Mentoring that Matters: Using the Power of Mentoring to Help Veteran Transitions

Tammy Allen, University of South Florida  

With an estimated average of 200,000 talented and experienced military members transitioning from the military to the civilian workplace each year, U.S. companies and organizations have responded in concerted fashion to assist with this transition and take advantage of this strong source of talent. Veterans adjusting to the civilian workplace culture face a number of challenges such as different levels of uniformity and formality in language, dress, conduct, etc. In this talk I will review the features of mentoring programs designed to help veterans with this transition and their potential for impact for the veteran workforce population.

With an estimated average of 200,000 talented and experienced military members transitioning from the military to the civilian workplace each year, U.S. companies and organizations have responded in concerted fashion to assist with this transition and take advantage of this strong source of talent.

This is your Brain on Mentoring: The Neuroscience of Creating the Optimal State for Receptive Engagement

Ann Betz, BEabove Leadership  

As human development practitioners, whether mentors, coaches, or counselors, we are ultimately concerned with wanting those we serve to connect, engage, and be able to make the changes they desire. In this fun and lively plenary session, neuroscience and human development expert Ann Betz will take you through current research on the neuroscience of connection and engagement, exploring how we can more effectively put others’ brains in an open, receptive state where learning and change can occur.

Ann will share her insights about the intersection of coaching and mentoring, and how some of the simple, yet classic tools of professional coaching are highly useful in creating the kind of brain response where the client or mentee is at their most creative, open and capable. You’ll walk away with new insights, ideas, and ways to practically apply the learning.

As human development practitioners, whether mentors, coaches, or counselors, we are ultimately concerned with wanting those we serve to connect, engage, and be able to make the changes they desire.

The Future of Supported Mentoring — What’s Happening Now and What Comes Next?

David Clutterbuck, European Mentoring and Coaching Council  

With a few, isolated early exceptions, supported mentoring programmes emerged less than 40 years ago. Their evolution over that time has been rapid, both in North America and around the world.

Among significant trends and innovations now observable, particularly in Europe, are:

• Maternity/ career break mentoring — especially for mothers returning to the workplace
• Ethical mentoring — to help organisations and individuals recognise and better manage ethical dilemmas and build ethical resilience
• The rise of professional mentoring — described as “coaching plus”
• Increasing integration of mentoring and coaching as organisations aim to achieve coaching and mentoring cultures
• Individual and group supervision for mentors to help them grow in confidence and competence

Among emergent concepts are the CEO as Mentor-in-Chief — the role model and exemplar of mentoring behaviours — lifelong mentoring, cross-mentoring (between consortia of organisations) and the idea of mentoring networks across multiple aspects of a single community.

There is also an increasing trend to question common assumptions about effective mentors and coaches. Should they take copious notes? Are SMART goals really helpful? (The evidence suggest no in both cases!) We are also gaining new insights into how effective mentors listen and how they formulate questions that stimulate insight. These and other trends are being driven in part by increasing cross-over and borrowing from other disciplines, most notably coaching and psychology.

With a few, isolated early exceptions, supported mentoring programmes emerged less than 40 years ago. Their evolution over that time has been rapid, both in North America and around the world.

East Meets West: How Mindfulness Might Be Leveraged to Enhance Mentoring

Lillian Eby, University of Georgia  

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the application of mindfulness principles to organizational and educational settings. Mindfulness is a state of consciousness characterized by awareness and observation in the present moment without reactivity or judgment. There are also reliable between-person differences in mindfulness, suggesting that mindfulness has trait-like features as well. The evidence base linking mindfulness to positive psychological, behavioral, and physiological outcomes is strong and well-established.

Mindfulness has also been linked to improved interpersonal relationships, although the potential for mindfulness to enhance mentoring has not been discussed or empirically examined. This talk focuses on the potential of mindfulness to enhance mentoring relationship processes and outcomes through various pathways. For example, mindfulness is associated with a variety of cognitive (greater attention control, objective observation), affective (enhanced capacity for compassion toward the self and others, more effective emotional regulation), behavioral (increased response flexibility, less automatic responding), and intrapersonal (greater self-awareness and humility) outcomes. Given these characteristics, more mindful mentors may be able to provide more empathic, individualized, and responsive support to protégés, whereas more mindful protégés may be less emotionally reactive to constructive feedback, more self-accepting of their weaknesses, and more self-determined in their actions. Synergies between mentor and protégé mindfulness may exist as well. This talk will explore what we know about state and trait-based mindfulness in relation to the self and others, with an emphasis how mindfulness might be cultivated to improve mentor-protégé relationships and promote positive mentoring outcomes in educational and workplace settings.

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the application of mindfulness principles to organizational and educational settings. Mindfulness is a state of consciousness characterized by awareness and observation in the present moment without reactivity or judgment.

Cultural Competency in Mentoring: Strategies for Connecting Across Difference

Lisa Fain, Center for Mentoring Excellence  

There is near universal consensus that paying attention to Diversity and Inclusion is beneficial for student, staff and faculty engagement and organizational success. Often, organizations employ mentoring programs to effect inclusion, or to help promote diversity within the organization. Rarely, however, do participants in these mentoring initiatives understand how much difference in culture, background and perspective can impact the mentoring relationship or how to leverage those differences to maximize the effectiveness of mentoring. This session will introduce a model of cultural competency, create deeper understanding of the pillars of culture, and offer concrete strategies on how to leverage differences to create understanding, trust and results in mentoring.

There is near universal consensus that paying attention to Diversity and Inclusion is beneficial for student, staff and faculty engagement and organizational success. Often, organizations employ mentoring programs to effect inclusion, or to help promote diversity within the organization.

Adding to the Mentor’s Repertoire or Innovation in Mentoring Practice Through Coaching Skills

Bob Garvey, York St John Business School  

Both mentoring and coaching often share similar skills and processes. Much depends on the context and the purpose of the mentoring as to when to use coaching skills.

