Transcript MCW Faculty Mentor Program 1999-2000

Maximize Mentoring Benefits and
Avoid Mentoring Landmines
Carole J. Bland, Ph.D.
Professor of Family Medicine
Maximize Mentoring Benefits and
Avoid Mentoring Landmines
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Use a Formal
process
Attend to key
communication
strategies strategies
Today’s Session
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Definition of Mentoring
Benefits of Mentoring
Formal Process
Ten Rules of Effective
Mentoring
Key Communication
Strategies
What is mentoring?
from The Odyssey
1. A wise and trusted counselor or
Homer
teacher.
2. Mentor. Greek Mythology. Odysseus's
trusted counselor, under whose disguise
Athena became the guardian and
teacher of Telemachos.
What Is Mentoring Today?
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Mentoring is the influence,
guidance, support or direction
exerted by a trusted, experienced
counselor(s) in order to help
another to do a job more effectively
and/or to progress in their career.
Simultaneously, a mentor is to be
detached, to some degree, so that
he or she can hold up a mirror for
the mentee. (adapted from Rogers,
Holloway, and Miller, 1990, p. 186)
Maya Angelou mentor
to Oprah Winfrey
3 Components of Effective Faculty Mentoring
1.
2.
3.
a two-way learning relationship which draws upon the
knowledge and wisdom of suitably experienced practitioners:
designed to fulfill three broad purposes;
1. of career development,
2. psychosocial development,
3. and professionalism
(Specific goals in each area determined by the individuals
involved)
a relationship which develops over time, i.e., there is more
than just a short-term or passing interest on the part of the
mentor and the protégés, and the relationship passes through
a series of developmental stages.
Modified from Richie and Genoni, 2002, p.69.
Mentoring Models
Traditional
Peer
Group
Structure
Hierarchical
Peer
Hierarchical
Format
One mentee with
one mentor
One-to one
One or small number of
mentors with medium
group of mentees
One mentee with
team of mentors
or small collaborative
group
Typical career
stage of mentee
Early
Any
Early or mid
Typical career
stage of mentor
Mid or senior
Any
Mid or senior
Challenges
Recruiting and
training enough
mentors to fill
demand, time
commitments
Recruiting, providing
training for peer
mentoring, time
commitment, changing
group if more than pair
Differing needs of
group members,
providing skill training
for group interaction,
managing group
dynamics, time
commitments, changing
group membership
Most common form of Faculty
mentoring
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Pairing early faculty with more senior
faculty members for the purpose of
facilitating the early faculty member’s
success
Benefits of Effective Mentoring for Mentee
– Higher Levels of:
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Research productivity (Bland
and Schmitz 1986, Bland et al,
2002, Byrne and Keefe 2002)
Teaching effectiveness,
evidenced by declines in
teaching anxiety and improved
student ratings of teaching
effectiveness (Williams 1991).
Professional socialization and
interactions with colleagues
(Corcoran and Clark 1984)
Salary levels; and satisfaction
with salary and promotion
(Melicher 2000)
Kleppner (L) mentor to 5 Nobel
Prize Winners including Ketterle (R)
- 2001Nobel Prize in Physics.
Benefits to Mentors
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Cross-fertilization of ideas
Personal sense of satisfaction from sharing wisdom
and experience with younger colleagues
They may also influence another generation of
faculty often fulfilling a desire to leave part of
themselves to the next generation of faculty.
Professional rejuvenation
New skills
Increased research productivity
The addition of a highly productive colleague to
one’s department and/or professional network
Formal mentoring is most effective
Five Year Study of Mentoring Junior Faculty
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Formal mentoring is, overall, more effective than
informal
Mentoring is not dependent on personality but rather on
what the mentor/mentee do
Early and enduring mentoring is most beneficial,
Mentoring pairs/teams continue to meet regularly and
progress when given “nudging”
Using mentors from outside the mentee’s department is
very effective
Less than 25% of faculty find mentors on their own –
those that do are most often white males
(Boyle and Boice, Systematic Mentoring for New Faculty 1998)
A summative message that emerges from this body of
literature is that mentoring, when structured and done
well, avoids pitfalls and has a wide-reaching, positive
impact on faculty success, especially in research.
