Led by my esteemed colleague and NACMA Board Member Tyler Jones, NACMA's Membership Development Committee is working diligently to foster several initiatives, especially the Mentor/Mentee program. To help educate, each member of the committee will focus on one of ten tips for a better mentor/mentee experience. First up is the importance of establishing goals with your mentor. Stick with me here...
So, my new favorite hashtag is #BareMinimumTwitter. You see, it's pointing out how obvious it is that our goals in relationships are so low. I think it's a younger person thing, and I'm 33, so I've never experienced it first-hand... But an example would be one of those accounts that tweets things like "find you a man that texts you first." It's funny because that's not a hard thing to do at all, but people are so terrible at relationships now that it's unheard of to do simple, courteous things.
BuzzFeed compiled some in a list for your reading pleasure:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/delaneystrunk/15-times-twitter-fell-for-men-doing-the-absolute-b?utm_term=.peN66QGJe#.rfvooDX01Mentees, it's important to expect more than the bare minimum from your mentor. Raise your standards! Establish a list of overall goals for your relationship with the mentor up front, and even break them down into monthly objectives. I am also a part of the D1-AAA ADA mentoring program, and my mentor Roderick Perry (AD at IUPUI) and I keep a running checklist of questions I have for him. I try to mix in current issues with overall questions, so the list changes from month to month. Our calls are on Thursdays once a month, so on the Monday before our call, I'll send him a list of 3-5 topics to cover. A few examples from those discussions:
- How do you go about planning out your week? Finding time to get your own work done? Keeping time for home life?
- How do you structure regular meetings with key staff? Do you hold overall staff meetings? Senior staff meetings? Any areas you directly oversee?
- How did you set goals and expectations when you arrived at IUPUI? Was it difficult when you weren’t familiar with the institution yet? Did you trust your department leaders to set goals aggressively?
Keep in mind that I'm chatting with an AD, so your questions may be different. Sending these talking points in advance helps steer the conversation, ensure that we stay on task, and generally flows seamlessly for an hour. Rod's a busy guy, so it helps take the load off him, and I have high expectations for the relationship, so it allows me to cover the ground I need.
In short, mentees, have some expectations and outline them. Don't be afraid! Your mentor will appreciate your initiative.