In this keynote I will explore the skills from a specific technique in coaching known as ‘solution focus’. This is a particularly effective process in helping people to resolve difficult problems and enabling them to become ‘unstuck’.

Solution Focus is about helping people to explore their capabilities and potentials by not focussing on their deficits. It is driven by a desire to find what works rather than what is missing? It helps to develop ideas for the future and does not dwell on the analysis of the current situation. Solution focus looks at the potential to progress beyond the current obstacles. It is a powerful process to facilitate lasting change in attitudes and behaviours. The techniques involved are aimed at resolution and finding ways forward for the mentee.

Solution focus is not intended to replace general mentoring skills and process but it is an addition to the mentor’s repertoire and the session will consider how to use the skills and process and under what circumstances. The session will be lively with some elements of interaction.

Both mentoring and coaching often share similar skills and processes. Much depends on the context and the purpose of the mentoring as to when to use coaching skills.

In this keynote I will explore the skills from a specific technique in coaching known as ‘solution focus’.

Competence, Boundaries, and Cultural Humility: Toward a Mentoring Code of Ethics

Brad Johnson, US Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins University  

Strong and enduring developmental relationships often progress along a relational continuum from transactional and formal to transformational and relational. As a relationship becomes more mutual, reciprocal, and emotionally bonded, mentors may experience several relationship-based ethical tensions. After all, like all human relationships, mentorships are fluid, complex, and sometimes messy and dysfunctional. Persistent mentoring tensions and quandaries often center on relationship formality, competence in the mentor role, advocacy versus evaluation, privacy and confidentiality, intimacy and attraction, boundaries, equal access by diverse mentees, and cross-cultural competence. This plenary session will frame mentoring relationships as fiduciary relationships, special relationships in which a mentor accepts the trust and confidence of a mentee to act in the latter’s best interest. Mentors must act with the utmost good faith and—whenever possible—always for the benefit of the mentee. This session will conclude with a proposed mentoring code of ethics.

Strong and enduring developmental relationships often progress along a relational continuum from transactional and formal to transformational and relational. As a relationship becomes more mutual, reciprocal, and emotionally bonded, mentors may experience several relationship-based ethical tensions.

Exploring the Cultural Aspects of Mentoring

Frances Kochan, Emeriti Auburn University  

Mentoring is a complex and varied relational endeavor, which is growing in international prominence. The success of failure of mentoring programs is dependent upon many factors. Among the most prominent, and yet also most overlooked of these factors are the cultural values, beliefs and mores of the individuals, organizations and the society in which the relationship or program exists. Although there is an expansion of mentoring endeavors on an international scale and increasing recognition of the impact of culture on mentoring endeavors, the research on this topic, although growing, is still very limited.

One of the reasons for this limited research is the difficulty in identifying the connections between culture and mentoring purposes, relationships, program structures and strategies and anticipated and achieved outcomes. This session presents the underlying cultural purposes of mentoring. It includes a practical strategy participants can use to determine these purposes and to identify cultural factors that may hinder and foster mentoring success. It should be of value to those seeking to create cross-cultural mentoring endeavors, to those seeking to develop, strengthen and/or evaluate mentoring programs in general and to researchers interested in the impact of cultural factors in fostering successful mentoring endeavors.

Mentoring is a complex and varied relational endeavor, which is growing in international prominence. The success of failure of mentoring programs is dependent upon many factors. Among the most prominent, and yet also most overlooked of these factors are the cultural values, beliefs and mores of the individuals, organizations and the society in which the relationship or program exists.

Ask Powerful Questions: Create Conversations that Matter

Chad Littlefield, We!  

How might we foster a culture of asking more powerful questions? Chad Littlefield, TEDx speaker, presents a compelling and thoughtful perspective on how to make a shift in both mindset and a culture from a place of "me" to a place of "we."

The session will introduce a new suite of tools for building relationships of trust in a mentoring context. Chad’s style is lively, highly interactive, and rooted in both research and stories of his practical experiences working with clients. The purpose of this session is to transform regular conversations into high-impact moments of learning and development. Additionally, everyone will leave with concrete, fresh tools to better their mentoring programs.

How might we foster a culture of asking more powerful questions? Chad Littlefield, TEDx speaker, presents a compelling and thoughtful perspective on how to make a shift in both mindset and a culture from a place of "me" to a place of "we."

The session will introduce a new suite of tools for building relationships of trust in a mentoring context.

Health Sciences Center Faculty Mentoring in Scholarship is Useful...but first train the trainer

Akshay Sood, University of New Mexico School of Medicine  

Rationale: There is a nationwide shortage of mentors for faculty mentees engaged in scholarship, particularly at small-sized institutions. While mentee training programs are common, few programs focus on developing mentors. A recent randomized control trial has demonstrated that a competency-based research mentor training program at large academic centers using an eight-hour face-to-face interactive session can improve mentors’ skills. The University of New Mexico Health Science Center (UNM-HSC) has a novel program, using online and face-to-face sessions, to help faculty develop into effective mentors.

Methods: The program was developed based upon the input provided by experienced faculty members. It has an online component, recently supplemented with a face-to-face component. The online component consists of eight development modules. Faculty can login without charge to the online asynchronous learning program. The face-to-face component builds upon the foundation provided by the online component and uses an interactive case-based discussion format, facilitated by senior mentors.

Results: Users of the online program are predominantly women, Associate Professors, in tenure track, at a School of Medicine. The use of the online program is associated with improvement in knowledge scores. Participants at the face-to-face mentor program showed significant pre-post course improvement in self-reported Mentoring Competency Assessment score.

Conclusions: The users of the UNM-HSC mentor development program demonstrate improved knowledge scores and self-reported mentoring competencies. This presentation will also discuss the challenges associated with establishing such a program at relatively small -sized institutions.

Rationale: There is a nationwide shortage of mentors for faculty mentees engaged in scholarship, particularly at small-sized institutions. While mentee training programs are common, few programs focus on developing mentors.

