Mentor/Mentee Relationships

Strategies for successful mentee- driven mentorship

Center for Biobehavioral Health and Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice Post Baccalaureate Program Series March 19, 2019 Jennifer Muszynski, MD, MPH

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Learning Objectives

1. Identify goals of mentorship in order to guide mentor selection 2. Understand roles and responsibilities of the mentee in successful mentor-mentee relationships 3. Acquire useful tools to manage and periodically evaluate mentor-mentee relationships

Lois Zachary and Lori Fischler. The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentorship Work for You. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. What is a Mentor?

From Homer’s Odyssey The goddess Athena disguised as Odysseus’s friend, Mentor, guides and assists Odysseus’s son, Telemachus on his quest to find his father

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. What is a Mentor?

Google: “an experienced and trusted advisor” Dictionary.com: “a wise and trusted counselor or teacher Merriam-Webster: “a trusted counselor or guide”

A mentor “acts as a guide who helps us define and understand our own goals and pursue them successfully”

- Lois Zachary and Lory Fischler. The Mentee’s Guide.

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Mentor vs. coach vs. sponsor

Mentor Coach Longer term relationship Time-limited interaction Big picture – guide overall Focused on developing a development particular skill

Sponsor Particularly in academics, a mentor may also Advocate serve as a coach Someone who opens doors and/or a sponsor.

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. How do I find and select a mentor?

• Mentor selection depends on your goals for mentorship • What do you hope to gain from the mentorship relationship? • Start with your career goals • What do you need in order to reach your goals? • Think about qualities you would want in a mentor • Helpful to understand your own learning / communication style

• Identify potential mentors

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. How do I find potential mentors?

• A few tips: • Talk to people! • Observe experienced individuals around you • For researchers: • Search PubMed and NIH reporter for research topic and institution name •For faculty at NCH: www.nationwidechildrens.chronus.com • Other suggestions?

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Can a supervisor be a mentor?

It depends ….

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Mentorship can be a team sport

Some hints for team mentorship: • Be wary of being pulled in different directions by different mentors • Best to have one primary “captain of the ship” • Make sure the entire team meets periodically

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Mentors don’t have to be local

• Take advantage of national organizations to find additional mentorship • When attending meetings, be prepared to describe your career interests/goals – have an elevator speech ready! • Potential mentors will look forward to working with mentees who are motivated, enthusiastic, and prepared -- always put your best foot forward

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. So, I’ve got a mentor … Now what?

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Managing the mentorship relationship

A successful mentor-mentee relationship is mentee-driven!

Run committee meeting Supervise other mentees Clinical service Revise manuscripts Paper reviewConference call Travel You Manage lab Grant deadline Prepare lectures Write book chapterFamily Grant review

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Ok, but what does mentee-driven mean?

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. First step … Planning and Preparation

John is a junior faculty member in an academic medical center. Matt is a senior faculty member who has agreed to mentor John. In Matt’s experience, junior faculty members often struggle with losing focus and do well when provided with clear expectations. Consequently, he provides John with a detailed list of goals and expectations for the next year. John was expecting a less structured mentorship and is offended by what he perceives as micromanagement. The relationship ultimately ends in conflict.

Susan is mentored by a senior faculty member who takes on a new administrative role within the university. Her mentor acknowledges that he is very busy but he wants to continue to help in any way he can. Susan and her mentor set up monthly meetings. Over the next several months, almost all of the meetings are cancelled and despite Susan’s best efforts cannot be rescheduled. Her mentor remains very responsive to questions by e-mail and feels that this is sufficient. However, Susan’s learning style is such that she works best with face to face meetings…

• Take some time to get to know each other • Discuss goals and expectations of the mentoring relationship • Create specific, well defined goals • Determine criteria to define success • Create a timeline for achieving goals and meeting expectations •Set ground rules •Decide the frequency of meetings and interval(s) for evaluation ………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Mentor meetings

Claire is working on a manuscript with her mentor. She and her mentor meet regularly to discuss the project. After 6 months, it seems the manuscript is no closer to being finished than when they started. Thinking back on her mentorship meetings, Claire realizes that though the manuscript has been discussed regularly, no decisions have been made …

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Mentor meetings

• It is generally the responsibility of the mentee to schedule meetings • As the mentee, to get the most out of the meeting – run the meeting Some tips: 1. Have an agenda for every meeting! 2. Know what you want to accomplish with each meeting (goal – oriented agenda) 3. Move the meeting forward 4. End every meeting with actionable items and timeline(s) for completion ………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Good mentors are busy people

Tom has a grant application due in two weeks. He e-mails a draft proposal to his mentor on a Friday afternoon. He doesn’t hear anything over the next week but assumes he will get comments back shortly. Finally after about 10 days, with his deadline looming, Tom e-mails his mentor again and finds out that his first e-mail was missed and his mentor has not yet seen his proposal.

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. How to work with busy people … a few tricks

• If it’s important – don’t rely on e-mail alone! • Use deadlines • For example, send a draft manuscript with: • “I’d like to get this back by next Wednesday • “I set up a meeting for next Wednesday to review your comments” • Take advantage of every opportunity to learn • Ask questions • Solicit feedback • Other suggestions? ………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. How are we doing? Evaluating the mentor-mentee relationship

• Good idea to periodically evaluate the mentor-mentee relationship • One approach: • Start with the mentee’s career or learning goals • Is sufficient progress being made to meet those goals? If not, why not? • Evaluate whether changes in the mentorship relationship or structure might be needed • How is mentorship time being spent? • How well are we communicating? ………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. What if it’s not working?

• Communicate • Make a plan and follow through • Get help if you need it • Don’t waste time – actively work to fix it!

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Summary

• Mentor selection depends on goals for mentorship • Mentorship goals derive from the mentee’s career and developmental goals • Successful mentor-mentee relationships are mentee-driven • Evaluating mentee goals and progress toward goals can serve as evaluation of the mentor-mentee relationship

Lois Zachary and Lori Fischler. The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentorship Work for You. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009

………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Thank you to my mentors, coaches and sponsors

Mark Wewers, MD Mark Hall, MD Bill Smoyer, MD

Lauren Bakaletz, PhD Daren Knoell, Phil Spinella, MD Philip Norris, MD PharmD ………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..