For many of us, at this stage in our careers, it can seem like we've reached a pinnacle. A place where we've learned and experienced it all and now our job is to lead and pass it onto the next generation. And while the latter part is true, the former is not. We still have much to learn and in order to be the most effective, selfless and growth-oriented mentors, we must be self-aware about the areas where we can still learn and grow — and partner with others to close those gaps for our mentees.
Understanding our personal strengths is imperative to being a good mentor
Understanding our individual personal strengths and our growth areas allows us to identify opportunities for collaboration, growth and development by leveraging the expertise of others to your mentee's benefit. This type of personalized, cross-functional support is a necessary investment a mentor must make to ensure mentees receive more thoughtful and well-rounded development. It also is regarded as a high compliment to recommend my mentee to another peer; my peer understands that I hold them in high esteem. It's truly a win-win-win scenario for all.
Collaboration promotes the creation of new mentor-mentee relationships
Collaboration builds a team that continuously learns and grows from one another and ensures that your patients are receiving the world-class care they deserve. Facilitating connections for your mentee across the industry expands their perspective, opens up new pathways for specialization and creates other opportunities for your mentee to identify and pursue their passions. That's significant because passionate people are motivated to innovate, and as leaders we want to not only teach the next generation but inspire them to continue to find new ways to address ongoing barriers and challenges to care for patients.
Mentorship happens across all levels and subject matters
I aim to cultivate a dynamic of "reverse mentorship" in all my professional relationships. No matter a person's age or career level, everyone can learn something new from everyone, so long as they are willing to actively listen. Someone who is at a different stage in their career can often point out blind spots, raise important questions and help bring the original vision back into focus. Personally, I've found that my mentor-mentee relationships that operate from a place of intentional, mutual growth are some of the most rewarding professional relationships.
Shared vision should override competition
Collaborative mentorship is a nice concept in theory — but in practice, issues such as competition or differing professional perspectives can act as barriers. A shared vision to support your mentee in growing their career, elevating doctor talent and expertise, and providing better care to patients should override any discord, competition, jealousy or other territorial tendencies. Your mentee will be stronger for being exposed to multiple perspectives. The goal of mentor-mentee relationships is not to create the next iteration of you — it's to help your mentee be the most effective, honest version of himself or herself.
With economic headwinds looming and costs coming into focus, there could not be a better time for any organization to look within itself and reinvigorate its approach to further developing its most important asset: its people. Promoting not only mentor-mentee relationships but overall collaboration across sectors and career levels is an investment that companies, organizations and individuals need to prioritize to set everyone up for success. The time has never been better to ask: What steps will you and your organization take to better invest in your team for the long-term, and specifically in the closing half of this year?
Dr. Judge is the chief clinical officer at Aspen Dental.