Mentoring and Leadership Insights for Millennials (NOT About Millennials)

Tamara Thorpe, Organizational Development Consultant  

In 2012, Millennials became the most researched generation of our time. Since then the amount of research on this generation has increased exponentially, covering various aspects from workplace trends and social engagement to financial habits and sexual tendencies. With the vast amount of research and data available, there is still an alarming disconnect between today’s organization and this next great generation. A recent Gallup report found that only 29% of millennials are engaged in the workplace, resulting in very high turnover of millennial talent which costs the U.S. economy approximately $30.5 billion annually.

How is it that with so much data available, organizations still don’t get it? Tamara Thorpe, also known as the Millennials Mentor has found that organizations are investing time, energy, and money learning how to recruit, engage, retain, and manage millennials. But few are investing time, energy, and money into actually engaging and developing the millennials talent. Training industry reports have found that large companies training expenditures have decreased, and less than 50% are increasing their training budgets, while 39% have decreased theirs. Of the 53.5 million Millennials in the US labor force, many are already in leadership as managers, department heads, and C-suite executives. This generation has the opportunity to excel in leading today’s organizations in a recovering and evolving economy with the right tools and training.

It is time to stop talking about Millennials and start talking to Millennials about mentoring and leadership. Tamara Thorpe creates bespoke leadership trainings for millennial leaders and entrepreneurs. In her work with millennials, she has found them to be an eager and receptive audience who maximize the tools and training they receive. Yet many face similar challenges in their leadership and the navigation in their career so in this session Tamara will share strategies and practices to help millennial leaders network more effectively and find a mentor, in addition to tips for being more effective mentors, and tools for leading and mentoring others, even those who may be older than them. Tamara will make a case for age diversity and inclusive leadership, and share the value of multi-generational teams in organizations with insight for all generations.

In 2012, Millennials became the most researched generation of our time. Since then the amount of research on this generation has increased exponentially, covering various aspects from workplace trends and social engagement to financial habits and sexual tendencies.

Embracing Who We Are: The Significance of Narrative in Successful Mentoring and Inclusion

Maggie Werner-Washburne, University of New Mexico  

In thinking about decades of mentoring, I have come to believe that mentoring success comes from the two-way conversation, a sharing of narratives between mentor and mentee. When we think of “what stuck” in what we gave a mentee and what they gave us, it is usually the story of each person that we remember. So, as mentors, it is incumbent on us to spend time remembering our personal narratives, pulling out the lessons from our experiences, and thinking more deeply about “our” story.

Each of us has a second, physical narrative. It is in the DNA in every cell that contains sequences from all our ancestors. Each of us is the physical embodiment of a successful human lineage, so, in a real sense, we ARE our family stories and the unknown stories of ancestors whose survival was key to our story today.

When we come to the table, if we wrap ourselves in our ancestral narrative, owning all the victories and defeats and loves and losses, it allows us to speak with greater depth. It makes us stronger. As each of us continues to learn from our personal narrative, we also become stronger, deeper individuals and better mentors and mentees.

Because every person brings these two narratives to the table and we strengthen connection by hearing and telling our narratives, this sharing lays the groundwork for inclusion and building innovative, diverse teams. Thus, in a real sense, our stories are key to our success as mentors and in life.

In thinking about decades of mentoring, I have come to believe that mentoring success comes from the two-way conversation, a sharing of narratives between mentor and mentee. When we think of “what stuck” in what we gave a mentee and what they gave us, it is usually the story of each person that we remember.

Looking Back/Moving Forward

Lois Zachary, Leadership Development Services, LLC  

Lois Zachary surveys the mentoring landscape and reflects on how it has evolved over the last ten years. She offers her unique perspective on how the terrain has changed, what the lay of the land is now and what the most likely next stage will be. Dr. Zachary will offer practical tips and raise penetrating questions for us to reflect on and discuss together as a community of mentoring researchers and practitioners moving forward.

Lois Zachary surveys the mentoring landscape and reflects on how it has evolved over the last ten years. She offers her unique perspective on how the terrain has changed, what the lay of the land is now and what the most likely next stage will be. Dr.

Shift the Focus: How Changing the Conversation can Maximize the Mentor/Mentee Relationship

Jillian Gonzales, University of New Mexico  

In recent years the practice of coaching has been welcomed into the world of mentoring. Coaching offers multiple modalities that enhance the practice of mentoring conversations. One such model is Motivational Interviewing originated by William Miller, University of New Mexico and Stephen Rollnick, University of South Wales, 1983. Motivational Interviewing (MI) offers another path to mentor/mentee relationship success. It is “collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change (Miller, Rollnick in press).” Motivational Interviewing is one of the most rigorously tested approaches to helping people develop successful mentoring relationships (Anstiss and Passmore, 2013) effectively advancing the goals of both coaching and mentoring to help people learn and grow, instead of simply dictating their success. This workshop will introduce and teach three elements of this engagement process that shifts the relationship from mentor as expert to mentee as expert. In doing so the mentee’s intrinsic motivators are highlighted, therefore launching a desire and ability to change. This shift reduces the fatigue that mentors can experience when they accept full responsibility of the mentor/mentee relationship and associated outcomes. This working session will provide skill building practice that addresses how to use this specific conversation style of coaching to the mentor/mentee relationship.

In recent years the practice of coaching has been welcomed into the world of mentoring. Coaching offers multiple modalities that enhance the practice of mentoring conversations. One such model is Motivational Interviewing originated by William Miller, University of New Mexico and Stephen Rollnick, University of South Wales, 1983.

Starting and Supporting Mentoring Programs

Laura G. Lunsford, University of Arizona  

This intimate and interactive workshop is designed for you if you are a new or experienced mentoring program manager who has oversight for a mentoring program and a desire to improve it. You will develop plans for designing (or redesigning) your mentoring program and learn how to support flourishing mentoring relationships. Other benefits from attending will be to develop your professional network by sharing with and learning from other mentoring professionals and to receive a complimentary copy of Laura’s Handbook for Managing Mentoring Programs (valued at $110).

