it comes to these roles, so I will not discuss that aspect.  From my school days I can remember my third grade teacher, Ms. Hodges always giving me advice on how to be a respectable young man…we stayed in contact until she passed.  That was a mentorship that put me on the right path of life; someone beside my parents who advised me. As far as sport in high school, the coaching process was short lived.  While you played for the school, the coaches had a vested interest in you performance.  It was said that they had an interest in the person, but as soon as you senior season ended you were told to enroll in another class and that relationship ended as soon as it began.  The one time in my life where I can say both coaching and mentoring had a long term effect was my career in the Air Force. 

From the first day I showed up at my first duty station, I was being coached and mentored to some degree.  Someone more senior to you was assigned to assist you in transitioning into a new way of life and an individual, normally your supervisor, was giving you performance expectations.  Mentoring as a whole, not coaching has had the biggest impact on my professional career which is grounded in my military career. I had goal of one day achieving a Bachelor’s degree, but not a graduate degree.  Because of great mentors, I am now working on my third Master’s degree.  Their continuing investment in me personally has assisted me in achieving goals a much larger scale than I imagined.  This has opened numerous doors for professional advancement.  I believe in the phrase pay it forward.  Because of the great mentors I have experienced I have tried to provide the same dedication and commitment to young professional I seen potential in.