Reverse Mentoring: Grow Faster by Developing Others

In my school days, I was once matched with a new transfer student as the buddy peer. This student barely spoke the language, and my role was to help them adjust to the school culture and assist with assignments, which included answering every question under the sun. Looking back, that was one of my best academic years. I still use the structured way of communication I built to guide that student, breaking complex ideas into simple steps, creating visuals and even crafting short songs and mnemonics to reinforce key concepts. Guiding that student forced me to refine my communication in a way that passive learning never did, which is exactly why mentoring peers can accelerate your development long before a senior mentor enters the picture.

Mentoring Others Accelerates Your Own Growth

Waiting for a seasoned leader to take you “under their wing” often slows your development. You end up waiting for that monthly 30‑minute call to get wisdom, which is like trying to get fit by watching someone else lift weights once per month. But what about if you flip the script? When you mentor a peer or a junior, you are no longer a consumer of knowledge. You become its architect. This process forces you to translate your tacit knowledge into explicit language, which exposes the cracks in your own understanding immediately. Here is how to make that work for you.

• Use mentoring moments to reveal your blind spots. When you guide someone through a topic, you have to break your thinking into clear steps, which immediately shows you where your understanding is solid and where it’s only partial. Mentoring puts you in situations that require you to explain your reasoning out loud, which exposes assumptions you didn’t realize you were relying on and gives you a more reliable foundation for future decisions.
• Accelerate your growth through constant repetition. The act of helping coworkers solve a recurring issue creates a level of mental muscle memory that a monthly meeting with a mentor cannot replicate. You are repeatedly practicing the core skills of leadership, which makes you significantly more prepared for high-stakes decision-making. By the time you reach that senior role, you will have already built the communication habits that make influence easier through the hundreds of small teaching moments you initiated.
• Help people navigate unfamiliar environments to expand your leadership range. Guiding someone through a new culture or workflow teaches you how to translate unwritten norms, anticipate confusion, and create clarity in situations that feel ambiguous. These experiences strengthen your ability to lead in varied contexts, which makes you more adaptable and confident when facing new challenges yourself.

Senior mentors are valuable, yet they are not the only path to growth. When you teach, guide or support others, you accelerate your own development in ways that scheduled advice cannot match. You turn a perceived lack into an advantage, which becomes one of the most reliable leadership habits you can build.

Adeline (Addy) Maissonet is a senior advisor on contracting policies and procedures within the Office of the Secretary of War, U.S. Department of War (DoW) and the agency’s representative on the Department’s views on proposed legislation to Congressional members, their staff, and committee staffers. She leads the development and implementation of Department-wide procurement policies for commodities and services, within her portfolio. Prior to her current role, Addy served as a Division Chief and Contracting Officer with unlimited warrant authority for the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Eustis, Virginia. Prior to joining the MICC, Addy served as a Branch Head for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), Norfolk, Virginia, with unlimited warrant authority. She also held other procurement positions with the U.S. Navy. Addy holds an MBA in Management and Contracting Level III Certification under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. She is a graduate from Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Certificate Program and Harvard University’s Business Analytics Certificate Program. In her free time, Addy enjoys hiking and overlanding with her family and friends.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of War.

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