The morning session will focus on developing a strong foundation for your mentoring program. We will clarify program goals, discuss how to engage stakeholders, and develop strategies to recruit, match, and orient the right protégés and mentors to your program. The overarching goal is to put in place the infrastructure that will enhance mentoring relationships.

The afternoon session will focus on how you can support high quality relationships while recognizing and reducing dysfunctional relationships. We will first discuss a mentoring mindset and then will engage with one other to practice high quality learning conversations through three techniques of: reflection, reframing, and realization.

Every participant will leave with a:

• one-page description of their mentoring program with resource mapped to activities and program outcomes

• recruitment plan for the right protégés and mentors (who, how, and when)

• strategy for making the best match between protégés and mentors

• template for briefings to orient participants to the program

• method to enhance learning conversations

• Handbook for Managing Mentoring Programs

This intimate and interactive workshop is designed for you if you are a new or experienced mentoring program manager who has oversight for a mentoring program and a desire to improve it. You will develop plans for designing (or redesigning) your mentoring program and learn how to support flourishing mentoring relationships.

Neuroscience and Mentoring: A Toolkit For Building Effective Developmental Networks

Jerry Willbur, The Leadership Mentoring Institute  

Dramatic improvements in brain scanning devices available to researchers are opening up exciting discoveries about mentoring. We can now observe in real time as the brain reacts to mentoring experiences and actually restructures itself before our eyes. For example, researchers have long hypothesized that the diversity and strength of a person’s developmental network can have a significant impact on that person’s mentoring experience. Higgins and Kramm (2001) explored this in detail, proposing a more diverse developmental network combined with strong relationship ties would be the best—especially given the rapidly evolving changes in the workplace. Organizations today are definitely more flat, fast, and flexible than ever before. They believed that a proteges developmental network, what a person needed to grow, would also have to adapt to reflect these changes. Brain scans now confirm this.

Simultaneously, Carol Dweck was researching the impact of different types of mindsets on human development. An open mindset that is oriented toward learning from mistakes and gathering input from diverse sources, or a closed mindset dedicated to minimizing mistakes and limiting the range of its network. Now researchers have used neural scanning devices to see the changes in brain structure, activity, and cognitive control when a person develops a more diverse network and mindset. Other scanning research indicates brain structure changes when a person experiences a strong mentoring relationship. In this session we will explore these new findings and provide mentoring tools that will help you build stronger and more productive mentoring relationships and development networks.

Dramatic improvements in brain scanning devices available to researchers are opening up exciting discoveries about mentoring. We can now observe in real time as the brain reacts to mentoring experiences and actually restructures itself before our eyes.

Confronting Paradox: Insights from the Mentoring Experiences of Professional Indian Women

Stacy Blake-Beard, Professor of Management, Simmons College  

India is facing a number of changes that have implications for women and their participation in the workforce. These women face a challenging paradox. On one hand, there is the hope that they will be contributing factors in the rapidly changing and competitive economy through enhanced participation in the workforce. In direct contrast, and even in opposition, is the expectation that these women will keep family and home as their primary focus.

We have much to learn from this paradox. There are insights gained from the research itself.  How did these women navigate the competing demands of advancing their careers while staying firmly entrenched in home and hearth?  Through my research, I observed some dynamics that were quite similar to what American women face in their careers. Mentoring was a critical relationship widely experienced and appreciated by the 91 women whom I interviewed.  Yet there were also several different dynamics resulting from the intersection of gender, culture and career in their mentoring relationships.  The differences as well as the similarities are illuminating.

In addition to the research findings, this stream of thinking has also raised larger questions about how we conduct research on mentoring relationships.  What are the assumptions that we bring to the table as we explore the impact of mentoring on career development and advancement? What questions do we not ask because we are entering the research process with a set of blinders that obscures important dimensions that merit consideration?  In this presentation, research findings as well as questions/suggestions for the future will both be presented.

India is facing a number of changes that have implications for women and their participation in the workforce. These women face a challenging paradox. On one hand, there is the hope that they will be contributing factors in the rapidly changing and competitive economy through enhanced participation in the workforce.

An Evidence-based Relational Approach to Creating Powerful Feedback Conversations

Lise Lewis, Master Coach Practitioner and EMCC International President  

Feedback is generally accepted as being significant in improving leadership and ultimately organisational performance and is integral to coach / mentor practice. Given this emphasis there is scope for improving the activity when the anticipation of engaging with feedback can elicit feelings of anxiety sometimes escalating to fear. Whether you are a mentor or a coach, a direct report or a leader you will find yourself in situations where you’re involved with feedback either as a giver or a receiver. Ask yourself as a mentor or coach how comfortable you are with offering feedback and how prepared you are to ask about the effectiveness of your practice. From an organisational perspective, some will say it takes courage to offer feedback to those in more senior positions. What perceptions exist about the possible impact on individuals’ career development when giving the honest feedback that leaders say they want to hear? Leaders may believe they have the capacity to accept what others think of them. How realistic is this without an understanding of their own vulnerability and resilience to absorb what may be interpreted as criticism of their ability to lead. The default position can be that feedback is often avoided for areas perceived as ‘criticism’ and resorting to giving favourable comments only. The result can be that feedback is diluted which ultimately leads to disenchantment and reluctance to engage in what are perceived as sterile performance discussions. To support the developing emphasis on relationship in more recent coaching / mentoring text you will be introduced to case studies on feedback in leadership development and the PPR Coaching Framework© created from Lise’s doctoral study. This framework offers guidance on a ‘way of being’ and approaches to the feedback discussion.

Feedback is generally accepted as being significant in improving leadership and ultimately organisational performance and is integral to coach / mentor practice. Given this emphasis there is scope for improving the activity when the anticipation of engaging with feedback can elicit feelings of anxiety sometimes escalating to fear.

