The Mentee/Mentor Relationship

1. The Mentee/Mentor Relationship Louise Grant, PhD, RD/LDN, FACHE March 2, 2012

2. Presentation Outline • Difference between Precepting, Coaching and Mentoring • Benefits of the Mentor/Mentee Relationship • Preparing for the Mentoring Relationship • Key Take-Away Messages • Resources

3. "A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.“- Unknown

4. Preceptors – Coaches – MentorsMATTER • Consider these questions…. • Who have your preceptors, coaches and mentors been? • How did each contribute to your learning? • How did you find them or how did they find you?

5. More Questions • Who was your most effective mentor? Why? • In what ways could you mentor others around you?

6. Judy Dodd Jerry Molner Margaret Minnick Gwen Chegwidden DileepSachan Marion Korzec John McFadden

7. Preceptors Preceptors are: Clinical Teachers – Role Models – Facilitators - Evaluators Preceptors are responsible for the actions of their students. Preceptors give students responsibilities for patient care, and provide opportunities to do procedures, and review patients with students. Develop a positive relationship with the student --- requires trust. Effective preceptors provide direction and constructive feedback.

8. Benefits of Precepting • (says Stephanie Norris, FDA President) • Recruitment • Improved quality of care • Professional Development • Provide assistance with job responsibilities and additional duties • Personal satisfaction experienced by staff of mentoring students

9. The Difference between Mentoring and Coaching

10. Coaches • Functional • Managers coach all of their staff as a required part of the job. • Takes place within confines of a formal manager-employee relationship • Focus is on developing individuals within their current jobs • Relationship initiated and driven by an individual’s manager. • Relationship is finite – ends as employee transfers to another job.

11. Mentor • Teaches the mentee about a specific issue • Coaches the mentee on a particular skill • Facilitates the mentee’s growth by sharing resources and networks. • Challenges the mentee to move beyond his/her comfort zone • Creates a safe environment for taking risks. • Focuses on the mentee’s total development.

12. ACTION Coaching Mentoring Guiding/ Nurturing Career Development Stretching/ Pushing

13. Analogy Coach Mentor A mentor is someone who walks beside you. A coach is someone who walks behind you and pushes you.

14. Definition of Mentoring • A professional relationship in which an experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the mentee) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.

15. Mentoring Characteristics • Outside the manager-employee relationship. • Career-focused or focuses on professional development that may be outside a mentee’s area of work. • Mentor provides both professional and personal support. • May be initiated by a mentor or created through a match initiated by the organization. • Crosses job boundaries.

16. A Mentor is not…. • Therapist • Manager • Recruiter • Personal friend • Controlling • Arrogant • Perfect

17. Mentor Skills • Active/Deep Listening – ability to focus completely on what the mentee is saying and is not saying, to understand the meaning of what is said in context of the mentee’s goals, and to support mentee self expression. • Presence – the ability to be fully conscious and create a spontaneous relationship with the mentee, employing a style that is open, flexible, and confident.

18. Informal Mentoring • Goals of relationship are not specified • Outcomes are not measured • Access is limited and may be exclusive • Mentors & mentees self-select • Mentoring lasts a long time; sometimes a lifetime • Organization benefits indirectly; focus is exclusively on the mentee

19. Formal Mentoring • Goals established from beginning by organization and employee mentee. • Outcomes are measured. • Access is open to all who meet program criteria. • Mentors and mentees are matched based on compatibility. • Training and support in mentoring is provided. • Organization and employee both benefit directly. • Has a beginning and an end.

20. Example of Mentoring Program Structure Veterans Health Administration (VHA) • VHA uses the GROW model for mentoring programs, which provides structure to the mentor/mentee relationship. • Each coaching or mentoring relationship should have expressed • a long-term goal, • definition of the current reality and • the desired reality. • Each coaching/mentoring session should also have clearly expressed goals.

