As academic physicians, we do a lot of mentoring. Over the course of our careers, and through our formal research on mentoring within and outside of academia, we’ve found that good mentoring is discipline-agnostic. Whether you’re a mentor to a medical resident or marketing manager, the same principles apply. The best mentorships are more like the relationship between a parent and adult child than between a boss and employee. They’re characterized by mutual respect, trust, shared values, and good communication, and they find their apotheosis in the mentee’s transition to mentor. We’ve also seen that dysfunctional mentorships share common characteristics across disciplines — the dark side of mentoring, which we’ll get into later.
Summary.
Good mentoring is discipline-agnostic. Whether you’re a mentor to a medical resident or marketing manager, the same six guideines apply: 1) Choose mentees carefully: Although the prospect of having an energetic and personable junior partner for a multitude of projects is appealing, the wrong mentee can be painful. 2) Establish a mentorship team. The exclusive one-on-one relationship of mentor and mentee, long the norm, has been replaced by sharing responsibility with others for the growth of a mentee. 3) Run a tight ship. Establishing firm and clear ground rules with mentees can improve efficiency. 4) Head off rifts or resolve them. Mentor-mentee rifts are common in both business and academia, and they often aren’t dealt with as quickly as they should be. 5) Don’t commit mentorship malpractice. It’s easy for mentors to wield their power inappropriately – even if they’re not fully aware of it. And 6) Prepare for the transition. A mentor’s accumulated wisdom and expertise must be passed on to the next generation.