Ten Rules for Structuring Effective Mentoring
1. Have clear, agreed upon purpose and plan:
a. objectives
b. strategies for achieving them
c. timeline
2. Have agreed upon roles for each mentor
3. Set Ground Rules
4. Set and stick to a “meeting” schedule
5. Be accountable
6. Keep it confidential
7. Develop Communication Mechanisms
8. Measure Progress
9. Encourage Feedback
10. Say Goodbye
Mentoring Purpose and Plan
The two most important initial mentoring
activities for career development are to:
1. Help the mentee clarify his or her career
vision
2. Use this vision as a foundation to then
develop future goals, objectives, activities
and timelines.
Ten Rules of Effective Mentoring
1. Have clear, agreed upon purpose:
a. objectives
b. strategies for achieving them
c. timeline
2. Have agreed upon roles for each mentor
3. Set Ground Rules
4. Set and stick to a “meeting” schedule
5. Be accountable
6. Keep it confidential
7. Develop Communication Mechanisms
8. Measure Progress
9. Encourage Feedback
10. Say Goodbye
Example General Ground Rules –
Agreed upon procedures about
how the mentoring will proceed
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Our meetings begin and end on time
Each of us actively participates in the relationship
Our communication is open, candid, and direct
We will respect our differences and learn from
them
We will honor each other’s expertise and
experience
We will manage our time well
We will put interruptions aside when meeting
We will safeguard confidentiality
Zachary LJ. The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000, p. 103.
Example Specific Ground Rules –
Agreed upon procedures about
how the mentoring will proceed
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Primary mentor and mentee will meet once a week
Mentee will be in contact with other mentors at least twice a
month
All mentors will monitor mentee progress via reports on the
mentee web site at least once a month
Every even month progress on stated goals and timeline will
be assessed and adapted as necessary
Decision about mentee project, drafts of manuscripts, and
changes in goals or timeline will be posted on the mentee’s
web
Ten Rules of Effective Mentoring
1. Have clear, agreed upon purpose:
a. objectives
b. strategies for achieving them
c. timeline
2. Have agreed upon roles for each mentor
3. Set Ground Rules
4. Set and stick to a “meeting” schedule
5. Be accountable
6. Keep it confidential
7. Develop Communication Mechanisms
8. Measure Progress
9. Encourage Feedback
10. Say Goodbye
Checklist for Assumption Testing About Confidentiality
Instructions: Mentors and mentees individually answer each question with “yes,” “no,” or
“not sure” and add other assumptions that they hold to the list. Then mentors and mentee
together review and discuss each item and come to consensus.
Which of the following assumptions about confidentiality do you hold?
___ 1.What we discuss stays between us for as long as we are engaged in our
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mentoring relationship.
2. If asked by your supervisor, I can freely disclose our conversation.
3. After our formal mentoring relationship has ended, it is okay to talk
about what we discussed or how we related.
4. If there is a demonstrated need to know, I can appropriately disclose our
conversations, my impressions, or anything else that pertains to the
relationship.
5. What we say between us stays there unless you give me permission to
talk about it with others.
6. Some issues will be kept confidential, while others will not.
7. It is okay to discuss how we relate to one another but not the content of
our discussions.
8. It is okay to talk about what we talk about as long it is positive.
Are there other assumptions I hold that should be added to this list?
Zachary LJ. The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2000, p. 105.
Ten Rules of Effective Mentoring
1. Have clear, agreed upon purpose:
a. objectives
b. strategies for achieving them
c. timeline
2. Have agreed upon roles for each mentor
3. Set Ground Rules
4. Set and stick to a “meeting” schedule
5. Be accountable
6. Keep it confidential
7. Develop Communication Mechanisms
8. Measure Progress
9. Encourage Feedback
10. Say Goodbye
Mentor Communication Gone Wrong
Hypercritical
Inadequate Direction
Failure to Acknowledge Intellectual
Contributions of Mentee
Deliberate “hugging the limelight”
Inappropriate personal boundaries
Mentee Communication Gone Wrong
“Basking in the light of greatness”
Failure to commit to hard work, honesty, and the
development of true intellectual independence.
