Mentor Roles and Resources
Mentor Responsibilities
- Optimize accessibility to your mentee
- Share responsibility of initiating contact with your mentee
- Set high expectations
- Recognize and acknowledge their uncertainty
- Promote collegiality and relinquish role as superior
- Provide encouragement and support
- Be a good listener
- Give advice only when asked
- Provide constructive feedback
- Freely share knowledge and insight into common challenges based on your own experience
- Help develop and refine your mentees goals
- Provide guidance to resources
- Help build your mentees professional network
- Encourage independence
- Don’t complain about your own problems
Mentor Resources
Growth Mindset
- Modern Mentor Ep 476 (8 min podcast): “7 Growth Mindset Tips to Boost Your Performance”: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/learning/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset
- Toolkit to understand and apply growth mindset principles: https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-mentors
Goal Setting
- “Try Something New for 30 Days” (3:20 Ted Talk): https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days
Active Listening
- “Listen Up! Not Listening Is Holding Your Career Back” (30 min podcast): https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/business-career/not-listening-holding-career-back
Equity in Mentorship
- Evidence of Racial, Gender Biases Found in Faculty Mentoring (4:30 podcast): https://www.npr.org/2014/04/22/305814367/evidence-of-racial-gender-biases-found-in-faculty-mentoring
- Three Ways to be a Better Ally in the Workplace (9 min Ted Talk): https://www.ted.com/talks/melinda_epler_3_ways_to_be_a_better_ally_in_the_workplace
- VUMC Diversity and Inclusion, Training and Development Opportunities: https://www.vumc.org/diversity-and-inclusion/52000