What Does Being a Mentor Involve?

Mentoring relationships can take several forms. One relationship might be highly structured with short-term goals. Largely, this type of relationship is more formal with specific organizational ends; for example, a new cadet being paired with a more senior cadet.

We also might see highly structured, long-term mentoring. This could include examples of senior members investing a year or more with a cadet providing formal training and counsel.

Perhaps the relationship that will be most used in the cadet program is the informal, short-term mentoring, which tends to be spontaneous, ranging from one-time help to help as needed, but usually with no real ongoing relationship. An example may be an aerospace education mentor giving assistance as needed to a Phase I or Phase II cadet.

Finally, some mentoring takes the form of informal, long-term mentoring. This involves more of an as-needed helping relationship, but over more time. These relationships might possibly last for several years or over a cadet’s career. Typically, these are fostered through the friendships that the cadets develop and carry with them for a number of years.

We probably have benefited from all of these types of relationships at some point in our lives. Mentoring can almost be unconscious. Without even realizing it, a person might say or do something that has a powerful effect on another person. These powerful life experiences can be a potent force in developing cadets within our organization.

Today’s cadet program is becoming increasingly more complex, high tech and streamlined. Because of this, many cadets experience the need for understanding and information that are outside the channels of our normal training programs. Mentors can help fill the gaps in a cadet’s ability to rightly handle the problems they may face.