Today we hosted a half-day retreat on mentoring at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The program was directed at both mentors and “mentees” (those who are mentored), and at all levels of seniority. As we outlined the fundamentals of mentoring for our colleagues, particularly the basics of senior faculty members mentoring more junior faculty, I was struck by how interchangeable mentoring principles are with parenting principles.
Mutual respect, trust, altruism, teamwork, communication, enjoyment, friendship, role-modeling, generosity of time and energy. shared goals.
Parenting and mentoring.
One of the best definitions of a mentor I’ve heard: A mentor is someone who trains a junior colleague to someday compete for the mentor’s own job.
That’s a pretty good definition of parenting, too.
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