Shaw hosts first speed mentoring event

Published April 18, 2016
By Senior Airman Zade Vadnais
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- How long does it take for a senior noncommissioned officer to pass on quality advice to staff and technical sergeants? Seven months? Seven years? Personnel at Shaw Air Force Base have set out to prove it can be done in seven minutes.

Shaw’s 5/6 organization hosted the first in a planned series of speed mentoring events at the Carolina Skies Club and Conference Center April 7.

“The speed mentoring event is designed to provide a wealth of information to members within a short amount of time,” said Tech. Sgt. Crystal Lucas, 20th Operations Support Squadron weather forecaster. “With our busy schedules, not everyone has the opportunity to get out of the office or off the flight line to attend five hours of briefings covering five different topics; all relative to our leadership development and career path decision making.

“This forum provides a conduit for pivotal information, generates informative questions and builds networking and mentoring relationships.”

The event planners sat five senior NCO mentors at separate tables and split the 22 mentee NCOs evenly among them. The mentors were assigned topics suggested to the event planners by coworkers and peers at past 5/6 organization meetings. Once the event started, the mentee groups spent seven minutes with each mentor before moving on to the next.

“It was a really great experience,” said Staff Sgt. Alison Coleman, 20th Aerospace Medicine Squadron flight and operational medicine technician. “I feel like I got a lot out of it in a short amount of time.”

Shaw’s 5/6 organization has several speed mentoring sessions planned for both junior enlisted Airmen and NCOs through November. The events will be set up to allow junior enlisted Airmen to be mentored by NCOs and NCOs to be mentored by senior NCOs.

Lucas said she hopes the individuals who attend the speed mentoring events gain insight on leadership as well as learn how to diversify their self-improvement and what senior leaders think they should be focusing on at their specific career stage.

“Not everyone has a quality mentor,” said Lucas. “It is important for Shaw as a team to guide Airmen and NCOs on leadership enrichment and the skills to maintain standards and expectations. Given the changing environment and evaluation system, it is crucial that we not forget that we need each other for all of us to be successful.”

Speed mentoring events geared toward junior enlisted Airmen are scheduled for June 23 and November 10, and events aimed at NCOs are scheduled for May 19 and August 31. For more information or to sign up, call Tech. Sgt. Crystal Lucas at DSN 965-2362, or Tech. Sgt. Jessica Thompson at DSN 965-4521.