First Lt. Jeffrey Campbell Jr. recently tapped into his roots.
The aide-de-camp to Ronnie Anderson Jr., the Joint Munitions Command’s commander, talked to Army ROTC Cadets about selecting a mentor during an Alumni Officer Forum at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia, at the end of October.
Campbell enlisted in the Army in 2015, and he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from Fort Valley’s ROTC program in 2020.
Selecting a mentor is a crucial step in personal and professional development. They offer a myriad of benefits that can significantly impact one's journey toward success. A mentor is typically an individual who advises, guides, and shares insights with a mentee.
One of the key advantages of having a mentor is the opportunity to tap into their wealth of experience, learning from their successes and failures. This firsthand knowledge can provide invaluable perspectives. Mentors serve as trusted advisors, offering guidance and constructive feedback to help mentees navigate challenges and make informed decisions.
Campbell is of the opinion that one should have multiple mentors, and they should cover five different categories. The first is a coach.
“The reason I called it a coach was to try to relate to those students who have ever played sports,” Campbell said. “A coach is not going to make the play for you, but he or she will tell you the play and it's up you to follow that play. The coach was my No. 1 because that's the main mentor you should be looking for. They are not going to just advise you. They are going to coach and train you to get to the point where you need to be. The coach should be in your branch.
“For example, my branch is quartermaster so my mentor who plays the coaching role is a quartermaster major who just became a Lieutenant Colonel,” Campbell added. “You want somebody close to your year group that's a couple year groups ahead of you, that way whatever you're doing they’ve already done.”
Mentors can help expand a mentee's professional network, connecting them with valuable contacts and opportunities that may not be easily accessible otherwise. This networking aspect is particularly important in various fields where relationships and connections play a pivotal role in career advancement.
“The next mentor type is the sponsor so the reason why the sponsor is important is because that sponsor is the one that's actually going to talk about you and help you network,” Campbell said. “You have to have somebody who is always going to advocate for you. For example, I use my current boss because once he's not my boss anymore he can then step into that sponsor role for me. He's somebody of higher rank and higher authority who knows a lot of people and has a lot of people under him.”
According to Campbell, the third type of mentor is a challenger, who is the person that is there to challenge you.
“They're never satisfied, which you need that,” Campbell said. “It's OK to have people tell you that you’re doing a great job, but you need somebody to help guide you to that next step and that is what the challenger is going to do.”
Beyond knowledge transfer and networking, a mentor provides emotional support and encouragement. Knowing that there is someone experienced and invested in their success can boost a mentee's self-esteem and resilience in the face of challenges. In this way, a mentor becomes a source of inspiration and a sounding board for ideas, contributing to the mentee's overall personal growth.
“The fourth type of mentor is the cheerleader. Every now and again somebody's going to need a person they can just call, and that person tells them ‘Hey, you're doing a great job. Hey, keep going,’” Campbell said. “Sometimes, you don't need a coach. Sometimes, you don't need sponsors. Sometimes, you don't need a challenger. Sometimes, you just need somebody to tell you that you’re doing a good job, and that type of mentor can be anybody. It doesn't have to be to be an officer. It could be a non-commissioned officer. It could be a family member. It could be somebody you’ve looked up to for a very long time.”
An advisor is the last type of mentor Campbell has, and this individual plays a very important role.
“They're going to give you guidance based off of their experience,” Campbell said. “You must be careful with picking who is going to play that role for you, because there are certain people if they’re your advisor, and they tell you what to do based off their experience; and you don't do what they told you to do, they may not want to be your mentor or they may get upset with you. When picking an advisor, you have to make sure it’s somebody who can give advice but does not expect you to act on said advice.”
Campbell points out that one doesn’t have to have a mentor for each of the five types. A mentor can fit into several categories, can be of a different race and sex.
“You should never just have one person that you're reaching out to for guidance,” Campbell said. “It should be a group of individuals who have different backgrounds and don't all look the same. I use myself as an example. Not all my mentors are Black, not all my mentors are officers and not all my mentors are male.
“It's all about what you're looking for and what you can absorb, but the biggest thing when it comes to having mentors is you have to check up with them,” Campbell added. “They're going check up on you, and you have to do your due diligence to respond back and make sure you're keeping them in the loop with what you have going on.”
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