Using Your Enthusiasm and Passion to Enhance Your Mentoring

Diana E. Northup, Professor Emerita, College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences
Visiting Associate Professor, Biology UNM  

Effective mentoring can make a crucial difference to young, intelligent students who lack confidence and the advantage of a few decades of experience. Lack of mentoring and a lack of perspective on my part, caused me to abandon my dreams at age eighteen.  The presence of two mentors twenty years later allowed me to regain those dreams and continue on a path to developing my passion of learning how life can live and flourish in caves.  To return that gift of mentoring, I’ve developed a mentoring style that combines: Caring, Acceptance, Relevance, and Enthusiasm. Sharing my passion for things that live in caves has allowed students to explore their own passion for science and determine where their interests lie. This is especially helpful for young students who often have not identified their passion. Creating a caring, diverse, supportive lab group environment allows students, especially those that are shy and lacking in confidence, to build the skills, knowledge and attitudes they need. One of the key elements of mentoring is acceptance of people from many different backgrounds and “seeing them as scientists” from day one.  I don’t limit myself to the top 5-10% academically achieving students.  My lab welcomes students who show a passion for science. Relevance: students want to work on research that’s meaningful and where they can make a difference. Finally, the most critical aspect of mentoring is showing your own enthusiasm for your life’s work so that you may inspire students to find their own passion.

Effective mentoring can make a crucial difference to young, intelligent students who lack confidence and the advantage of a few decades of experience. Lack of mentoring and a lack of perspective on my part, caused me to abandon my dreams at age eighteen.

Reaching Across: Mentoring in a Multicultural Society

Carlos E. Cortés, University of California, Riverside  

In our increasingly multicultural nation and shrinking globe, all of us are likely to mentor -– and be mentored by –- people with whom we share both similarities and differences.  This talk will address the opportunities and challenges inherent in such mentoring.  In particular, it will consider some of the complexities of what it means to be engaged in a mentoring relationship that involves diversity, including such factors as race, ethnicity, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, or disability.  Among the topics to be considered will be personal identity, intergroup perceptions, cultural worldviews, privilege, privacy, intersectionality, stereotyping, and micro aggressions.  The talk will also address the complications raised by such factors as citizenship status, conscience laws, and professional codes of ethics.  

In our increasingly multicultural nation and shrinking globe, all of us are likely to mentor -– and be mentored by –- people with whom we share both similarities and differences.  This talk will address the opportunities and challenges inherent in such mentoring.

Creating a Sustainable STEM Talent Pipeline

Mary Fernández, MentorNet  

Over the past 10 years, U.S. growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than non-STEM jobs. Yet demand in many STEM fields is dramatically outstripping supply.  Only one out of ten students who attend college will graduate with a STEM degree, and while 7 out of 10 college students are women or under-represented minorities, only 4 out of 10 are STEM graduates.   Our shared challenge is to encourage women, minorities and other under-represented groups to enroll in STEM programs, to ensure that they persist and graduate, and to prepare them for life-long careers.  But because these students drop out and divert into non-STEM fields at much higher rates than majority students, they need comprehensive academic, personal, and professional support to help them persist to degree completion.  Since 1997, MentorNet has paired more than 32,000 STEM student protégés with professionals working in STEM fields in guided mentorships that help mentors and protégés tackle key non-academic issues affecting student success.  We believe that mentorships focused on student success can and should be available to any student seeking support.  But to support tens of thousands of students, we must be able to reach and engage individuals directly, and social networks are the most powerful and efficient channels for doing so.  I will share insights on how one-to-one mentorships – guided by developmentally appropriate topics and delivered on a modern, scalable social network designed for mentoring – can help tens of thousands of STEM students persist and succeed. 

Over the past 10 years, U.S. growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than non-STEM jobs. Yet demand in many STEM fields is dramatically outstripping supply.  Only one out of ten students who attend college will graduate with a STEM degree, and while 7 out of 10 college students are women or under-represented minorities, only 4 out of 10 are STEM graduates.

Mentoring (alone) Is Not The Answer: Take A Strategic Approach And Achieve Much More!

Ann Rolfe, Mentoring Works  

We look to mentoring to achieve workplace outcomes but are these goals realistic?  Too often mentoring is seen as a panacea - it’s assumed mentoring will remedy all ills and resolve the discrepancy between the current situation and the desired one. However, most goal achievement requires a suite of integrated actions. Mentoring alone is not the answer! There is no doubt that mentoring produces significant results. However, we must be clear why mentoring is the strategy of choice and what it can and cannot do. Other factors may need to be addressed if the goal is to be achieved.  Based on two decades of experience, this session will explore the place of mentoring in achieving the strategic objectives of organizations while meeting the development needs of individuals. It will provide a process for: Determining realistic outcomes for workplace mentoring; Identifying the barriers and enablers to goal achievement and; Focusing on the development needs that mentoring can address.  You can achieve so much more with mentoring when you take a strategic approach and this session will show you how. In addition, using the tools provided will enable you to evaluate your program in ways that support your business case for mentoring and show the return on investment.

We look to mentoring to achieve workplace outcomes but are these goals realistic?  Too often mentoring is seen as a panacea - it’s assumed mentoring will remedy all ills and resolve the discrepancy between the current situation and the desired one. However, most goal achievement requires a suite of integrated actions.

Mentoring for Life: Inspiring Today's Students to Become Tomorrow's Most Creative, Thoughtful Leaders

Maggie Werner-Washburne, University of New Mexico  

This plenary session will address the importance of fostering emotional intelligence and psychosocial support in the mentoring relationship for the development of scientists and researchers, and propose best practices for successful application in scientific research fields.  Over the past 10 years, the NIH-funded IMSD program for STEM juniors and seniors has developed into a highly successful mentoring program.  Given the initial success of the mentoring program and the still prevalent problem of low graduation rates for American Indian students, the Gateway Scholars Mentoring Groups (GSMG) was created for freshmen, sophomores, and transfer students from underrepresented backgrounds, with a focus on American Indian students. Understanding and meeting the wide range of needs for young professionals is vital, especially within the context of underrepresented minority students in these fields, who must bridge additional obstacles to achieve success.  By allowing students to not only understand who they are, what they love and value in life, but also how to deal with challenges and failures as learning opportunities, they can more readily achieve their goals, and contribute to their field.  This session highlights the importance of creativity for success, barriers such as the Imposter Syndrome and Implicit Bias, and best-practices for success in scientific research fields.

