Disruptive by Design: The Mountaineering of Mentorship
On the afternoon of May 4, preceded by many months of preparation and training, 11 days of endless step after step up a vertical hill, hiking through numerous glaciered valleys, scaling hovering suspension bridges and enduring what seemed like a week-long snowstorm, I finally summited a place I have only seen in movies, read about in stories and envisioned in my dreams: Mount Everest Base Camp.
Mount Everest Base Camp, or EBC, is a community shared with hundreds of other international climbers, local sherpas, cooks, team managers and other logistical staff supporting the climbers. Anyone not attempting to climb to the summit of Mount Everest is not permitted to enter EBC and is ordered to turn around after short celebrations of what they will call the hardest trek of their lives.
Although trekkers not attempting to scale Everest are not allowed to enter and walk through EBC, they do have the opportunity to score pictures of the surrounding peaks, share in the excitement of no more sharp climbs, or in my case, sip a single shot of tequila that I, and my fellow Alamo AFCEAN Shawn Cressman, smuggled in from the beginning of our trek. But the biggest achievement for any trekker, including myself, is to take a picture of the notorious boulder jutting out in front of EBC, with its painted bold red words stating, “Everest Base Camp 5364 M.” You can see our photo above. The photo doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the world’s highest mountain and other surrounding peaks and valleys.
I have always been a big stickler for personal growth for any individual. The trek to EBC wasn’t to get away from the complacency of life within the states, make advancements within my career or check something off my bucket list but to show admiration to those who have taken the time to pave the way by mentoring me. In my short three years in AFCEA, I have met individuals who started off as acquaintances and slowly became friends, and their valued attributes of what it means to be a leader and more importantly, a mentor, started to take root within me.
When I told AFCEA International I wanted to take their flag and a few copies of SIGNAL Magazine with me, they were thrilled. I wanted to physically show that AFCEA wasn’t just an organization that hosts amazing conferences for our industry and isn’t just a society for networking, a monthly magazine subscription or an excuse for a happy hour after work, but a place where personal growth can happen if you open yourself to it. This organization has senior members that dedicate their time to help individuals to become tomorrow’s leaders.
If it were not for my association with AFCEA, I would not have had the opportunity to learn about or experience this majestic trek. I cannot begin to thank those AFCEA mentors who have taken the time to encourage me on this personal and professional trek. They have provided me with proven career advice, personal encouragement to chase goals I never envisioned and opportunities to expand my horizons.
Please take the time to thank your teacher, coworkers or superiors, for believing in you and showing you the best version of yourself. If you don’t have a mentor, I encourage you to examine yourself for what you are and what characteristics you are lacking, seek a mentor within your own network and blatantly ask for advice. When the time comes after your successes, someone eager will ask you to be their mentor, and there will be no greater reward than to see your own protégé succeed.
Kevin Rivera is a Federal Partner manager at Trend Micro. He is also co-chair of the AFCEA Recruiting and Benefits Subcommittee for AFCEA International.
Disruptive by Design explores innovation and ideas with the potential to expand capabilities and revolutionize products, services and behaviors. The opinions expressed in this article are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of AFCEA International.
