Ten Career Mentoring Tips. Anne Klibanski, MD

Transcription

1 Ten Career Mentoring Tips Anne Klibanski, MD

2 1. Set up Expectations Early Decide what is expected and define early How to communicate-- how often and by what means-- should work for both A mentoring relationship is always a work in progress as career maturity occurs Effective mentoring for someone starting a career differs from mentoring that person in 5 or more years

3 2. Adjust Expectations over Time An Associate Professor met with me to complain about his mentor. He felt that new fellows and faculty were getting most of his mentor s time. He was no longer getting ideas from his mentor to write grants on. His mentor was giving ideas to junior faculty and not him. His mentor was unwilling to line edit his papers. He felt frustrated and abandoned A mentoring relationship needs to change. Every mentee needs a plan crafted to have them acquire tools to become independent Define what the timeline to career independence is over short and long-term goals

4 3. Match Ideas and Resources It is always important to encourage independent thinking and exploration of new ideas Make certain that it is clear what resources are available- how resources work- how to get them early and how to keep them Teach mentees how to realistically set goals and how to creatively use available resources to get them

5 4. Credit Giving and Taking Data and Project Ownership Teach mentees the total scope of a project from beginning to end As a mentor, you may have conceived the project, obtained funding for the project, established the technologies and collaborations to enable the project to occur- you see the project as yours The mentee may see that they did the project. Therefore, it is his/her project Who is right?

6 5. Informationtoo much too soon wrong kind and wrong context Avoid the temptation to negatively vent about your own issues with grants, colleagues and Institution without balance Avoid talking about the trainee s co-fellows, other trainees and faculty in a way that may be perceived as inappropriate and even threatening Balance training in the negative or hard aspects of academic reality or clinical care 2010 with positive information Be respectful of your mentees own background- cultural, gender, ethnicity etc.

7 6. Recognize manipulation and being manipulated Evaluate your own dependence on your mentee and their dependence on you Avoid pitting trainees against each other Avoid doing the work the mentee should be doing because its easier to just get it done yourself Avoid asking the mentee to do the work you should be doing because you don t have the time

8 7. Co-mentoring- why and how? One mentor for all trainee needs is not always feasible or desirable Needs include academic progress, life-work issues, personal problems The mentoring fit New directions, acquiring of new skill sets and career goals may be best suited to adding more mentors or changing mentors Bringing objectivity to an established mentoring relationship by adding a co-mentor can benefit both but a primary mentor is essential

9 8. Start the mentoring cycle early An Associate Professor met with me to discuss her expectations about her mentor and how they were not being met When asked about people she has mentored throughout her own career she was taken aback and said she had trainees but was trying to get her own career going and didn t have time to mentor others Have fellows and junior faculty play a role in mentoring students and trainees Discuss the positive and negative aspects of your mentoring experience

10 9. Prioritize Your Own Time and Know Your Limits Academic life- both research and clinical depends heavily on effective time management and an understanding of current and new commitments Best to not take on a mentee if you know you will not have the time

11 10. Find Out What Your Mentees Really Want to Do