Ulysses

“The best teacher makes himself unnecessary to his students.”~Michael Kurcina

The story of Mentor comes from within the ancient Greek story of Odysseus. Odysseus, the Ithacan king, goes off to fight in the Trojan war and entrusts the care of his home to Mentor. Mentor serves in a two-part capacity to Odysseus’ son, Telemachus; he is a steward of the home and a teacher as well to Odysseus’ son Telemachus. The goddess Athena assumes Mentor’s form, many times in the story, and dispenses advice to both father and son; Telemachus and Odysseus. Today the name mentor is used for someone who is a trusted advisor, friend, teacher and wise person. The word mentor is sometimes used interchangeably with the word coach but they are not the same thing. Highly productive student to mentor relationships in history: Hayden to Beethoven, Freud to Jung, Archimedes mentor to Galileo, Socrates to Plato, and Johann von Staupitz was a mentor to Martin Luther. Major General Fox Conner was a model Army mentor. Conner served as a mentor to Eisenhower.

Action: Become a mentor to someone. If you are already a mentor keep doing so. If you are micromanaging someone maybe it’s time to stop doing that. Make yourself nothing special. Communicate the unknowable until it becomes knowable; have a plan, knowledge, faith and time. Watch people grow without you.

Image of Mike Green. Mike served over 15 years in Special Forces, including three years as an Assaulter in a CINC’s In-extremis Force (CIF), focused on Direct Action & Counter Terrorism missions. He also served as an instructor for the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat (SFAUC) Course where he taught Advanced Marksmanship and Close Quarters Combat (CQC) training courses.

Read Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs & Selected Letters.