Friday, July 18, 2014

A520.7.3.RB_SchreterPaul

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.
                Mentoring in the Air Force has a significant and important role in helping Airmen develop professionally. It has played a role in my professional journey from becoming an apprentice to becoming a journeyman. I’ll explain the significance mentoring has on the Air Force and then how it has played a role in my professional journey.
                Mentoring plays a significant role in the development of Airmen within the Air Force. The goal of mentoring “has shifted to focus on helping anyone gain new insights and abilities.” (Emelo, 2011) This is especially true when anyone first joins the workforce and works towards becoming a journeyman. This is done by on-the-job training and is performed by any variety of peoples within a flight. These peoples “are simply available for the moment in time to offer expert knowledge on a specific topic.” (Emelo, 2011) By taking an apprentice under their arms, a more experienced person is able to share their knowledge and improve the skills of the lesser experienced.
                The impact mentoring has played a role on me is similar to what was just explained. The first impact was in regards to on-the-job training. When I first started my career in the Air Force I was always matched up with someone with more experience. My very first job was to launch out a jet and it was done by having one of my peers take me out and show me step by step what needs to get done. There have been other cases as well two years later where a jet would be hard broke for a particular problem I never experienced before, however maybe a week prior a similar problem occurred with another jet. I would then consult with the person who solved the issue while they would mentor me into gaining new insights about the problem.
                In the Air Force, mentoring plays a significant role in the professional development of its Airmen. It has also played a significant role in my own professional development as well. It is a skill and ability that has been instilled into the culture that will forever foster an environment of mentorship between the more experienced personnel to the lesser experienced.

References

Emelo, R. (2011). Creating a New Mindset Guidelines for Mentorship in Today's Workplace. T + D, 44.



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