What to look for in a mentor

A mentor can be one of the most valuable parts of your support system. From helping you plan career goals to facilitating networking opportunities, and even providing emotional and moral support, the benefits are endless. Yet finding someone to provide this support, and ensuring you get the most out of the relationship, is not easy.

Having benefited from mentorship at various points of my career, here are my tips on finding the right person and getting the most from the experience.

What makes a good mentor?

While it might seem obvious to simply approach your most experienced or senior colleague, these attributes aren’t always the most important. It may suit you better to find someone whose guidance is likely to relate to you more personally. Consider whether they offer:

• Alignment of values: shared principles and approach to their career.
• Experience and relevance: someone who has walked the path you aspire to.
• Constructive feedback: ability to challenge you respectfully and introduce different perspectives.
• Network and influence: can open doors and direct you to other opportunities.
• Availability and willingness: a mentor who has time and is genuinely invested.

Approaching a potential mentor

When considering a potential mentor, it’s likely you’ll have a sense of how suitable they would be from conversations that begin spontaneously while working together. It’s also important you feel comfortable with receiving constructive criticism from them. Engaging authentically with this type of feedback is where you’ll gain real value from the relationship.

When you decide to go ahead and ask a colleague if they would be willing to commit to an ongoing arrangement during non-clinical time, be clear about your goals and what areas you’d like guidance and support on.

Even if the person you approach doesn’t have capacity to formally act as a mentor, you could ask whether they can be a sounding board on an informal basis from time to time. Unofficial mentor relationships can be equally valuable.

My memorable mentorship experiences

At critical decision points in my training, I have reached out to leaders I admired. These moments, when life seemed particularly complex, were when I found a more experienced person’s perspective has been most helpful.

For example, one of my earliest and most notable mentoring experiences was early into my time in Australia (having migrated from the UK as a PGY3). I was battling homesickness and primary exam commitments and found it helpful to speak to an ED clinician who I knew had navigated balancing family life with sitting exams. Being able to connect with someone who has been through similar experiences to you can be a really helpful reality check.

Another valuable encounter was with a director of emergency training (DEMT) when I was in the throes of fellowship study and had received feedback on a couple of suboptimal decisions on the floor. The DEMT acted as a sounding board to help me navigate my fatigue and cognitive load, so I could develop strategies to better manage clinical commitments and study.

Although a mentor can’t make decisions for you, their insights and guidance, as well as the opportunity to articulate your issues, can be critical helping you work out the best way forward.

Mentorship is the most tailored form of self-development – imparting skills and guidance that can’t be accessed through modules, formal teaching or professional courses. If you’ve not yet benefited from this type of professional input, let me encourage you to invest the effort finding someone who can provide it.