This plenary session will address the importance of fostering emotional intelligence and psychosocial support in the mentoring relationship for the development of scientists and researchers, and propose best practices for successful application in scientific research fields.

Cultivating a Highly Efficient Mentoring Culture via Neurological Breakthroughs

Jerry Willbur, The Leadership Mentoring Institute  

Based on research conducted by The Leadership Mentoring Institute, and recent breakthroughs in brain scan technology, this plenary will discuss mentoring strategies for establishing highly effective organizations, and how neuroscience can be used across disciplines to supplement existing research available on mentoring.  Specifically, many scientists are heralding the discovery of neuroplasticity, the never-ending ability of the brain to change itself, as the greatest scientific breakthrough in the last 400 years.   We can now observe the brain as connections take place. We will explore the implications for the field of mentoring, why this break-through should stimulate us, and how we can use the new knowledge to improve the mentoring experience, and complement existing trends identified by The Leadership Mentoring Institute.

Based on research conducted by The Leadership Mentoring Institute, and recent breakthroughs in brain scan technology, this plenary will discuss mentoring strategies for establishing highly effective organizations, and how neuroscience can be used across disciplines to supplement existing research available on mentoring.

Keys to the Development and Implementation of Formal Mentoring Programs

Tammy D. Allen, University of South Florida  

Formal mentoring programs can be an effective strategy for enhancement of employee and student retention, socialization, and diversity development. However, poorly designed and executed programs can do more harm than good.The objective of this session will be to share a set of evidence-based guidelines for implementing programs within organizational and academic settings.Topics to be covered include matching mentors and protégés, selecting mentors, training, and program evaluation.The challenges associated with mentoring and strategies to overcome these challenges will also be covered.

Formal mentoring programs can be an effective strategy for enhancement of employee and student retention, socialization, and diversity development. However, poorly designed and executed programs can do more harm than good.The objective of this session will be to share a set of evidence-based guidelines for implementing programs within organizational and academic settings.

How Much Do Mentees Need Goals?

David Clutterbuck, European Mentoring & Coaching Council  

There is an assumption in much of the literature on mentoring and coaching that the learner will benefit from having very specific (SMART) goals. But what's the evidence for this. David shares the results of several years' exploration of this topic, which have resulted in the publication later in 2013 of the book Beyond Goals. The conclusion of the research is that the processes of goal selection and goal pursuit are much more complex than the textbooks recognize. Goals are typically emergent and evolving so fixing on a specific goal too early may be dysfunctional and even damaging. What's much more important is a sense of shared purpose in the relationship and the creation of a dynamic environment for assessing and engaging with goals. David will also share a range of practical techniques and approaches for helping mentees understand their values and identity, as a precursor to setting goals; and for making complex choices.

There is an assumption in much of the literature on mentoring and coaching that the learner will benefit from having very specific (SMART) goals. But what's the evidence for this. David shares the results of several years' exploration of this topic, which have resulted in the publication later in 2013 of the book Beyond Goals.

Facilitating High Quality Mentoring Relationships: Evidence-based Recommendations

Lillian T. Eby, University of Georgia  

Mentoring relationships represent an important personal and professional development opportunity for youth, students, and employees alike. However, often mentoring programs and practices are implemented without careful consideration of the science of mentoring. This keynote address provides the most up-to-date evidence-based information on mentoring relationships by integrating hundreds of studies of mentoring in community, academic, and organizational contexts. This session is framed around three important questions: (1) Does mentoring really matter? (2) What factors increase the likelihood of high quality relationships? and (3) What kinds of outcomes can we expect from high quality mentoring relationships? Similarities and differences across community, academic, and organizational contexts are highlighted and a framework is offered to guide our thinking about creating high quality mentoring relationships. By using the science of mentoring to inform practice-based recommendations, practitioners will be better positioned to create high impact mentoring programs. By summarizing what we know (and don't know) about mentoring, academics will be better informed on where mentoring scholarship needs to head in the future.

Mentoring relationships represent an important personal and professional development opportunity for youth, students, and employees alike. However, often mentoring programs and practices are implemented without careful consideration of the science of mentoring.

Developmental Relationships: A Critique of Two Decades of Published Research from the Mentoring and Tutoring Journal

Beverly J. Irby, Mentoring and Tutoring Journal, Editor  

The Session will cover a decade of published literature on the topic of developmental relationships in mentoring. A critique of the types of literature on the topic and definitions of the topic, which have been published in the journal, Mentoring and Tutoring, will be addressed. Additionally, other related, published research will be reviewed and brought into the discussion related to the power of developmental relationships and the transformative confluence such relationships hold with mentoring. A research projection model established for publishing on the topic of developmental relationships in mentoring will be provided. The audience will have an opportunity to reflect on their own research in mentoring and developmental relationships and how each scholar or group of scholars might develop future directions and lines of research on the topic.

The Session will cover a decade of published literature on the topic of developmental relationships in mentoring. A critique of the types of literature on the topic and definitions of the topic, which have been published in the journal, Mentoring and Tutoring, will be addressed.

Mentoring Innovation: The Experience of a Composer-Scientist

Elaine Bearer, Professor, The University of New Mexico  

The ability to find meaning in music, to create original musical works, and to think musical thoughts has long caught the attention of philosophers, historians, mathematicians, acoustic engineers, as well as biologists, anatomists, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists. First, what do we know about how sound is perceived?  From the anatomy of the Organ of Corti in the inner ear to the radiations of the acoustic nerve into the central nervous system, how is the physical sensation of sound processed and understood? How can music make grown men weep? Second, how might the questions we raise about our musical language inform us about conscious and unconscious perception and the way we experience, envision, and create our personal reality, and our relative identity in the context of this personal worldview? Third, what does it mean to “think in music”, and how can this thought process be acknowledged, articulated and communicated to others?  Finally, how might those of us who know how to access our inner voices communicate this ability to others as mentors and teachers? How can we mentor the process of creating, inspire the others to access their imagination and have confidence in their dreams? I will take examples from my science and my music, and describe the process of inspiration and love coupled with demanding rigor of Nadia Boulanger’s teaching style.

