Faculty Mentoring Workshop
This one-hour workshop was created to address the most frequently asked question by participants after creating a departmental mentoring program: "How do I mentor?"
Engage
THINK: about a good mentoring interaction you've had in the past (you may have been the mentor, you might have been the mentee)
List 5 qualities or skills that make a good mentor.
List 5 qualities or skills that make a good mentee.
How might issues of identity and diversity impact mentoring?
Which quote below most resonates with you and why?
Mentoring quotes...
“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
"My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better." — Steve Jobs
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." — Winston Churchill
“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” — Steven Spielberg
"The mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting." — Plutarch
“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” — Whoopi Goldberg
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton
“You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself” — Galileo Galilei
“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” – Phil Collins
“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” — Denzel Washington
"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you." — Bob Proctor
"I think the greatest thing we give each other is encouragement...knowing that I'm talking to someone in this mentoring relationship who's interested in the big idea here is very, very important to me. I think if it were just about helping me get to the next step, it would be a heck of a lot less interesting." — Anne Sweeney
“Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind." — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Learning is finding out that you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers." — Richard Bach
"If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before." — J Loren Norris
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” — John Crosby
“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” — Bob Proctor
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey
“Spoon feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon” — E.M. Forster
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
Explore
PAIR: use Active Listening activity #2 found here: Active Listening Activities
Explain
SHARE: What did you learn from this activity?
the elements of mentoring
Understand what you want out of the relationship and set expectations together in the very beginning (Align Expectations and Articulate your plan)
Take a genuine interest in your mentor/mentee as a person and understand it takes time build rapport and trust.
Address equity & inclusion issues.
Know when to give advice and know when to ask for help. Don’t assume anything about each other – ask. (Effective Communication & assess understanding)
Share your journey and celebrate achievements.
Seek out resources to help your mentee to independently grow. (Promote professional development & foster independence)
Be sure you have the time and energy.
Adapted from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/mentor-tips-positive-impact & TAMU Faculty Mentoring Academy
Elaborate
This is not a one-size fits all template. Different people, at different stages in their career, need and provide different things. Maybe you could benefit from using a mentoring contract or a personal development plan. Here are a few examples:
Evaluate
Articulate an action plan: What are the first steps you are going to take when paired with your mentor/mentee?
Who can I contact if I have questions?
Catharina Laporte
Cultural Anthropologist
email: claporte@tamu.edu
Office: ANTH227
-or-
Texas A&M Faculty Mentoring Academy