In an upcoming workshop, I’ll be offering some strategies to help faculty find and manage relationships with mentors. My approach has been to encourage faculty to “mentor up”, i.e. to learn how to pro-actively engage with their mentors, which is based on Gabarro’s and Kotter’s original concept of “managing up”.
When Gabarro and Kotter first introduced their concept, they pointed out the challenges of managing up, such as the power differential in the relationship and the hierarchy in many organizations. Despite these challenges, the authors discovered through their investigations case studies of early-career managers who were particularly effective in managing relationships with supervisors above them. These case studies revealed a simple but powerful pattern where the managers worked (1) to assess themselves and the other person, and (2) to apply their assessment strategically to develop productive and mutually beneficial relationships.
Their initial step of assessing oneself resonated with me. I noticed that when I encountered challenges, I benefited from slowing down and assessing myself. But when I didn’t take the time to reflect, I stumbled and faltered. I also naively assumed I fully knew myself. I wasn’t aware of the many potential pitfalls that hindered accurate self-assessments (e.g. Dunning-Kruger effect, unconscious biases, attributional ambiguities in interpreting feedback, etc).
To demonstrate the efficacy of this practice, I offer some personal stories of challenges where I gained a deeper understanding of myself and led to positive outcomes. I also offer these stories in hopes they will encourage others to similarly work on their metacognitive skills.
When I was in graduate school, my research advisor would say that his main objective was to train us to become “independent investigators.” At that time, I thought this sounded nice and didn’t dig deeper into what he meant to be “independent”. I faced many challenges in grad school, and fortunately completed my PhD in chemistry. Looking back, if I had taken more effort to look deeper, I would have realized that I was also burnt out and seeking something more.
Later on as a faculty member, I again faced challenges. I sought connections with peers and mentors. I initiated an informal group of junior faculty who would gather to support one another, because no such community existed. I also reached out to a senior faculty member in my own department to hopefully learn from him, but received no response. I was also matched with a colleague in a formal mentoring program, despite a significant conflict of interest. When I tried to tactfully ask about other potential mentors, I was informed that there were no other options, so I was stuck in an awkward and ineffective relationship. I slowly realized that the institution had very few resources for faculty development and mentorship.
It was only many years later that I realized that I was seeking community and connection as a grad student and faculty member, which grew from my values coming from a collectivist culture. I often felt like I was struggling with a sense of belonging, and constantly swimming upstream, while others seemed to float easily downstream.
Additionally, I learned of research studies that shed light on the underlying issues. For example, Nicole Stephens and her colleagues studied continuing and first-generation students, along with administrators at universities. Their research led them to conclude that there was a cultural mismatch between first-generation students who are motivated by both interdependence and independence and for attending college, while the very institutions they were attending promoted norms around independence. They proposed and demonstrated that this cultural mismatch could explain the social class achievement gap.
As I read these studies and reflected on my experiences, things clicked. I realized that I was experiencing this cultural mismatch between my values for interdependence against these institutions where independence is heralded as the norm. These insights led me to realize that I had to be much more intentional and proactive about seeking meaningful relationships, to gain a stronger sense of belonging and ultimately become more productive.
From these personal experiences and other research studies, I developed an exercise that I’ve been using in workshops to help participants assess themselves. The exercise is an adaptation of Richard Bolles’ Seven Success Stories exercise. It also incorporates research to help people not only assess their strengths and skills, but also reflect on their values and motivations, identify people who helped and/or hindered them, and recognize the structures and cultures around them. (Exercise document available through the above link or under the event resources tab.)
At the upcoming workshop, we won’t have time to delve deeply into this particular exercise, but I’ll offer other evidence-based activities designed to specify your needs, approach mentors with your requests, and align expectations between you and your mentor. We’ll also have opportunities for attendees to connect with peers, share stories, and crowdsource other ideas that have helped people in similar circumstances.
I hope that this has been helpful, look forward to connecting with many of you at the upcoming workshop.
References
Gabarro, John J., and John P. Kotter: “Managing Your Boss,” Harvard Business Review, January 1, 1980, 58(1):92-100.
Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Johnson, C. S., & Covarrubias, R. (2012). Unseen disadvantage: How American universities’ focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1178–1197. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027143
Bolles, R. N. (2022). What color is your parachute?: a practical manual for job-hunters and career-changers. Berkeley, Ten Speed Press