In this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, host Toyosi Onwuemene sits down with Dr. Toyin Tofade, President of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Dr. Tofade shares her journey from pharmacist to president, discussing the importance of mentorship and sponsorship across disciplines. This insightful conversation explores the value of building a diverse network of mentors and how to recognize and seize mentoring opportunities.
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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills
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to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.
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As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.
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When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find
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that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research
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program.
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Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.
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However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.
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For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians
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the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.
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Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.
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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.
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I'm your host Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is such a pleasure to be here today.
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I'm especially excited because I have a very, very, very special guest on today.
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She is not a physician.
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She's a pharmacist, or I should say she was a pharmacist, because right now she is president
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of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
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Dr. Tofade, or should I say President Tofade, welcome to the show.
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Thank you for having me.
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Dr. Tafade, one of the reasons I asked you to come here is because you are one of my
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mentors and sponsors, and you've been a coach to me in many things.
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I consider myself very fortunate because not very many people have presidents as mentors
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or sponsors.
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But we're here today to really talk in general about mentorship and sponsorship, and even
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across disciplines.
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But before we get started, I want you to just help our audience.
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We're clinicians, scientists, help our audience understand your journey to where you are today.
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Well, thank you.
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Thank you so much, and greetings to everybody who's listening to this podcast.
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I'm Toyin Tofade, and I started my journey being a pharmacist, actually.
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I did my master's in PharmD at UNC Chapel Hill, and I also practiced as a pharmacist,
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a clinical specialist at UNC hospitals for several years.
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Then moved to Raleigh in North Carolina at the Wake Area Health Education Center, which
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is where I served for about nine years, first doing some continuing education work in addition
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to practicing on the WakeMed physicians training team.
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And so that was a great experience to be able to teach physicians some of the ways in which
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we use drugs in patients, while at the same time having residents, fellows, students on
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the pharmacy side co-learn in such a teaching environment.
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So that was fantastic.
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And then moved into more of a leadership role as associate director or pharmacotherapy services
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director by creating experiences for our students in the Wake County region, about a nine-county
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region.
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That's how UNC train their students, similar to how they train the physicians on clock
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shifts.
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And so after that was done, we were able to have this opportunity to do the same thing
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at a different state, so University of Maryland Baltimore.
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I was there as associate director and then eventually assistant dean, so about over four
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years.
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I was really growing the experiential component of the student pharmacist learning opportunities
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there and that scope covered the entire state.
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So that was a privilege to be able to serve the institution in that way.
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And after completing that, I had the distinct opportunity to serve as dean of Howard University
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College of Pharmacy for about six years.
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So that was in DC and then came here.
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Not too long, so six years after completing dean, I had the opportunity to come to Albany
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College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to serve as president and professor.
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So it's been a journey.
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It's been just a privilege to serve people all through that journey.
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Yeah.
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Dr. Safade, thank you so much, and as you are sharing your journey, I'm struck, I think,
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by the number of institutions that you've had the opportunity to serve.
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Now sometimes people talk about when you stay at the same institution, there are advantages,
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right?
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Because there's deep knowledge of the institution, there's so many people you know, you've had
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the opportunity to move from place to place.
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Talk about some of the advantages in your career of doing these moves and some of the
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disadvantages you feel like may have come from moving.
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Some of the advantages of staying in the same location is the upward mobility that it might
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provide, and really just growing roots, strengthening the work and the projects you might have done
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there.
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And one of the things that my dad always told me is, you know, when the applause is loudest
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and that's when you have to consider leaving.
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I think what that translates to is you have to assess yourself and the accomplishments
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that you have, you know, been able to establish right in that location or institution or committee
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or wherever it is you're referring to.
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And ask the question, am I done?
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Done not in the sense of frustration or done in the sense of, ugh, let's go.
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But thinking about, can I outdo myself here?
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At least that's the question that I ask myself is, is there anything else?
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How can I top this?
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Because I'm very goal driven.
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I try to serve the institution with all my heart, soul, and mind as much as possible.
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And so there comes a time when you realize, you know, A, there might be somebody who can
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do better here and I don't have that skill set to take it to the next level that I think
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it needs to go, or I have maxed out what I believe my capacity is able to accomplish
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and in alignment with long-term goals and long-term impact, it is a mutually win-win
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benefit to move to a different institution.
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For everybody, that's different.
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For everybody, it varies.
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So I'm grateful that for me, for each move, it has aligned nicely with what was necessary
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and it was very positive actually for everyone that I have served so far.
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And I'm just grateful and honored to have served each and every one of these institutions
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to the best of my ability and to leave it in a place where you can say was better than
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when you met it.
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I love it.
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Thank you for sharing that.
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What I hear also in what you're sharing is even if we don't think about it as leaving
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institutions, I mean, even within institutions, people move from position to position and
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thinking about have you maxed out the benefit in that position and is it time to move to
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the next position?
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So even if you're not moving institutions, it sounds to me like it's a great, it's always
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great to assess and say I've been doing this for a long time, what's the next level and
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am I the right person to bring this position to the next level?
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So thank you for sharing that.
