Build Your Mentoring Dream Team/What Kind of Mentor Are You?

Mentoring Dream Team

Mentees

I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate it here: You cannot expect one person to provide all of the resources you’re seeking to advance your career. A Mentoring Dream Team is an army of individuals who may not even know about each other but can provide you with a diverse set of skills, experiences, and feedback from which to draw. Identify where there are gaps in your personal board of advisors and start recruiting people for your Mentoring Dream Team.

Mentors

Encourage your mentee to articulate what type of mentor s/he’s looking for and assess if you’re the right fit. This exercise can help both parties identify the goals of the mentoring relationship and clarify corresponding expectations. Moreover, recognizing that you’re just one component in your mentee’s arsenal of professional development tools relieves a lot of pressure from you to be everything to everyone.

Tell us in the Comments section:

-Which of these eight kinds of mentors are you looking for?

– What kind of mentor are you?

 

About Erin Thomas

Erin L. Thomas, Gender Diversity Specialist, works to develop systematic approaches for the representation, development and advancement of researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers at Argonne while engaging both female and male staff. Dr. Thomas has a PhD in Social Psychology from Yale University, where she conducted research on race and gender perceptions in workplace, economic and social policy contexts. She also received bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and International Studies and a master’s of science from Yale.
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