A Mentor, for me?
After attending the event “Shaping the Future: Leadership and Public Policy in Health Care,” I was really intrigued by this idea of mentorship. I realized not only did these very respectable professionals in high management roles mentor many people on how to become great leaders like themselves, but they too had been mentored and continue to be. It really speaks volumes on the importance of learning and evolving from others experiences in order to keep up with the ever changing world of healthcare.
I was particularly impressed with how much these mentor-mentee relationships meant to each individual. One panelist had one of his mentees in the audience and you could just tell from the interaction between the two that this relationship was highly valued between the two individuals. Another panelist spoke on how this relationship becomes more than just a “professional friend.” They want to know important life events as they happen, to keep in touch regularly, and to simply just know how your day is going. There is nothing better than after a rough day, having someone who has been in your place before know exactly how you feel and help you work through the tough spot. And let's face it, any management position is going to have its good days and the not so good days.
I feel like this major is setting us up to build these mentor-mentee relationships early on before we even graduate. As something that is clearly so important in the field, we are being paired with seniors to help us navigate our internship and are encouraged to reach out to faculty to help us through these next few years. The HMP program is dedicated to making great managers out of its students and I think myself and my classmates are off to a great start to achieve this. By networking with individuals at events like the Shaping the Future event, building relations with peers, faculty, and alumni, we are being laid the perfect foundation to build these relationships so that one day, we can manage our own organizations and be successful leaders just as those who mentored us did.
I was particularly impressed with how much these mentor-mentee relationships meant to each individual. One panelist had one of his mentees in the audience and you could just tell from the interaction between the two that this relationship was highly valued between the two individuals. Another panelist spoke on how this relationship becomes more than just a “professional friend.” They want to know important life events as they happen, to keep in touch regularly, and to simply just know how your day is going. There is nothing better than after a rough day, having someone who has been in your place before know exactly how you feel and help you work through the tough spot. And let's face it, any management position is going to have its good days and the not so good days.
I feel like this major is setting us up to build these mentor-mentee relationships early on before we even graduate. As something that is clearly so important in the field, we are being paired with seniors to help us navigate our internship and are encouraged to reach out to faculty to help us through these next few years. The HMP program is dedicated to making great managers out of its students and I think myself and my classmates are off to a great start to achieve this. By networking with individuals at events like the Shaping the Future event, building relations with peers, faculty, and alumni, we are being laid the perfect foundation to build these relationships so that one day, we can manage our own organizations and be successful leaders just as those who mentored us did.
Glad you appreciate the importance of mentorship and networking now. I didn't really appreciate it until much later in my career.
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