1. OWNING IT: Mentorship, Leadership and the Path to a Successful Career
UC Administrative Management Professionals
Annual Conference
April 10, 2017
Julie A. Freischlag, M.D., FACS, RCSEd(Hon)
Vice Chancellor, Human Health Sciences
Dean, School of Medicine
University of California, Davis

2. The importance of mentorship

3. Why have mentors?
Mentors play a significant role in career and personal development by:
Improving your decision-making skills
Describing many roads
Opening doors and introducing opportunities
Preparing you for change and for challenges
Grading your work

4. What kind of mentor(s) do you need?
Cheerleader
Sponsor
Coach
Teacher
Problem solver
Connector
Thinker
Challenger
Advisor
Sounding board

5. Where can you find mentors?
Formal mentoring programs
Local, state, national conferences
Social, civic organizations
LinkedIn, social media networks
Academic, business internships
Sports clubs, interest groups

6. Why should a mentor choose you?
You show promise
You excite them with your energy, passion, purpose
You demonstrate commitment, self-motivation, determination
You want to help them, too
You aspire to mentor others

7. How do you ask someone to mentor you?
Thoroughly research mentor candidates
Match each one to specific reasons you need a mentor
Know exactly why each one is/is not a mutual right fit
Evaluate different mentors for different stages of your career

8. How do you ask someone to mentor you?
When you do ask for mentorship…
Remember
Mentorship is a substantial responsibility and professional commitment for the mentor
Explain
Why are you asking the particular person?
What is your planned scope of the relationship?
How do you envision both of you will benefit?

9. If they say no, you can say…
“Thank you for thinking about it and explaining your constraints and concerns. If you created a mentoring situation that worked best for you, what would that look like?” or
“Thank you for listening and considering the idea. If I can help you with something you’re working on now, please let me know. I would enjoy learning while helping.”

10. What are the key ingredients when starting a new mentoring relationship?
Openly discuss mutual benefits, expectations, responsibilities
Establish specific goals, metrics
Create regular meeting calendar
Agree on communication tools and frequency (phone, , text)
Require honest feedback
Periodically assess mutual satisfaction

11. What makes an outstanding mentee?
Say please and thank you
Respect mentor’s time
Exceed your obligations
Contribute new ideas
Bring solutions to problems
Show appreciation
Be positive, enthusiastic
Surprise mentor with progress

12. What makes a not-so-outstanding mentee?
Do not expect mentors to:
Do your work
Give you all the answers
Define your path
Hand-deliver each next step
Protect you from obstacles or difficulties

13. Fundamental rules Never forget your mentors
Mentor forward and mentor back

14. Becoming a leader

15. Find your strengths Evaluate your strengths Recognize your weaknesses
Gallup StrengthsFinder – Identify your dominant talents and learn how to maximize them
My strengths are: Strategic, Futuristic, Positive, Individualistic, Achiever
Recognize your weaknesses
Even if you really want to be strong in one area, recognizing that you aren’t is critical

16. Igniting a successful career
Be passionate, be innovative, be bold
Go about your work with integrity, authenticity and creativity
Effect change
Be a good person!
Listen more than talk
Do more than expected
Praise peers more than yourself
Collaborate genuinely
Lean on others, let others lean on you

17. Bloom where you’re planted
Develop a flexible pace
Admit when you’re wrong
Never can listen too much
Be yourself ASAP
Keep your sense of humor
Enjoy it along the way (Wilson)
50% of the day is fine (Stabile)
Those complaining – that’s your job (Youkey)
Keep your family in the loop
Respond to crisis with your heart and mind (Passaro)

18. OWN IT!
Seize opportunities, take chances, be the one to start the momentum, even if it’s controversial, uncomfortable to some people, or if it disrupts the status quo
“I wondered about the explorers who'd sailed their ships to the end of the world. How terrified they must have been when they risked falling over the edge. How amazed to discover, instead, places they had seen only in their dreams.”
― Jodi Picoult

19. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
— Robert Frost