Sometimes, another person sees your potential long before you can see it yourself.

In Season 4, Episode 11 of the Common Veterans Podcast, the crew discusses mentorship, leadership, confidence and the people who help shape us throughout military service and civilian life.

What begins as borrowed confidence can eventually become something real. A mentor challenges you, pushes you beyond your comfort zone and gives you enough belief to take the next step. Through experience, competence, failure and persistence, that temporary confidence eventually becomes your own.

But not everyone worth learning from deserves to be placed on a pedestal.

The Common Veterans examine the difference between admiration and hero worship, why every mentor remains human and how to recognize warning signs of unhealthy leadership. Those warning signs can include arrogance, manipulation, micromanagement, taking credit while shifting blame and refusing to accept responsibility.

In this episode, the Common Veterans discuss:

• How military sponsors and supervisors can become mentors
• Learning from both exceptional and terrible leaders
• Why competence builds lasting confidence
• Testing advice instead of following it blindly
• Knowing when a mentor has become harmful
• Learning from victories as well as failures
• Training your replacement and paying knowledge forward
• Becoming the mentor someone else needs

Good mentors do not create followers who remain dependent on them. They develop people who can eventually stand on their own, lead others, and continue the mission.

Invest in relationships that build character. Continue learning. Continue leading.

Common Veterans: Real Veterans. Real Conversations.

This episode contains adult language, military humor, and mature conversation.