A high-ranking Officer in the British Army says mentoring in the military has “come on leaps and bounds” since she began her 15-year career.
Major Samantha Lucas-Floyd was the latest online guest speaker for the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s 21in21 Women in Business Mentoring Programme.
The programme, which launched in March, matched 21 mentors with 21 mentees across the region to offer one-to-one support including advice, guidance and inspiration to help women in business drive forward their ambitions, either within an existing business or with their own venture.
Major Lucas-Floyd has risen through the ranks since joining the Royal Military Police as a Soldier in 2006. This included a stint in the major incident room where she was part of the Iraq Historical Allegations Team.
After successfully passing the Army Officer Selection Board she attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 2012 and was deployed on the last tour of Afghanistan, Op HERRICK 20. There she worked as the Regimental Administration Officer (RAO) at an army hospital in Camp Bastion.
Major Lucas-Floyd is currently Regimental Administration Officer (RAO) for the 159 Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps based in the West Midlands. She supports recruitment and training of 18 to 43-year-olds for six regional squadron locations including Coventry.
She said: “Strong leadership is when you encourage, motivate, inspire and challenge your team to produce their best work.
“Good leadership is understanding your personnel and adapting to a situation. Leaders are defined by the situation they are in, rather than specific characteristics.
“You need to have the ability to self-analyse, to see where you have scope to improve and to be the best version of yourself and in terms of passing on best practice.”
While the military has admitted it has struggled to encourage more women to join, Major Lucas-Floyd recognises that she and her team can play an important role inspiring and mentoring junior female officers.
They have seen the number of women rise within their regiment to 15 per cent – just above the army target of 14 per cent.
She said: “Females recruit females. Networking events open recruitment from industry into the Army.
“I would have benefitted hugely if I had a mentor. It wasn’t available when I joined. Now we have initiated a mentoring programme. They are fantastic! I am a massive advocate and have a couple of mentees myself. Mentoring is fundamental to ensuring a continued level of understanding.”
Siamha Butt, Head of Engagement for West Midland Reserve Forces & Cadets Association (WM RFCA) – which is sponsoring the Chamber’s 21in21 programme - also gave a presentation on the benefits to businesses who sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant.
The Covenant aims to look after the Armed Forces community including veterans, Reserves, military spouses, Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers and cadets. It ensures they are not adversely affected by having served in the forces.
Benefits include free access to military talent such as Career Transition Partnership, leadership and development training opportunities and the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme – of which there are 112 Silver Award holders and 32 Gold Award Holders in the West Midlands region.
Keely Hancox, Operations Manager at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce said: “We were thrilled to hear from Major Lucas-Floyd. A truly inspirational leader, and although citing her experiences within the Army, what she spoke about really is transferable to wider industry. We have already had some great feedback from our members; she really resonated with the audience.
“It was great to hear how important a role mentors are now playing within the Army and we are already seeing the benefits our programme is having for all involved.”