Career development by association.
“Semi permeable hearing” – only hears what he/she
wants to hear
“The Lone Ranger Syndrome” – inappropriate
independence, inability to take guidance
Mentoring Communication
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Communicate often and openly
Establish trust
See each other as individuals
Take the initiative
Publicly support protégés and help them
expand professional networks
Manage power differentials; maintain
appropriate boundaries
Bland, CJ; Taylor, A; Shollenberger, S. Mentoring Systems: Benefits and Challenges of diverse mentoring
partnerships. Faculty Vitae. AAMC, Wash. DC., Summer, 2006
Mentoring Communication
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Communicate often and openly: Establish
mechanisms to assure frequent communication.
Discuss personal and professional differences
to assure you really understand each others’
backgrounds, situation, and strengths.
See each other as individuals: Mentors and
mentees must avoid making assumptions about
one another and should identify each other as
individuals and not as representatives of a
category
Mentoring Communication
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Establish trust: Trust results when the all
members of the mentoring relationship are
clear about the purpose and rules and open to
learning about each others’ differences.
Take the initiative: Mentoring relationships
are two way streets. Mentors should take the
initiative to contact the protégé frequently.
Protégé’s enhance the relationship when they
take a proactive role.
Mentoring Communication
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Publicly Support Protégés and help them expand
professional networks: Visibly promote initiatives
and scholarship, Introduce them to colleagues and
peers inside and outside of the department and
institution, and include them in informal social
activities.
Manage Power Differentials; Maintain
Appropriate Boundaries: Both partners in a
mentoring relationship share responsibility for
managing personal and professional boundaries.
Mentors must insure that the illegitimate aspects of
power based on socialization, stereotypes, and
attributions do not act as a barrier.
Ten Rules of Effective Mentoring
1. Have clear, agreed upon purpose:
a. objectives
b. strategies for achieving them
c. timeline
2. Have agreed upon roles for each mentor
3. Set Ground Rules
4. Set and stick to a “meeting” schedule
5. Be accountable
6. Keep it confidential
7. Develop Communication Mechanisms
8. Measure Progress
9. Encourage Feedback
10. Say Goodbye
Maximize Mentoring
Benefits and Avoid
Mentoring Landmines
1. Use a Formal process
2. Attend to key
communication strategies
References
Bland, CJ; Taylor, A; Shollenberger, S. Mentoring
Systems: Benefits and Challenges of diverse mentoring
partnerships. Faculty Vitae. AAMC, Wash. DC.,
Summer, 2006
Bland CJ, Schmitz CC. Characteristics of the Successful
Researcher and Implications for Faculty Development.
J Med Educ 1986;61:22-31.
Bland CJ, Ruffin MT. Characteristics of a Productive
Research Environment: Literature Review Acad Med
1992;67:385-397.
Boice R. The New Faculty Member. San Francisco: JosseyBass; 1992.
Bower DJ, Diehr S, Morzinski J, Simpson D. Mentoring
Guidebook for Academic Physicians. 2nd ed. Milwaukee:
Center for Ambulatory Teaching Excellence, Medical
College of Wisconsin; 1999. (Available STFM)
References
Boyle, P. & Boice, B. (1998Spr). Systematic mentoring for
new faculty teachers and graduate teaching assistants.
Innovative Higher Education, 22(3), 157-179.
Corcoran, M. & Clark, S. M. (1984). Professional
socialization and contemporary career attitudes of three
faculty generations. Research in Higher Education, 20(2),
131-153.
Melicher, R. (2000Spring/Summer). The perceived value of
research and teaching mentoring by finance
academicians. Financial Practice and Education, 166174.
Williams, L. S. (1991). The Effects of a Comprehensive
Teaching Assistant Training Program on Teaching
Anxiety and Effectiveness. Research in Higher
Education, 32(5), 585-598.
Zachary, L. (2000). The mentor's guide. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.