The ability to find meaning in music, to create original musical works, and to think musical thoughts has long caught the attention of philosophers, historians, mathematicians, acoustic engineers, as well as biologists, anatomists, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists.

The Role of Mentors in Musical Performers

Guillermo Figueroa, Artistic Director of The Figueroa Music and Arts Project  

A presentation by Guillermo Figueroa, a long time violinist, violist and conductor, on musical comprehension and the various ways in which it is acquired, nurtured, or rejected. Specific topics will include: 1. The importance of family influences. This will be discussed through the history and career of The Figueroa Family of classical musicians, which at one point included 11 professional musicians. 2. The role of mentors and other teachers, and how they expand and reinforce or negate this original learning. 3. The different methods and paths through which music is comprehended by the brain and implanted in the memory, whether by hearing the actual sounds, reading or studying scores or playing an instrument. 4. The profound differences in the brain of a musical performer between making the sound (playing an instrument or singing), not making the sound (simply listening) or eliciting the sound (conducting). 5. Is music truly the “universal language”? A session of questions from the audience and general discussion will hopefully end the presentation.

A presentation by Guillermo Figueroa, a long time violinist, violist and conductor, on musical comprehension and the various ways in which it is acquired, nurtured, or rejected. Specific topics will include: 1. The importance of family influences.

Mentoring in the Arts

Courtney Johnson, Professor of Pediatrics & Rheumatology, UNM Children’s Hospital & School of Medicine  

Mentoring in medicine and the arts is a lifelong experience-–as both mentor and mentee. We are to be conscientious caretakers-- good stewards--of our talents and education and of those opportunities for the education and edification of others.  And we must not forget that we always have much to learn from our colleagues, students, friends, and patients.  A musical score is much like a medical history: multiple simultaneous events interacting over time. The successful art of medicine and of music is the special ability continually to capture unique moments in this flowing tapestry and to make sense of them for the patient or for the music—performance, composition, or teaching. Similar thought processes occur in other intellectual and artistic disciplines. We seek those clarifications, which Robert Frost discusses in his essay “The Figure a Poem Makes” -- “It begins in delight . . . and ends in a clarification of life--not necessarily a great clarification . . .but in a momentary stay against confusion.” How the creative and artistic mind is nurtured and at the same time made to exist in a disciplined structure is the subject of this symposium – how the gap between science and art is bridged and how this process enhances the well-being of the human spirit.

Mentoring in medicine and the arts is a lifelong experience-–as both mentor and mentee. We are to be conscientious caretakers-- good stewards--of our talents and education and of those opportunities for the education and edification of others.  And we must not forget that we always have much to learn from our colleagues, students, friends, and patients.

De-mystifying the Creative and Drawing Processes

Amy Stein, Professional Artist  

In the mentoring process, my focus is to de-mystify the creative and drawing process. I believe that art is a gateway to healing and self- validation. During my art workshop, my primary objective is to empower participants to access their inner artist. Most people have been conditioned to believe that they are not artists. In learning to draw a self-portrait in the workshop, there is no judgment, only compassion. Previous negative programming is overcome in the creation of a powerful work of art. This usually comes as a complete surprise to the participants. This new creative confidence and fearlessness can be transmitted by these participants to everyone they work with in the healing process. Since I was nine years old, I realized that I was a portrait painter. Over the years I have created hundreds of portraits, which depict the human spirit. Additionally, I have taught portrait painting in the public school system as well as in national conferences, the focus of which has been healing the self through self-portraits. Amy has conducted healing workshops for national conferences in Santa Fe for the last 15 years. These workshops, “Healing the Self through Self Portraits,” have resulted in the recent publication of her article in the medical journal, The Permanente Journal. This article describes her healing work with doctors. As a follow up, The New Mexican published an article highlighting this accomplishment.

In the mentoring process, my focus is to de-mystify the creative and drawing process. I believe that art is a gateway to healing and self- validation. During my art workshop, my primary objective is to empower participants to access their inner artist. Most people have been conditioned to believe that they are not artists.

Processing Movement and Sound from a Pianist’s and Composer’s Perspective

Falko Steinback, Soloist, Composer and Piano Pedagogue  

My composition “Figures” is a piano cycle comprised of 17 independent etudes. The etudes are connected thematically, through both technical and musical aspects, whereby each one has its own focus. The idea for this cycle grew out of my work on the “Compendium of Piano Technique”. Three years after publication of this book, these etudes were sketched out between 1998 and 1999. I finished them in the spring of 2006. The CD-recording was made in January 2009 and it was released in the Fall of the same year.  It has been my lifelong special interest to create a “four -dimensional sound” on the piano, which I tried to realize with my innovative set of these etudes. They incorporate compositional fantasy as well as continuing the tradition of being practice pieces that were meant to be exercises of a structured systematic technical and musical aspect on the piano on all levels. Here we have independent works of art where the etudes become concert pieces on the basis of the newest insights of research, psychology and everything we know about brain development and music. In my lecture I will describe this philosophy and research behind the pieces and the complex process of composing, practicing and recording them.

My composition “Figures” is a piano cycle comprised of 17 independent etudes. The etudes are connected thematically, through both technical and musical aspects, whereby each one has its own focus. The idea for this cycle grew out of my work on the “Compendium of Piano Technique”.

