Sensitive Mentoring

Another Oldie, but Goodie... I had forgotten I wrote... Finding a link to www.togetherweserved.com on facebook the other day... I signed up and posted a profile with service dates and locations, etc... Today I received this email... It was a nice surprise.

Steve

I was one of your students in 1985 ... I was thrown out of checkouts, run time, and interviews with you more than once or twice. But you never gave up on me ... THANK YOU!

MCPO(Ret)

I removed the name, for those that don't know the designation is Master Chief Petty Officer (Retired)... He did 22years...

He's not the subject of this story, but it probably occured during the same time frame...

Nostalgia, sometimes it's funny when it strikes. Since everyone I work with on a fairly regular basis has the same ex-Navy background, there are many of us who also shared duty stations together. So the stories are very regularly preceded with " Do you remember when…?".

Having been at this job now for more than 18 years, one accumulates a good deal of what is known as "tribal knowledge". It's the knowledge of experience and a lot of it's been learned the "hard way".

Part of an aging work force, we are now being asked to train some new employees. Fresh out of a six year hitch in the Navy, they're in their fuzzy faced mid-twenties. Young enough to be sons to some of us who have been here for a while. But I think that sounds better than saying, some of us are old enough to be their dad.

Corporate buzz words also being a big thing these days, "training" has been replaced with "coaching". Reflecting better the "kinder & gentler" training model that is used these days. "Coddling" might sometimes be a better description, though that may betray the dry and crusty sea salt that still flavors my way of doing things.

I spent some time coaching this evening within ear shot of another almost as old, "old salt". Dave sat mesmerized as he listened me to coach a new member of the operations department. As I glanced up at him silently taking it all in, I knew what he was thinking. A smile crossed both our faces as he said to the new operator, "I remember when Steve coached me. He wasn't this nice, then."

Laughing, he shared the now more than 20 year old story. We were both still in the Navy, I had spent four years aboard a submarine in San Diego and had returned to the Nuclear Power Training Unit in Ballston Spa, NY as an instructor. Dave was one of my students, 19 years old and full of himself.

Coming to see me one day to discuss the operation of a shipboard steam system, I started by asking him to draw a working diagram of the system. Moving on to various components and their respective functions and finally to their location in the plant. We would have gone on past that, but this is where Dave needed some "coaching".

Where's valve AS-12? I asked.

"Right here, I labeled it", Dave answered confidently.

"No shit. Where is it in the plant?"

"I don't need to know that", Dave answered defiantly.

"Don't tell me what you need to know and what you don't!"

"But it's not in my qual standard, I don't need to know that", Dave added somewhat defensively.

"My f-in' signature isn't in there yet, either and it won't be until you come back here with the g-ddamn answers! Now get the hell out of here and find them. I have to go back to sea when I leave here and some moron like you isn't going to get me killed, when I get there!"

Twenty some years later, we laugh now remembering the hail of chalk and erasers that chased him from the room.

"You're getting too old for this, Steve".

Almost a month and a half into these 12hour midnight shifts, all I could do was agree. "I know am, Dave. I know. Now shut the f-up!" I said as we laughed. "You'll make the kid think I was being easy on him."