Why become a mentor?

If you have been very lucky in your training or in your career you may have known the inspirational experience that comes from having a mentor. Mentors tend to appear as a result of the demands that our profession places upon us. The right mentor has the power to influence how we face its rigors, what we notice along the way, and the person we become.

The aims of mentoring in our specialty are varied, and include (but are not limited to) helping students, residents, fellows or colleagues to meet their personal and professional development needs, encouraging self-direction and self efficacy, increasing job satisfaction, promoting staff retention and recruitment, and aiding the transition from short-term competence to long-term capability.

Becoming a mentor is often seen as giving something back to a profession to which one is proud to belong. In the process of becoming a mentor one learns skills that are applicable to many areas of clinical, research and educational practice, and which benefit the individual clinician or scientist, their team and their patients. By nurturing a culture of trust, honesty, security and loyalty the mentor will enhance free flow of knowledge, information and wisdom. In the course of assisting a mentee, the mentor often becomes a more effective leader. Mentors also have the chance to advance the sharing of knowledge and profoundly influence the future by inspiring progressive cohorts of younger colleagues.

A successful mentor has the enduring ability to enable themselves and others to reach their full potential and practice in a manner that is aligned with the values and ideals at their very core. The life-long friendships that often develop between mentor and mentee can be a source of great fulfilment. It is particularly satisfying to observe one’s own mentees developing and in turn become mentors who impart their wisdom to further generations.

Mentoring skills

Mentoring involves a number of skills. Good mentors are those who naturally demonstrate empathy, good communication skills and good listening skills, but there are a number of other skills that mentors require to provide an effective service to their mentees. These skills fall into two categories. First, general mentoring skills are transferable skills that most mentors will already have to some level. They fall into the broad category of communication skills that are used in daily life. Good communication involves a variety of aspects, including being able to listen and summarise what both parties have said, understand non-verbal communication (what is communicated by not being said), and the ability to help mentees engage fully in situations through appropriate questioning. Of all these skills the ability to use ‘active listening’ is extremely important. Second, specific skills need to be learned and harnessed effectively within mentoring relationships. These include problem solving, goal setting, maintaining congruence, showing empathy setting ground rules, managing emotions, giving feedback, and managing boundaries

Time compression

The key to becoming a mentor in the busy environments in which we work is time compression. This concept allows a distillation of knowledge and wisdom from someone who has already made the journey and can transfer these skills. By using specifically designed educational tools it is possible to acquire and implement useful skills rapidly. Use of an effective user-friendly mentoring framework is the critical first step along this rewarding journey. After the initial investment of time and energy, the resonant process of mentoring creates opportunity, builds success and has wide influence for all involved. Whether one is a clinician or scientist, we should remember that the final step of moving into the role of mentor can be a transformative experience.

Peter Shah, London , UK
Robert N. Weinreb, La Jolla, CA, USA
Peng Khaw, London, UK
Vinette Cross, Wolverhampton, UK
Debra Cureton, Wolverhampton, UK