We need as many positive leadership examples as possible these days, since we're now drowning in negative ones. I’m biased, but how about my husband Walt? He understands that serving as a mentor and seeing beyond yourself by investing time in promising, young talent is a hallmark of effective leadership.
I’ve not met Jimmie Lee Davis, Jr., Lead Engineer and Project Leader at MITRE Corporation. In a recent MITRE publication, however, Jimmie referenced the time Walt took years ago to mentor him on his way to a successful career including receiving the Career Achievement in Industry Award at this year’s Black Engineer of the Year Awards. The article reads, “In fact, a mentor was responsible for attracting Davis to MITRE when he was on the hunt for his first engineering job. Walter Kuklinski – then a senior principal signal processing engineer at MITRE and a University of Massachusetts Lowell instructor – would ‘always call me to the front of the class,’ Davis recalls. ‘Interesting conversations led to a friendship, and he invited me to visit MITRE.’ Although Davis imagined his intention was to complete his doctorate then ‘go somewhere warm,’ he was drawn in by MITRE’s work and mission in Bedford – and its people.”
Our duty as leaders, citizens, and human beings is to pay it forward and try to leave the world a better, more inclusive and respectful place. Taking time to develop young people is central to this kind of enlightened stewardship.
Image Courtesy of Mentoring Complete.