From Combat to Coaching
How Mentorship Drives Defence Innovation
A former British Army Officer with 18 years of service, Nicki Bass’ experience spans training Army linguists to working as a Commanding Officer to deliver Army education provision in North East England. She also founded and chaired the Army HQ Women’s Network and brings extensive expertise in fostering both personal and professional growth within the military.
After leaving the military, Nicki went on to become Founder and Director of her own consultancy business, Resilience at Work, where she focuses on team building and leadership development. So, it was a match made in heaven when Nicki was introduced to Hacking for Ministry of Defence (H4MOD), where she uses her coaching skills to help students tackle critical defence challenges.
Over the years, Nicki has mentored six student teams on challenges such as incentivising junior soldiers to take up elective education, enhancing the Intelligence Corps’ methods of assessment, and enabling the Human Security team to address barriers to implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Nicki brings a blend of long-term defence experience, people-related talent management, and providing mentorship and support (particularly focused on women’s roles), which is of vital importance to H4MOD. We spoke to Nicki about her experience as a H4MOD Industry Mentor.
The Energy of Fresh Eyes
For Nicki, the highlight of the H4MOD course is seeing how students bring their enthusiasm to complex, long-standing defence challenges.
An overarching theme of Nicki’s insights into the course is that of the student’s fresh perspective, one that is unencumbered by previous experience, situation or organisation. In Nicki’s words, they have an external viewpoint which is incredibly valuable in providing “really innovative and novel solutions” while being able to “treat everybody’s input as equally important”. The students’ external perspectives create freedom from rank and hierarchy, enabling teams to suggest solutions that might otherwise be dismissed.
“To have a group of people who are really engaged and enthusiastic about a problem area and come to it from a different point of view, I think that’s quite infectious.”
While working with the students, the way each group have approached their respective problems has been a constant source of motivation for Nicki as she notes that “seeing them (the students) bring their own life experience into the problems, throw themselves in, and work long hours to deliver their projects back to Defence is hugely inspiring”. It is this energised mindset of the students and their desire to collaborate which has been a high point in Nicki’s experience of being an Industry Mentor on H4MOD.
Navigating the ‘Crisis Moment’
Nicki's approach to mentorship revolves around helping guide her team through inevitable points of doubt and feeling overwhelmed, “reminding them that this part of the process and these moments are going to happen, and that’s normal.” This way, students won’t feel paralysed by their problem and can see beyond the initial hurdles.
The position the students are routinely reminded to hold onto is from a ‘higher-level’ perspective, meaning to look at the bigger picture, a key skill in any future career. Nicki tries to highlight the fact that students need to “steer clear of being pulled into the weeds or being buffeted in different directions and keep that clear perspective when you’re feeling time-pressured.”
Learning-While-Doing
The role of the Industry Mentor is to help the student ‘learn-by-doing’, applying the Lean Start-up methodology that the H4 course uses to approach their problem. There is a dual benefit of the programme: students gain lasting problem-solving skills, while defence gains fresh approaches.
To Nicki, the course harmonises mission-driven education, “H4MOD is a learning process for the students, and the methodology will put them in really good stead as they go forward in life. At the same time, dealing with a real-world problem gives it meaning - I think that’s where the real value lies.”
“They’re learning whilst doing it, but it’s not just about them learning. They’re also having an impact as a result of it.”
Closing Reflections
For a project to be successful, clarity of purpose is a driving factor. As Nicki states, “As long as you keep the mission at the forefront of your mind as you're going through it, and you keep coming back to it, that will guide all your decisions in the end.” This mindset helps keep the students on track, and remain mission-driven in a complex, fast-moving project.
In Nicki’s eyes, the role of the Industry Mentor is not about giving the students the answers, but guiding them on the path towards it, helping them stay focused, and trust in their abilities. This balance of structure, adaptability, clarity and creativity delivers a transformative experience for all that are taking part in the H4MOD course, both students and Mentors alike.
Thinking about mentorship? “I would say go for it, as a Mentor, you've got nothing to lose. The requirement on your time is minimal, and the teams are highly motivated, very capable individuals.”
If you’re interested in being involved in our H4 courses as an Industry Mentor, visit this page on our website or email kbroder@commonmission.uk
