Mentoring in Uncharted Waters

Organizations and Institutions usually offer a career path interactively forged; ones choices, performance and effort to fulfill the role and on the other hand the impact one has on the institution. People who have walked the path will effectively mentor juniors to support the greater goal.

But what happens when someone enters an organization with no career path, no guidance, but many opportunities and choices to make? For a newcomer, it actually feels like a hiker staring at a mountain with a cloudy peak, without a map on hand.

In my career as an Army officer, I experienced frequent changes in the environment, hierarchy, and task nature, which required adaptation for survival. The only clear goal was to give my best when given a task or through competitive training. Every time I had to make a career choice, the pattern was the same: I paused, looked back at my dreams, recalled the family principles instilled in me, and followed the Academy's basic guidelines. Every time, it was agonizing, stressful, and uncertain.

Mostly luck and maybe some intuition guided me. Until I reached my greatest goal, set when I was still a cadet, I realized I had not given myself time to dream bigger or set lifetime goals. After that, my professional compass started swirling. Growth felt essential but was nowhere visible, and “flow” with the system tactic was not enough.

At this time of reflection, I remembered the metaphor of the “Cave” in Plato’s “Republic.” A group of people were chained in a cave beneath the earth, and the only things they could see were the shadows of the real world. When one of them was suddenly unchained, walked towards the light that came from the entrance and saw what the reality was. When he finally made it with great effort to the exit, he found himself painstakingly trying to open his eyes. At this time, the first feeling he had was the debt he owed to the rest of the chained men, to guide them out of the cave, no matter their reaction or denial of change.  

What came from this story - at this time - for me was the need to give back what was never a choice for me: guidance and mentorship.

Next goal was set: Looked at what was close to me, met with young officers, starting with a simple conversation, which ended up as a weekly gathering, until a solid connection was established. Through discussion, concerns and problems were sought.

What came up was a dejavu: we build high performers without helping them establish self-fulfilling goals. Achieving a task or reaching a milestone, will be succeeded by insecurity and emotional uncertainty for what should come next.

Of course, where there is no clear path, there is no map. Navigation will be through “uncharted waters,” and the mentee almost never will walk the mentor’s way. But what I realized is that this might not be a problem, but an opportunity: you do not have to have traveled the exact same path in order to mentor. 

The “nuts and bolts” knowledge of the system work, which took me years to accrue, would now be productive insights and leverage for them. The emotional “fog” I went through would come in the form of inspiration and motivation for them. What was actually imperative, though, was the fact that I had to make sure I was one step forward all the time. Thorough dialogue and frequent meetings made the way.

This all came with a cost, as this effort demanded excessive time spent compared to a more firm mentor-mentee relationship. Also, the deep emotional involvement and resources allocated left their marks on a personal and professional level.

On the other hand, the gains were enormous. The empowerment that I received through this process was actually the beacon for the new goals I was ready to set. I managed to calibrate my professional compass, established a milestone procedure, and reassured myself about the choices I had made; personal satisfaction and self-confidence were at a new high. 

Foremost, a new mentality was formulated as a debt to provide, stand by, and mentor the ones that follow. It is an obligation to fill the absence of any institutional-official framework mentorship program.

Panagiotis Tsiampas is an active duty officer in the Hellenic Army and currently serves in the Special Warfare Command. Graduated from the Hellenic Military Academy in 2005, commissioned as an Infantry Officer, but since 2006 has served as an SOF Officer in leaders’ positions, from Team Leader up to Special Operations Task Group and Ranger Battalion XO, and for the past 5 years gained extensive experience in Strategic Intelligence.