Mentoring - Peer Panel

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Mentoring - Peer Panel

Library Leadership Network Peer Panel, November 2006

Edited by Frank Hermes, published February 13, 2007

Over the course of recent months we have heard mention of Mentoring. So this month, I asked the Peer Panel for their views on this topic, with special attention to the following questions:

  • What mentoring experiences have been valuable to you, either as a mentor or mentee? In discussing these experiences, please highlight why they were of value and what made them work.
  • Have your mentoring experiences always involved people within the library world? Or have you observed (or been a part of) programs or instances where the mentor and mentee worked in different fields?
  • Do you feel that mentoring programs work, or is it best to let mentor/mentee relationships form naturally and evolve without the aid of a formal framework? Why?

Ordinarily, a fair amount of editing is done to piece together the responses of the panel and align them with the questions. This month, their feedback was so thoughtful (per usual) and well organized that I thought I would present it as it was received. So here goes:

Gary Strong

While Director of the Queens Library, I established the Page Fellows Program. With good planning we involved up to 15 pages (junior in HS to sophomore in college) in a semester long experience of learning about the library profession. Each fellow was matched with a librarian mentor who met with the fellow at least two hours each week and attended four special seminars for the mentors and fellows. ach mentor was given intensive mentor training appropriate to working with this age group and to prepare each one to discuss their professional experience and commitment. We wanted mentors filled with passion!

I have served as a sponsor/mentor for the ARL Leadership Fellows Program and to the ULC Executive Leadership Program.

As I build my senior management team at UCLA and before at Queens and the California State Library, I take responsibility for working closely with each to mentor them as we work to build a strong team.

As State Librarian of California, I funded an Upward Mobility into Management program which involved mentors for librarians of color who were committed to moving into more responsible positions in their chosen libraries or segment of the profession. I still follow a number of these people who keep in touch.

Does mentoring work? Yes, I believe so. Several of the Page Fellows at Queens have now completed their library degrees, while others continue to work in different kinds of positions there. A number of the ARL Leadership Fellows are now in different leadership roles in ARL libraries and are achieving.

I think both formal and informal relationships work. We are sponsoring three CLIR postdoc fellows this year. While we meet formally, the informal meetings are almost more exciting as I learn what each of them is hoping to achieve while with us.

Mike Crandall

In reflecting on people who I would consider mentors in my life, I think the one common characteristic that stands out is the longevity of the relationship. It seems to me it takes time both to recognize and to benefit from a relationship that provides the mentoring dimension, although perhaps I am just slower than others on the uptake. But what has worked best for me as a mentoring process is a slow, incremental awareness that someone is providing me with both a role model and opportunities through interactions over time. There has never been explicit recognition that the relationship is a mentoring situation (though as the mentee, I could now make that explicit in hindsight), but more a mutual exploration of possibilities that have turned out to be key in my career. I am deeply grateful to those who have provided me with this guidance, whether it was conscious or not, and have tried to do the same for others in my life as I have understood better what I have been given.

As a corollary to my observation that longevity is a key component of what I now think of as mentoring relationships, I would add that the context of the relationship has little bearing on its worth. The lessons I have learned are more about life than they are about specific activities, domains, or goals. Part of the value these long-term relationships provide is the ability to apply lessons learned in one setting to another, and to encourage thinking more broadly about situations that may seem different on the surface but turn out to be quite similar to something learned in another context. Having a few strong relationships from different parts of life is a good way to test your ideas against someone with an entirely different perspective, who may give you an insight that your professional peers would never have thought of.

As you might guess from my answers to the previous questions, I lean toward natural evolution (as opposed to a more programmatic approach), but have to temper that with a caution that we need to be mindful of setting up opportunities for that to occur. Our educational systems provide one such structure through student/teacher interaction, our professional societies are important for a more informal method of connecting novices and experts, and our families and friends are an equally important way of making connections that may not be in the professional realm. To quote a now-hackneyed phrase, but one that is in fact very true--it takes a village. Most of us who have managed to find satisfying and successful careers have done so through the gifts of the many who have helped us on our way, not only as mentors but as partners, supporters, even critics. And it is important to note that there is an equal responsibility on both sides of the table—mentees must put as much effort into the relationship as the mentor does for a successful outcome. As with most things in life, results are directly proportional to the effort invested.

Jamie LaRue

I think I've been involved in three formal mentoring relationships (as the mentor), and several less formal ones.

Five or six years ago, I recruited a library manager, and we consciously set up a mentoring schedule. At first, we had coffee or lunch once a week. I also called her at the end of each day, at the same time. I can't say we adopted much more structure than that, but of course, my "mentee" went through our usual orientation process and training programs. We also had a checklist of various types of events we needed to attend together.

At about the 6 month mark, we talked about whether the schedule was working, and whether we needed more (or less) structure. We pretty much stuck with it for the first year. At that time, we each wrote up our side of the experience, and presented a session together at a professional conference. Then we "dissolved" a formal arrangement, although continued to talk through the usual supervisory process, and have maintained a warm relationship ever since.

Some observations about what works:

  • An initial meeting to figure out if it's a good fit. It's an interview. What is the mentee looking for? Can the mentor actually provide it -- or would somebody else be a better match for what the person is trying to learn? Sometimes, the mentee has an erroneous notion of what the potential mentor does -- or who he or she really is. I think it's hard (although not impossible) to mentor somebody with a truly different style of communication. Be clear that you're entering into an agreement with each other, and what you expect of each other.
  • A schedule. You need regular face time, preferably at a place where you can speak freely. But there can (and should) be other kinds of regular communication: phone, email, even instant messaging.
  • Absolute confidentiality. There need to be mutual assurances that discussions will not be released without explicit permission. That's the condition for the next:
  • Absolute candor. Mentors have to say what they're bad at, what didn't work. Mentees have to be able to ask anything, or to freely observe that something seems off or wrong. That's one of the great values to the mentor, incidentally: fresh eyes on an organization or issue. It helps if both people are reasonably self-aware, too. But remember:
  • Professional distance. I've heard about mentoring experiences that turned sexual. Bad idea! Maybe something develops later, maybe not, but mentoring isn't a dating service. Keep it professional, and be clear about that.
  • A range of shared experiences. There should be some "shadowing" -- where the mentor takes the student around to a variety of functions that demonstrate some of the breadth of skills he or she has learned or needs.
  • A final reckoning or report. I like the joint presentation idea. But whatever the final format or audience (library school, management team, board, other librarians), it puts things in perspective, sums up, lets both sides talk about what they learned. It also concludes that aspect of the relationship, allowing for a more collegial evolution. I've built some wonderful friendships with those I've mentored, from which I have gained a great deal. Teachers need to let their students graduate.

Again, both sides should get something: the mentor gets that fresh perspective, and the mentee gets a demonstration of real life experiences, and the chance to deconstruct and analyze them up close. It's a leg up professionally, and it can be very powerful.

Mentoring is also, I believe, an absolute professional responsibility for anyone in a leadership position. On reflection, it's an absolute professional responsibility, period. It should be in every librarian's job description.

Bill Crowe

Seek to list the mentors for any of us and the numbers will be large!

Mine begins with Florence Connelly, then head of the Fine Arts Department at Boston Public Library. Miss (definitely no "Ms." for her!) Connelly, I now realize, took much satisfaction in helping young people (in my case, a college student working as a page in the early 1960s) see ahead, encourage them to stretch their minds, and to look beyond the obvious. She led me to see librarianship as the wonderful mix of the intellectual and the personal, always emphasizing that one "must like people!"

Later, in the mid-70s, Fred Wagman, the veteran director of the University of Michigan Library, took in hand a then 29-year-old would-be library administrator for a full year to teach much the same lessons: seek to understand ideas, seek to understand people, and enjoy the quest -- to solve problems, try new ideas, to revel in the differences one encounters among people.

Last, there is Bill Studer, emeritus director of libraries at Ohio State. Bill confirmed all of these lessons for me over the 35 years we have known each other, but above all showed me the power of giving of oneself, over and over again, without seeking acclaim or tangible reward. His humane, principled approach to leadership is one I seek always to emulate as I offer younger people--now a more diverse group--a chance to ask questions, to challenge my ideas, and to talk when things may not be easy or smooth for them.

As I reach the end of my active career, I now realize more than ever that the mentor-mentee relationship always must be two-way--that a capable mentor gains as much or more than the person at the other end--ideas to be sure, but also much natural personal satisfaction at a younger person's growth.

I have had many connections outside the library world, especially with academic leaders and with scholars, from all of whom I have learned much, but from only one--David Shulenburger, former provost at the University of Kansas and an economist by education and passion--the same level of engagement. Dave became a guide for me in the 1990s--to the byways of academe, to the politics of our city and state, and to the kinds of engagement that successful college teachers have with young people. He, like all of the librarians I have mentioned, showed always the virtues of integrity, constancy, hard work, and the satisfactions of reaching out to other people in demanding, but always humane ways.

I would promote mentoring relationships any way that works (how's that for an American pragmatist!) for the people who might benefit. I especially stress the less immediately apparent benefits to a prospective mentor for being challenged to learn from someone who may be "different"--of generation, gender, ethnicity, and intellectual interest. Being pressed to think hard by anyone, but especially by an energetic young person, is not always comfortable, but it is always a reminder that none of us can’t stop growing or changing.

Ask any parent, coach, teacher or other person who works with young people!

Jeff Horrell

The only mentor/mentee relationships I have been involved with have been informal. In several instances, I am not sure at the outset my mentors knew they were my mentors. I was fortunate enough to be in contact with folks that by their example served as a mentor to me. I was able to observe their decision-making, their manner in complicated situations, and their general outlook and perspective on the profession. It was only later that I revealed that they had been a mentor, although it must have been obvious as I consulted them when I was thinking through situations or decisions. Having a "sounding board" is very important as one moves along in the profession, and is equally rewarding. These individuals have been primarily from the library profession.

I am not sure that I have served that role for others, but have been receptive and supportive as individuals have sought out my thoughts or advice either in personnel situations or career planning and decisions.

I have also had mentors not related to the library profession. These folks have been ones you observe and admire for a variety of qualities as human beings. Again, it is for the personal traits in their characters. You value and appreciate their example and you think about how they might handle a particular circumstance when you are challenged by something.

I have known colleagues who have participated in formal mentor programs and have found them valuable and others because of the assignment of either the mentor or mentee were not as successful. So my sense is that one should be alert to finding individuals they feel they can learn from, informally or in more formal ways.

George Needham

I am a fervent believer in mentoring.

I was lucky enough to have two really good mentors early in my career. The first was Erna Hall. The second was Jan Buvinger, now the director of the Charleston (SC) County Library and the first person to hire me for a professional library position. Jan and I moved up the ladder at Charleston in parallel. She’d get promoted, and then she’d move me into her old slot. In each job that she held, she was willing to be open with me about the difficult decisions she had to make, about why she was making those decisions, and how to gauge their impact. Her level of honesty made the relationship work; she made me feel like I could ask naïve questions without repercussion. These discussions were invaluable to me when I moved into my first director’s job after seven years at Charleston.

Besides these relationships, I’ve had informal but memorable mentor relationships with some outstanding leaders in our field: Charlie Robinson and Joey Rodger when I was at PLA; Amy Owen, Nancy Bolt, Bridget Lamont, and Mike Lucas when I was state librarian in Michigan; Phyllis Spies and fellow Peer Panel member Bill Crowe here at OCLC. The worst part of even acknowledging this in print is that I’m not sure I ever thanked any of them sufficiently.

These later relationships worked so well because none of these folks was my supervisor. For some reason, Jan and I were able to make the relationship work, but for most people I would recommend getting a mentor who is out of your direct line of authority. The distance allows both honesty and increased perspective.

My way of paying these folks back is to try to be accessible to newer members of the profession. The formal leadership programs like the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship, Library Leadership Ohio, and Snowbird have given me a chance to work with some great early career librarians. I’ve stayed in touch with many of the graduates of these programs over the years. I’ve also mentored a couple of people here at OCLC.

My mentoring relationships have always been in the library world. Who knows what I might have gained if I'd been willing to approach some of the great people I've worked with on boards and in other settings over the years? That shoe store owner in Lancaster who served on the library board, knew everyone in town, and had keen but humanistic political instincts could have been a great mentor if I'd had enough sense to approach him that way.

The Snowbird and Library Leadership Ohio experiences have been invaluable to me. In each of these events, I served as a mentor, but I learned at least as much from the participants in the program as they ever did from me. Personally, I don’t know if formal or informal systems of mentorship have any advantages over the other. I think in the Library Leadership Ohio and Snowbird examples, the formal programs provide the introductions and the incubator for the relationships to build, but it is still up to the grads and the mentors to keep the relationships going. Informal systems may be more organic, in that they grow not because of the structures provided but because they are self-selected.

The important to thing to remember is that both parties give and both parties gain in a mentorship relationship. The mentor offers her experience, insights, and network. The mentee gains perspective, guidance, and a look into how the world operates. The mentor regains the ground level perspective, one that’s easy to forget as she moves into the more rarefied air of management. The mentee offers his willingness to learn and share that point of view, plus whatever skills and talents he brings into the relationship. For example, one of those folks I’ve mentored at OCLC has been my mentor on all sorts of online things I know little about, like Second Life and other virtual communities.

My mentors and my mentees have enriched both my professional and personal life and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.

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