Mentoring In Diverse Cultural and Political Environments

Our Mentoring assignments are often accomplished in cultural and political environments that are very diverse from what we are used to at “home!” This diversity can often cause us a degree of discomfort as we attempt to bring, hopefully, more efficiency and effectiveness to our Host Nation Partners. In some cases, it is even working with the “familiar” culture of our American counterparts that can cause us that discomfort.

Even though many of us are former US military personnel, today’s military has changed unbelievably fast since we left the service. Much of the change is due to the demand for increased op-tempo and much has been brought about by technology, lessons learned and sheer “seat of the pants” initiatives.

Our greatest mentoring challenge isn’t the transfer of information, we do that very well. It is the demand and need to understand and become assimilated and acculturated into the environment we work. This allows us to be trusted, credible and effective partners in a highly demanding cultural and political environment.

A recent RFP (Request for Proposal) from a Government Contracting Office required that all assigned mentors become familiar with the cultural and political environments in which they will work. This doesn’t mean a PhD level of understanding, but rather a basic, common-sense approach to the diverse nature of the mentoring task so that our interpersonal skills will be magnified in our mentoring assignment.

Every culture is different, every political demand is different; however, here are a few essential elements of information that can make the mentoring task more effective in working in diverse cultural and political environments.

1. Don’t assume anything! Make sure that all communication is open and honest – never argumentative!

2. Be conscious of the cultural differences of age, religion, experience, education and traditions.

3. Be willing to learn as much as mentor. Ask questions; get input and insight from your partner.

4. Your cultural background may not be the standard by which your partner works!

5. Get to know, and use, the local customs that promote trust and respect between you and your partner.

6. Never, never, disparage the partner, the culture, the politics or the traditions…in any language!

7. Remember, a successful mentor helps meet the needs of the partner, not fulfill the mentor’s needs!

In Memoriam - Jim McLaughlin
On April 27th L-3 MPRI lost Jim McLaughlin, a dedicated employee while in service to L3 and our country in Afghanistan. As this day started, Jim and his teammates gathered at the Afghan Air Force Headquarters to begin their mentoring duties. For reasons unknown to us, an Afghan Air Force officer shot and killed 9 US personnel. Jim McLaughlin paid the ultimate price for his service to this company and our country.

Jim was a valued member of the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan (NATC-A) task order under the War Fighter Focus Contract. As a mentor to the Afghan Air Force, Jim’s duties included daily contact with his Afghan counterparts and sharing his vast aviation knowledge. Jim was both a military and civilian rotary and fixed wing pilot and had been part of L-3 MPRI since 2008.

Chris Campbell (PM, NATC-A) said the following: “As you can well imagine our Team suffered a tragic loss yesterday at the Afghan Air Force base, Kabul. Mr. Jim McLaughlin, our Afghan Air Force Air Command and Control Mentor, was killed along with eight USAF airmen. This loss has been devastating to our Team and to the NATC-A community and command. But we WILL recover and we WILL ensure that those service members (ALL) are remembered for their contributions to our nation.”

(Reprinted from MPRI Intranet Newsletter, May, 2011)

Jim was one of our first Certified Mentors and provided tremendous field support to the Mentoring Program. His certification paper was entitled “Strategic Mentoring” and described the challenges and positive changes in the Afghan Partners and the NATC-A through effective mentoring. His legacy will always be the standard he helped establish in promoting the quality and effectiveness of mentoring with those he worked. – Joe Allred

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD - Share your mentoring ideas, experiences and PHOTOS with other MPRI mentors or send email address corrections to joseph.allred@L-3com.com. Past issues of the Mentoring Memo can be found on www.mpri.com/bulletin/forms, or on http://mentorpartner.blogspot.com.