Energizing the Water

Maggie Werner-Washburne, University of New Mexico  

Mentoring is a word that is used to define interactions at many levels. It can be a one-off interaction in which you give a student a book or it can be a life-long dialogue. I think that it is important, when we talk about mentoring to know what we mean before we start to say things about it.  How do we know when we are mentoring or when we know enough to mentor? Can anyone mentor? What is the difference between mentoring and advising? I’ve run the IMSD program for more than 8 years. In the last 4 years, I think that I have begun to develop a successful mentoring program, with goals, and particular areas that we talk about.  I have come to see that the mentoring I do through IMSD and other mentoring groups is not the same as being a research mentor – and that the students really need both kinds of interactions. I will present an outline of my mentoring program – which is aimed at moving beyond the idea of an educational pipeline to an understanding that the energy for movement and success has to be internalized in each student.  I call this approach “energizing the water.”  I will discuss the next phase of this program, which I call a “mentoring waterfall”, which I hope can be extended well past the programs I run so that many more of our students can benefit from this successful approach.

Mentoring is a word that is used to define interactions at many levels. It can be a one-off interaction in which you give a student a book or it can be a life-long dialogue. I think that it is important, when we talk about mentoring to know what we mean before we start to say things about it.

Emerging themes in mentoring

David Clutterbuck, European Mentoring & Coaching Council  

Mentoring has evolved a great deal since formal programs began in the early 1980s. Early on in the evolution of formal mentoring the US and Europe went different directions, with the US emphasizing sponsorship and relatively directive behav- iors and Europe emphasizing non-directive developmental behaviors. Increasingly these two models are being mixed and matched in novel ways. Based on his experiences as an international ambassador for mentoring, David will explore a variety of themes, including: multimedia mentoring, reverse mentoring, mentoring supervision, the role of goals in mentoring (SMART goals aren’t particularly helpful!), mentor and mentee competencies, developing the role and authority of the mentoring program manager, and integrating coaching and mentoring. He will illustrate these themes with practical examples of mentor- ing programs from around the world and draw upon recent and current research into what makes mentoring work (or not) in different environments.

Mentoring has evolved a great deal since formal programs began in the early 1980s. Early on in the evolution of formal mentoring the US and Europe went different directions, with the US emphasizing sponsorship and relatively directive behav- iors and Europe emphasizing non-directive developmental behaviors. Increasingly these two models are being mixed and matched in novel ways.

Mentoring: Advanced Skills Development Workshop

David Clutterbuck, European Mentoring & Coaching Council  

This workshop is aimed at experienced mentors, who want to add a range of different approaches and techniques to their practice; and at program managers, who need to help mentors overcome setbacks. The structure of the workshop is very simple: participants are invited to share their experiences to create a menu of issues and topics, where they would value different or more effective ways to help. We will then explore practical tools and techniques to address those issues. Along the way, we will almost certainly look at the structure of effective mentoring conversations and how to prepare for and reflect on each conversation, as a means of learning and continuous improvement. There will be lots of opportunities to practice new approaches!

This workshop is aimed at experienced mentors, who want to add a range of different approaches and techniques to their practice; and at program managers, who need to help mentors overcome setbacks.

Mentoring & Inclusion - Diversity Unleashed

Carmen M. Carter, Multicultural Women's Council  

Workshops about mentoring and inclusion are some of the most important sessions anyone will ever attend. Surprisingly, the goal of diversity is not necessarily diversity itself.  In fact, training interventions focusing on the pervading cultural characteristics (similarities and differences) have only been met with modest sustainable results, and have derailed many well-intentioned diversity interventions. Mentoring is the missing link and bridge that creates diverse communities of learning where each individual can engage in the reciprocal learning process. This session will educate and increase your knowledge about the skills needed to move beyond the old definition of diversity; to one which fosters an environment of equity and inclusion. This is diversity unleashed, and an important lesson to learn!

Workshops about mentoring and inclusion are some of the most important sessions anyone will ever attend. Surprisingly, the goal of diversity is not necessarily diversity itself.

Learning From the Past & Envisioning the Future

Joseph Pascarelli, International Mentoring Association  

In this session, Dr. Pascarelli will examine global perspetives on mentoring in order to identify the dynamics between and among culture, context, and mentoring as implemented in varied international settings with a particular focus on whether mentoring acts primarily as a tool for maintaining the status quo or as a transformational process that encourages changing cultures, contexts, individuals, and professionals.

In this session, Dr.

Coaching and Mentoring with Compassion: Helping Others Develop Social and Emotional Competence

Scott N. Taylor, University of New Mexico  

Why is developing social and emotional competence (ESC) critical to leading, managing, mentoring, and coaching others? What are effective ways for helping others in their efforts to develop ESC and change in sustainable ways? What is the difference between coaching for compliance and coaching with compassion? What should a coach or mentor focus on when trying to help others in their personal or leadership development change process? Too often we rely on coaching for compliance rather than coaching with compassion as the approach to achieving results at the individual and organizational levels. Unfortunately, coaching for compliance rarely engages the intrinsic motivation of those we seek to mentor or coach. As a result, we rarely see progress in their efforts to change in sustainable ways. When this happens relationships are strained and organizational results suffer.  This plenary session will provide practical answers to the questions posed above by presenting recent research on adult development and change through an experiential presentation style.

Why is developing social and emotional competence (ESC) critical to leading, managing, mentoring,

Developing Effective Mentoring Programs

Larry Carroll, Elmhurst College  

The workshop will assist participants in developing effective mentoring programs which focus on reaching desired organizational goals. The program will address key issues faced in the designing, implementation, and assessment of an effective mentoring program. The workshop will address the best practices of effective mentoring.

The workshop will assist participants in developing effective mentoring programs which focus on reaching desired organizational goals. The program will address key issues faced in the designing, implementation, and assessment of an effective mentoring program. The workshop will address the best practices of effective mentoring.

The Elements of Exceptional Mentorship: What your 21st Century Students (and faculty) Want You to Know

W. Brad Johnson, United States Naval Academy  

This closing address will highlight the best evidence-supported ingredients to effective mentorships. Salient matters of style, skill, and integrity will be highlighted. Participants will be encouraged to become deliberate and intentional in the mentor role.

This closing address will highlight the best evidence-supported ingredients to effective mentorships. Salient matters of style, skill, and integrity will be highlighted. Participants will be encouraged to become deliberate and intentional in the mentor role.