This is my presentation and handout from my workshop at SACNAS 2013. It presents a new concept of "mentoring up" to help equip and empower mentees to pro-actively manage their mentoring relationships.

1. Mentoring Up:
Pro-actively managing your mentoring relationship
by assessing and applying your strengths
Steve Lee, PhD
CLIMB Program - Assistant Director
SACNAS – October 2013
CLIMB
Collaborative Learning and
Integrated Mentoring
in the Biosciences

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?
a. the relationship involves
mutual dependence
between fallible persons
b. most superiors do not spell
out all their expectations
explicitly
c. ultimately, the subordinate
is responsible to discover
the superior’s expectations
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. We always need mentors in
all stages of our lives
As we learn how to mentor up,
we will also learn how to mentor others,
and create a supportive community.
13

14. Resources
● for mentors:
○ Handelsman, et al; Entering Mentoring
● for mentees:
○ Branchaw, et al; Entering Research
● Lee, McGee, Pfund, Branchaw
○ “Mentoring Up” chapter; to be submitted
○ “The Mentoring Continuum”; Glenn Wright, ed
● This workshop’s slides and handouts
○ posted in Slideshare.net
14

15. Chris Brogan observes a critical
difference between a community and
an audience
“The difference between a community and an
audience is which direction the chairs are pointing.”
Which direction is your chair pointing?
Are you a passive audience member in your
mentoring relationship?
or an actively engaged community member?
15

16. 1
Mentoring Up:
Pro-actively managing your relationship with your research mentor
by assessing and applying your strengths
Steve Lee, PhD; Assistant Director of the CLIMB Program
at Northwestern University
SACNAS – October 5, 2013
• Individual Activity: adapted Myers-Briggs test for introverts/extroverts < 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 are usually the first to react to a sudden event, such as the telephone ringing or
unexpected question.
You easily tell new people about yourself.
You spend your leisure time actively socializing with a group 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

17. 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 her 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.
• If you would like to view and download the complete set of presentation materials and handouts,
please go to my account in < www.slideshare.net >.
• Feel free to obtain other resources at our CLIMB website < www.northwestern.edu/climb/ >
• If you have further questions, feel free to contact me by email stevenlee@northwestern.edu.
Steve Lee, PhD
Assistant Program Director
stevenlee@northwestern.edu
www.northwestern.edu/climb/
CLIMB
Collaborative Learning and
Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences