Rebecca Santee Discusses the Value of Coaching and Mentoring

When Rebecca Santee joined the Exchange 32 years ago as a temporary central checkout hire at the Fort Stewart Exchange, she was just looking for a way out of the house. She had two small children at home and was looking for adult conversation.

She didn’t expect to make the Exchange a career, but she rose through the ranks and in January 2023, was named Senior Vice President for Central Region.

“But I didn’t get that way by myself,” Santee told an audience of nearly 200 on Aug. 14 during the latest LINK (Leaders Inspiring Networks & Knowledge) presentation. “As I became more of a leader throughout my various positions, I realized that you don’t get there alone. You don’t develop alone. You have coaches and you have mentors and you have leaders that pull you along with them.”

Santee’s presentation was titled “Coaching for Performance and Growth,” a topic she says she’s passionate about. One of the benefits of coaching and mentoring is sharing knowledge, skills and expertise that help others grow—which, Santee said, comes naturally with being a leader.

“In our day-to-day activities, as we’re talking with our teams, as we’re out visiting facilities, as we’re talking to peers and associates, we’re sharing our skills, our expertise, all to help everybody grow,” she said. “We don’t do our jobs alone, so you always have to share your knowledge, experience and skills so that we can continue to develop not just ourselves but also our future leaders.”

Coaching also helps mentees view challenges as opportunities to learn.

“One of the things I’ve always said is you can’t be afraid of failure,” she said. “We’ve all had failure in our careers. You can view it two ways: You can view it as a roadblock or you can view it as ‘This is an opportunity to learn.’ When you have that kind of mindset, it not only makes you a better leader but a stronger person.”

Mentors also foster confidence and independence in others by empowering them to make decisions and solve problems.

“Part of coaching and mentoring is, when you’re coaching someone through a problem or challenge they’ve come to you with, is giving them options,” Santee said. “Not giving them answers, not giving them the solutions, but helping work through the different options so that they build confidence that empowers them to make the decisions that solve those problems.”

Another benefit of coaching is promoting collaboration and cross-functional training—in other words, getting mentees to step out of their comfort zones.

“Get some different experiences, get some different viewpoints,” Santee said. “It’s OK to find a coach or mentor who is somebody you don’t normally work with. In fact, I encourage it, because you want somebody you can confide in, who you can be honest with, who can be honest with you, who can have tough conversations with you.”

Santee shared other benefits of mentoring, including creating a safe and supportive environment for mentees; modeling professionalism, integrity and a growth mindset; and active listening.

“One of the hardest things to do as a coach or mentor is listen,” she said. “When somebody approaches you and they’re interested in developing, you have to listen to their desires and listen to their feedback and help them through that process.”

She added that the current mid-year review season is a prime time for giving and receiving feedback.

“It’s a formal process that really focusing on coaching and mentoring,” she said. “But coaching and mentoring isn’t always a formal process. It’s great that we have mid-year reviews and it’s important that we have them. But as leaders, we’re coaching and mentoring every day.

“You own your career,” she added. “I have been fortunate throughout my career to have had some phenomenal leaders who saw things in me that I may not have seen in me, who pushed me sometimes when I didn’t want to be pushed. But they believed in me and saw things in me and encouraged me. I have always tried to emulate that throughout my career.”

LINK aims to strengthen workplace culture, boost morale and reinforce the value of connection. Each month, a senior leader hosts a session via Teams aligned to key business priorities.

If you were unable to attend Santee’s presentation, you can view it here.