21. Benefits of Mentoring…to the Organization • Enhances strategic business initiatives. • Encourages retention • Reduces turnover costs • Improves productivity • Breaks down ‘silo’ mentality that hinders cooperation among departments/divisions. • Elevates knowledge transfer • Enhances professional development.

22. Benefits to the Mentor Gain insights from the mentee’s background and history that can be used in the mentor’s professional and personal development. Gains satisfaction in sharing expertise with others. Re-energizes the mentor’s career. Gains an ally in promoting the organization’s well-being. Learns more about other areas within the organization.

23. Benefits to the Mentee… Gains from the mentor’s experience Receives critical feedback in key areas such as communications, interpersonal relationships, technical abilities, change management and leadership skills. Networks with a more influential employee Has a friendly ear with which to share frustrations and well as successes.

24. Other Benefits Self-reflection provides new insights about yourself. Makes more of your strengths and exploits hidden talents. Career satisfaction Expand your personal network

25. When Should You Have a Mentor? • Jump-start your career • Real learning starts after school • Lets you tap into the learning that has gone before you. • Shortens the learning curve for acquiring skills and knowledge critical to dietetic practice.

26. How Can a Mentee Prepare? • Identify goals for the mentoring relationship. What do you hope to learn? • Don’t be afraid to ask. • Focus on your goals and needs.

27. Goals of a Mentoring Relationship Identify, define and honestly articulate common and individual goals and motives. Strive for mutual benefits Agree on confidentiality Commit to honesty Listen and learn Build a working partnership Lead by example Be flexible

28. Responsibilities Mentor’s Responsibilities Mentee’s Responsibilities Have a clear understanding of your motivation for wanting to be mentored. Select a mentor based on pre-established criteria relevant to your career goals. Broaden your search for a mentor to include nontraditional fields and organizations. • Have a clear understanding of your motivation for becoming a mentor. • Agree to mentor based on a realistic assessment of your skills and leadership experience. • Be open to mentoring individuals outside your discipline.

29. A MENTEE NEEDS TO: A MENTOR NEEDS TO: Offer challenging ideas Build self-confidence Help develop professional behavior Listen to personal problems (but don't get too involved in the problems) Teach by example Explore with mentee the process of how things are done. Be a Teacher. Mentors are teachers. ("Educate" means "to lead and draw out.") Share information. Don't play the "power game." By sharing, we actually gain power. • Respect authority • Value the mentor • Take and give good feedback (Yes, there is some level of feedback in the mentoring process) • Have a good attitude. ("Attitude gets us Altitude.") Attitude is knowledge charged with emotion. • Work hard • Exemplify core values. Values deal with who we are and what we believe. We need to communicate in ways that speak to the other person's values.

30. Why become a mentor?? • Mentoring does require patience and time. Often, in the interest of time, we offer to do things ourselves, or to solve the problem at hand. This is not mentoring but taking over. The reason to become a mentor is that you have been there and done that. Now you are supporting someone else who would like to be there and do that themselves.

31. Some Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Affiliates have…. Mentor/Mentee Matching Programs Student Mentoring Programs Kentucky Dietetic Association Minnesota Dietetic Association Louisiana Dietetic Association • DC Metro Area Dietetic Association • Massachusetts Dietetic Association • Washington State Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition

32. Dietetic Practice Groups with Mentoring Programs Diabetes Care & Education Dietitians in Business & Communications Dietetics in Health Care Communities Dietitians in Nutrition Support (for new writers authoring articles for Support Line) Nutrition Entrepreneurs Sports, Cardiovascular & Wellness Nutrition Vegetarian Nutrition (e-mentoring) Weight Management

33. How to find a mentor • Your organization’s formal mentoring program • American Society for Training & Development http://www.astd.org/ • Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics • Mentoring: Your Career GPS • Diversity Mentoring Toolkit • Various Dietetic Practice Groups have mentoring programs • http://www.eatright.org/BecomeanRDorDTR/content.aspx?id=8769&terms=mentoring

34. “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” - John Crosby