"Mentoring Up - AISES 2014 - Steve Lee". This presentation was given at the AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) Leadership Summit in March 2014.

1. Mentoring Up:
Pro-actively managing your mentoring relationship
by assessing and applying your strengths
Steve Lee, PhD
Graduate Diversity Officer
for STEM Disciplines
AISES Leadership Summit
March 21, 2014

2. What exactly is mentoring?
Traditional Mentoring
2
MentorMentee
Questions,
advice, etc

3. Any other aspects of mentoring?
Peer Mentoring
3
Peer Peer Peer

4. Any other aspects of mentoring?
“Mentoring Up”
4
MentorMentee
Questions,
input, etc

5. Based upon original concept of:
“Managing Up”
5
BossManager
Gabarro and Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 1980.

6. What principles are important in
mentoring relationships?
Communication
Aligning expectations
Assessing understanding
Ethics
6
Handelsman, Pfund, Branchaw, etc at U of WI
Entering Mentoring and Entering Research
Addressing equity and
inclusion
Fostering independence
Promoting professional
development

7. What skills are important in
mentoring up?
7
Gabarro and Kotter, HBR, 1980.
1. assess yourself and your superior
2. apply this assessment to develop a
mutually beneficial relationship

8. How do we assess ourselves?
How do we apply our assessment to
“mentor up”?
8
Please refer to the handout.
Complete the individual and group activities
Spend ~20 min

9. Let’s review aspects of mentoring:
Traditional mentoring
mentor to mentee
Peer mentoring
community of peers
“Mentoring up”
mentee pro-actively
engages in the mentoring
relationship
9

10. What skills are needed in
mentoring up?
Assess yourself and your mentor
Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder,
myIDP website
seek research-based,
multiple assessments
Apply the assessment
refer to principles in mentoring relationships
10
identify your needs:
trust
compassion
hope
stability

11. Mentoring up is not:
False-flattery
11
Manipulating your mentor

12. Mentoring up includes:
Acting with confidence
actively engage with
your mentor
seek to understand your
mentor’s expectations
communicate your goals
and expectations
12
Treating with respect
listen
practice “follow-ship”
determine and fulfill
your responsibilities
adapt to your
mentor’s needs
&

13. Resources
for mentors:
Handelsman, et al; Entering Mentoring
for mentees:
Branchaw, et al; Entering Research
Lee, McGee, Pfund, Branchaw
“Mentoring Up” chapter; accepted
“The Mentoring Continuum”; Glenn Wright, ed
This workshop’s slides and handouts:
posted in Slideshare
13

14. 14
1. assess yourself and your superior
2. apply this assessment to develop a
mutually beneficial relationship

15. 1
Mentoring Up:
Pro-actively managing your relationship with your research mentor
by assessing and applying your strengths
Steve Lee, PhD; stnlee@ucdavis.edu AISES Leadership Summit 2014
Graduate Diversity Officer for the STEM Disciplines Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
University of California, Davis March 21, 2014
• Individual Activity: adapted Myers-Briggs test for introverts/extroverts from www.humanmetrics.com
o Select the answer that more accurately reflects your preferred behavior.
Yes No
You enjoy having a wide circle of acquaintances.
You’re usually the first to react to sudden events and surprises.
You easily tell new people about yourself.
You spend your leisure actively socializing with groups of people, attending parties,
shopping, etc.
You rapidly get involved in the social life of a new workplace.
The more people with whom you speak, the better you feel.
It is easy for you to speak loudly.
You enjoy being at the center of events in which other people are directly involved.
You feel at ease in a crowd.
It is easy for you to communicate in social situations.
Totals
o Scoring: add up the number of statements with which you answered “Yes” and “No”. Extroverts will tend
to answer Yes to most of these statements, and Introverts will tend to answer No.
• Success Types by John Pelley < http://www.ttuhsc.edu/SOM/success/ >
Well-developed type skills Underdeveloped type skills
Extraversion
Active approach
Bring breadth
Introversion
Reflective approach
Bring depth
Extraversion
Hyperactive
Superficial
Introversion
Withdrawn & secretive
Overly serious
What the Types Can Offer Each Other
EXTRAVERTS
• Provide the outwardly directed energy
needed to move into action
• Offer responsiveness to what is going on in
the environment
• Have a natural inclination to converse and to
network
INTROVERTS
• Provide the inwardly directed energy needed
for focused reflection
• Offer stability from attending to deep ideas,
and listening to others
• Have a natural tendency to think and work
alone

16. 2
• Group Activity: read the case study and answer the following questions
Dan’s start in graduate school has not been as auspicious as he had hoped. He had applied to multiple
top-tier research universities, but wasn’t admitted into any of his favorite schools. He was finally admitted into
his “safety school” that was his last resort, and was grateful for the opportunity. But even here he struggled to
find a research advisor. He spoke with many professors, but was disappointed when most faculty told him that
tightened research budgets limited the number of students that they could accept. Things seemed to finally
turn a corner when Dan met Dr Nevan, a new assistant professor who invited him into her research group.
After Dan joined Dr Nevan’s group, he began having trouble understanding her expectations and
goals for his research. This is particularly frustrating for Dan, because he’s very friendly and gets along with
most people. He has weekly meetings with her, where he tells her all about his ups and downs from his
research progress, along with complications and successes. Dan is aware that he’s communicative and talkative,
so he believes that he’s doing a good job with informing her about his research progress.
But recently she asked him questions that surprised him, because he didn’t realize that she had wanted
something else. Dan just wishes that she would explain more clearly what she wants and expects, so that they
can work better together. But she doesn’t seem to say much during their meetings, and seems withdrawn from
Dan’s perspective.
Questions:
o Introduce yourselves in your group, and share your results from the test for introverts and extroverts. Do
you think the test and the tables helped you to determine or confirm your preference to be an introvert
or extrovert?
o From the case study, do you think Dan is an introvert or extrovert? Explain your reasoning, referring to
details mentioned in the case study.
o Do you think Dr Nevan is an introvert or extrovert? Explain your reasoning.
o How might Dan adapt to improve his understanding of Dr Nevan’s expectations for his research? How
might Dan use his strengths from his MB type?
─ What underdeveloped type skills (see tables above for some ideas) might Dan need to address as he
considers how to improve communications with his research mentor?
o What hints from the case study indicate that Dan isn’t accurately assessing himself?
• Thanks for coming to my workshop! I hope that it was helpful.
• My presentation and handout are available in my account at < www.slideshare.net >.