Military Review English Edition July-August 2015 | Page 59

COMMON UNDERSTANDING

instruments for improving organizations. Different
people may approach the functions in a dissimilar manner, but the desired results are not that
different. One of the key tasks of leaders is to
develop subordinates, and they should apply their
knowledge and experience to develop others—both
within and outside their chain of command as appropriate. Effective leaders are committed to leader

development as a critical part of making their organizations better. Our challenge is to understand our
various roles in developing leaders and to be able to
explain them to those we work with, those we work
for, and those who work for us, so that the concepts
of mentoring, coaching, and counseling become
more than words.
Now, how do I secure that building??

Col. Jim Thomas, U.S. Army, retired, is deputy director, Department of Command and Leadership, Command
and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he also teaches a course in strategic leadership. He
holds an MS from the University of Kansas and is currently pursuing a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology. His last assignment on active duty was as the deputy dean of academics of the U.S. Army War College,
Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Lt. Col. Ted Thomas, PhD, U.S. Army, retired, the lead writer of this article, is director of the Department of
Command and Leadership in the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He
holds an MS in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a PhD in engineering management from Missouri
University of Science and Technology. His last assignment on active duty was as the battalion commander of the
554th Engineer Battalion.

Notes
1. Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-22, Army
Leadership (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
[GPO], 2012), 7-10.
2. Army Regulation 600-100, Army Leadership, (Washington,
DC: U.S. GPO, 2007).
3. ADRP 6-22, 7-11.
4. Lisa Kahle-Piasecki, “Making a Mentoring Relationship Work:
What is Required for Organizational Success,” Journal of Applied
Business and Economics 12(1)(2011): 46-56.
5. Leonard Wong, Stifling Innovation: Developing Tomorrow’s
Leaders Today, (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, 2002), 5,
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub279.pdf,
accessed 24 February 2015.
6. U.S. Army, Army Leader Development Strategy (ALDS) 2013
(Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2013) 8, http://usacac.
army.mil/cac2/CAL/repository/ALDS5June%202013Record.pdf,
accessed 24 February 2015.
7. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Best Practices: Mentoring (Washington, DC: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2008),
2, http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/career-development/bestpractices-mentoring.pdf, accessed
24 February 2015.
8. 108th Congress, Public Law 108-411, Federal Workforce
Flexibility Act of 2004, 30 October 2004, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
pkg/PLAW-108publ411/pdf/PLAW-108publ411.pdf, accessed 24
February 2015.
MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2015

9. Department of the Navy, Mentoring Program Handbook,
2005, http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/mentoring_hand.
pdf, accessed 24 February 2015.
10. Department of the Navy, NAVADMIN 13183, 252316Z JUL
13, Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions Peer Mentoring
Program Update, http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/
messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2013/NAV13183.txt,
accessed 24 February 2015.
11. Headquarters United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps
Order MCO1500.58, 13 Feb 06, Marine Corps Mentoring Program
(MCMP), http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20
1500.58.pdf, accessed 24 February 2015.
12. Air Force Manual 36-2643, Air Force Mentoring Program, 1
May 2013, http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afman36-2643/afman36-2643.pdf, accessed 24 February
2015.
13. ADRP 6-22, 7-11.
14. Florence M. Stone, Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring: How
to Choose & Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance
(New York: American Management Association, 1999), 160-1.
15. ADRP 6-22, 7-11.
16. ADRP 6-22, 7-10.
17. Army Techniques Publication 6-22.1. The Counseling Process
(Washington, DC: U.S. GPO, July 2014).
18. Dictionary online, s.v. “mentor,” http://dictionary.reference.
com/browse/mentor?s=t, accessed 8 May 2015.
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