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Leadership Lesson #1 is the importance of finding a mentor and positive role models to guide you on your leadership journey. Mentoring is an intense, positive, one-on-one relationship between an experienced professional and a less experienced novice. Mentors support, guide, and protect novices and help them learn and do whatever is necessary to be successful in their new role.
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Many novice nurses need time to learn the complexities of the professional nursing role, and having the protection of a mentor is critical to their success. Unfortunately, nursing has earned a reputation for not supporting its young, and the literature suggests that reputation is likely well-deserved. Having a mentor show you the ropes, tell you about hidden organizational taboos, and give you that "in" we all needed as new nurses is so important to career success.
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But it is not just new nurses who need mentors. Mentors are also helpful for experienced nurses who are in new roles or settings where they may not fully understand the formal and informal power structure of the organization or the expectations of their new role.
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The best example I can give you comes from my first faculty meeting as a new academic. I had come to academe from a middle-management hospital position, where I was generally recognized as a successful department head and where my opinions and thoughts were typically sought out and valued.
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The topic for discussion at my first faculty meeting was pass-fail grading in clinical courses. I couldn't wait to jump in and offer my uninformed opinion—which I did almost immediately after the discussion started. As you might guess, this was a mistake. I can still remember the silence in the room. This group of bright, experienced nurse educators all turned and looked at me. Then one of the most senior faculty members turned to me and said, "Perhaps after you've been here for a while and really understand the issues under discussion, your opinion will matter more."
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I was shocked by what was clearly a personal affront. Yet, while incivility is never acceptable, she was right, at least on some level. I was a newcomer to the organization, and I had not yet paid my dues in terms of understanding the big issues of academe, which are very different from those in the clinical arena. Having a mentor might have helped me understand the politics of this new organization—who held informal and formal power and what alliances needed to be built. I also think a mentor would have reminded me of the importance of "paying dues" first to gain credibility.
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Having a mentor is only valuable, however, if the relationship is honest and constructive. And that means telling you the truth, even if it hurts sometimes. Self-image and self-perception may not be accurate. A mentor must be able to tell you how others perceive you, even when it's different ...