Mentorship is one of the most meaningful processes and relationships a professional can undergo in their career, from either side. As a student or mentee, an individual can benefit from decades of experience, taking in the wisdom and learnings of an established professional without having to make or endure the same mistakes and hardships that won that wisdom firsthand. As the mentor, that same individual later can embrace the privilege and responsibility of shaping the next generation of leaders, experts, and decision-makers, raising the bar and potentially pushing entire industries to new heights. When it comes to leadership, be it in the office, in the field, or in the halls of political power, mentorship is a means for shaping the future for the better.
As a retired General Officer of the United States Air Force, Chris Finerty understands the impact, privilege, and responsibility of mentorship more than most. After 30 years of service, leading teams on deployment and leading initiatives in the halls of Congress, Chris Finerty’s leadership experience covers a wide range of contexts and needs, giving him a diverse spectrum of experiences he’s been able to pass down as a mentor. He cares deeply about empowering future leaders to be not just effective, but genuine and ethical, and approaches mentorship with that goal in mind.
“Too often leaders try to be perfect, as if they have never made a mistake, which almost everyone can see right through,” Finerty says. “Being a mentor to someone only works if they believe you are genuine, and being genuine means being open about your mistakes and faults.”
Learning Before Teaching
Chris Finerty’s professional biography might suggest a firm and effective leader from start to finish, but by his own admission, that simply isn’t the case. Like many leaders and professionals before him, Finerty is the beneficiary of wisdom passed to him by his own mentors, role models, and leadership exemplars. Like many before him, some of the most influential moments came early in his life and career—in his case, specifically in college, where he’d be exposed to one of the first lessons that he’d carry through his entire career.
“The person was not a personal mentor but rather a presenter to a large audience when I was in college,” Finerty recalls. “The talk was about ‘doing the right thing, ’ and the more the presenter talked, the more I became aware of the difference between doing the right thing and doing what's legal. While acting legally and staying out of trouble are admirable actions, there is a cavernous difference between these actions and ‘doing the right thing’. Too often, especially in the military, we consider ourselves ethical if we follow the regulations when it's clear that blindly following the regulations can lead to unethical outcomes.”
This distinction would define how Finerty examined and evaluated potential mentors, teachers, and role models for the remainder of his career. Ethical, meaningful, and genuine leadership became the core pillars of his own job, and thus, he searched for those traits in mentors and advisors. Genuine sincerity and credibility were critical for a professional dedicated to public service through the military and political entities of the United States, as it meant that those individuals could make the right decisions without being blinded by institutional expectations.
“If I don't believe the advice and guidance I am getting is what is best for the situation rather than what's best for the person giving it, it lands flat and feels empty,” says Finerty. “Further, if I am asking for advice for myself, if I don't believe the person giving it is genuinely considering me rather than the institution, it will be obvious.”
Broad Experiences, Broad Lessons
A mentor without experiences to pass down isn’t much of a mentor—fortunately, that isn’t a problem for Finerty. Chris Finerty’s official website names him as a collaborative, mission-driven leader who excels in environments where clarity, consensus, and courage are essential. His resume backs up that claim: he’s served as a special assistant to the Officer of the Director of the Air National Guard; led teams of 80+ military and civilian personnel responsible for interactions between the Air Force and Congress; and overseen a staff of thousands administering the portfolio of over 100,000 National Guard airmen, 1150+ aircraft, and over $10 billion in Air National Guard budget. His objective-focused leadership is backed by a proven record of solving complex, multivariable problems in diverse organizations.
Chris Finerty’s career accomplishments are a rich source of unique insights and experiences that he has had the privilege of passing on to future leaders through mentorship. His mentees have all had two common traits: the ability to admit ignorance or misunderstanding, and the ability to set aside institutional rigidity and remain flexible to unique solutions. Adjusting from strictly military leadership to roles involving Congress forced Finerty to realize just how important those two things are in a leader. That lesson is something he intentionally fosters with his mentees.
“The military is famous for rewarding the opposite of these two qualities,” Finerty explains. “We remain guarded when we don't know something, and we believe the military way of solving a problem is the only way to solve a problem. I learned very quickly that there are other ways to solve a problem other than the military way of solving problems. Dealing with Congress was a crash course in learning that lesson.”
Chris Finerty’s executive background suggests years of leadership and thus years of mentorship; however, his style of mentorship has evolved. As his mentorship needed to grow with the needs of the junior officers and senior executives beneath him, he doubled down on the sincerity and credibility he deemed so critical for his own mentors. Part of that evolution was learning when advice was warranted, and when it was necessary to say, “I don’t know.”
“I always started with a foundation of sincerity and credibility and never felt the need to offer advice if I didn't have any,” Finerty says. “It's humbling to be asked to mentor someone, and there is no faster way to dent your credibility than to offer advice when you have no idea what you are talking about. For me, the thought process to get to an idea is far more important than the idea itself.”
