MSLD520.7.3.RB_StevensEric

I think that it is very important in your career to have both a coach and a mentor in your professional career. The reason for having a coach first and then a mentor second is very important to me. The coach status at first is important because this is the stage where the new employee needs someone to help with their confidence. Once this confidence is instilled in the employee the new employee can then focus on the skills necessary to become a productive employee.

I can say that I have been in my career for over 10 years now but I still remember my first day on the job. When I entered my profession I thought I had a basic understanding on how to do my job. My job required me to attend months of training to even get the chance to practice what I have learned.

I entered the profession and joined a field training program known as FTO in the law enforcement. during this phase of my career I quickly learned that I had more than one coach, I had several coaches during this phase showing me the basics of the profession. These coaches were able to help me focus on the basics and I learned to take a little from each of these coaches. I found something that one coach did and I took this and put it in what I like to call my tool shed so I can use it later. I did this from each of the other coaches and used this at a later time.

I then learned that once I achieved a basic understanding of the job I found a senior officer or employee who took the time to walk me through problems that I have may not have faced before and they showed me how to handle the issue. The mentor helped me become confident in the decisions that I have made on calls. The mentor helped develop me into the confident and productive employee that I am today. I can credit my mentor with helping me become a better supervisor I am today by showing me patience that is needed to be a successful supervisor. I can say that I have learned ti slow my thinking down and analyze all different options in a situation that I am facing, so in closing having a coach and mentor in your profession is very important to a successful career.