Giving and Receiving Feedback

1. “helping our faculty and trainees reach their full potential”Charles J. GomerProfessor of Pediatrics & Radiation Oncology Giving and Receiving Feedback

2. Why does USC promote mentoring? “Behind every successful person, there is one elementary truth: somewhere, somehow, someone cared about their growth and development . This person was their mentor” (Beverley Kaye, Up is Not the Only Way, 1997) Many times there will be multiple mentors!

3. Mentors share experiences and advice in a variety of areas • Career advancement, guidance on resources, promotion • Professional practice skills • Grantsmanship, scientific oversight • Publishing, scientific writing skills • Teaching skills, curriculum development • Enhancing professional visibility (networking) • Overcoming barriers to success, time management • Meshing a career with a personal life

4. Characteristicsof a Good Mentor • Approachable and welcoming • Shares information and experiences openly • Good communication skills • Trustworthy • Provides accurate and appropriate feedback • Technical expertise • Motivating, encouraging, positive and empowering • Allocates appropriate time to mentoring • An effective intermediary

5. Characteristics of a Good Mentee • Asks questions • Willing to be mentored • Strives to give his/her best at all times • Accepts criticism graciously • Learns from mistakes • Has courage to try new things • Accepts responsibilities • Open and honest • Respectful and grateful • Listens, watches, learns, grows

6. Mentoring Skills: Listening • “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Steven Covey • “Never miss a good opportunity to shut up and listen.” Will Rogers

7. Empathy • One of the most important skills you will ever acquire. It is listening so intently and identifying so closely that you experience the other person’s situation, thoughts and emotions.

8. Building Trust • Follow policies and guidelines • Make expectations clear • Provide feedback that is useful • Maintain a positive tone • Demonstrate concern for the mentee

9. Postdoctoral Goals • Expand research expertise • Perform public presentations • Publish, publish, publish • Acquire grantsmanship & teaching skills • Develop professional relationships • Develop mentoring skills

10. Postdoctoral Expectations • Favorable work environment • -facilities and funding • -research focus • -advisor presence and input • Enhanced learning potential • Professional development opportunities

11. Advisor Expectations • Laboratory Skills • -bring in expertise • -learn and teach new skills • -Contribute positively to the advisor’s research program • Design, perform, supervise, present, publish

12. Student Goals • to be able to do real science • to be able to understand research problems • to determine the data needed and how to collect it • to develop abilities to think independently and creatively • to acquire attitudes & skills of scientists • to become adept in the lab

13. Student Expectations • A positive relationship with their faculty mentor and research team • Respect • Real work, not busy work • New friends & social interactions • Succeeding in a new organization, setting, laboratory

14. Mentoring students • Make sure students know they matter • Explain the “why” when you ask them to do something • Look for opportunities to reward them • Provide feedback • Make work enjoyable • Model the behavior you want Molidor, JB. Here comes Gen Why! Interacting with the next generation of learners. APPD meeting, April 2006

15. USC Mentoring Resources • Primary Link • www.mentor.usc.edu • Resources (Depts., Faculty, Students) • www.mentor.usc.edu/resources • School/Unit Mentoring Activities • www.mentor.usc.edu/schoolunit-mentoring-activities • Mellon Mentoring (culture of mentoring) • www.mentor.usc.edu/home/mellon-mentoring/