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My pleasure.
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Okay.
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So I want to get into a story in my life where you were very crucial and I've talked about
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it a couple of times on this podcast episode.
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So my audience is somewhat familiar, but I got to a place in my career where I was ready
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to quit medicine or at least I was ready to quit all of academia.
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And we had a conversation, that was a very pivotal conversation.
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And I have to say, I want to say that at the time that I was experiencing all these challenges,
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I didn't think, oh, I have a mentor who at the time you were dean, I didn't think, oh,
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I have a mentor who's dean of the college of pharmacy.
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Why don't I go talk to her?
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Because it didn't seem to me as if you, I mean, it was clinical medicine, but it became
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really important and relevant because in your journey in academia, you've had challenges
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too.
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So you shared challenges with me that changed the way I thought about my challenges.
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So the first question I want to ask you to speak to or answer is this whole concept of
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mentoring across disciplines.
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How should people really be thinking about their network of mentors, sponsors, and especially
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in terms of thinking about the transdisciplinary mentorship or across professions?
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So there are certain fundamental challenges that every discipline will face.
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And it comes to a point in your journey or growth in your career where it's no longer
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about the science or the fundamental knowledge of medicine or pharmacy, in my case, that
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is determining what you're facing, that you call challenges.
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And when we're able to sort of separate those two, your fundamental training as an MD versus
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a PharmD or perhaps an engineer even, and the root cause of the challenges, which many
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times are very different from the training, then you cease to see yourself as, oh, their
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medicine, their pharmacy.
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You see yourselves as co-leaders growing on a ladder, and in each rung of those ladders,
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there are challenges you are going to face that will be common all across the board,
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regardless of whether you're a lawyer or what.
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And the trick is really your interactions with people and how successful you are with
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that because IRN is going to be similar, right?
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The challenges with offers, benefits, those kinds of things, the details might be different,
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but how you approach those would likely be similar, right?
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Then when you get to how to manage people in an organization, people are people are
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people are people.
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And if we knew people fully, there'll be no wars in the entire world, right?
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But that's why we have to keep learning.
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That's why we have to keep sharpening our knowledge around dealing with conflict, dealing
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with challenges, dealing with managing envy, sabotage, or the four horsemen, for example,
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really just dealing with people.
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It's people.
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And people challenges in every single institution is similar.
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And so it's a matter of then separating that out and saying, hmm, what am I dealing with
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here?
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And as you, a physician, you try to diagnose what the situation, what's the people challenge
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that I'm facing here.
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And when you can identify what that people challenge is, then you can approach it with
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the same way you would approach it, whether it be an engineering or lawyer fields that
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presents itself because people are still people.
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Yeah, no, that's really good.
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It's really good because I think that we do think very siloed and there's this sense that,
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well, you're not a physician.
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You can't understand my problems.
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And yes, the details are different, but the general challenges are similar.
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And so maybe this is a good time to speak about how should people be thinking about
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curating their network of sponsors, of mentors, because I meet a lot of faculty who say, I
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don't have a mentor.
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And maybe what they're saying is I don't have a research mentor.
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I don't have a mentor who's exactly my discipline, but nobody comes as far as you come without
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mentors.
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And so maybe speak to how should people be thinking about curating their networks of
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mentors and sponsors?
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One of the advice that I give our students and anyone I get a chance to meet, young professionals,
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is to have at least six to eight mentors.
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What that means is you have to be able to build relationships.
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If you can't build relationships, you're dead in the water because it's the people that
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you interact with.
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It's the people who care about you, the people who see your work, your growth that will eventually
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choose to either guide you, show you where the stones are, so to speak, or say, oh, I
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know this individual.
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She's nice and she's very accommodating and she's brilliant and she would be good for
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X or Y or Z. Those are your sponsors.
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Those people who will speak to your capabilities when you can't be there.
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But if you haven't already built that network over the years, then it won't be able to
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serve you when you actually need them.
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So the advice about curating those, to curate that network of mentors and sponsors is think
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about everybody in front of you as a potential person who either you are meant to serve or
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they might be there to serve you in the future.
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If you see everybody in front of you and every relationship as critical, that there's a reason
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for it, there's a purpose for it, you will be intentional about how you interact with
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people generally.
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Now you don't want to talk to folks because you think, oh, can you be my mentor?
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I remember I was in that phase at one point in time and I thought, oh, I need a mentor
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and I was really desperate to try to get a mentor.
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And then I began to learn that that's not how it works.
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In fact, most people are spooked by the word mentor because they feel like there is this
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huge responsibility that they have to accomplish and they have these expectations.
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And you know, academics too, we can layer on top of it.
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First month you do this, second month you do this, third month you do this, otherwise
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you'll be evaluated and you're going to be, you know, maybe you've done a bad job.
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And then people are just like, I'd rather have nothing to do with that.
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My advice to many of the people that I've interacted with is just build relationships.
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Don't label it.
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Do not label it.
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Don't put pressure on it.
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It's almost like dating in many ways where the moment you start putting labels on things
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and things start falling apart, don't put a label on it.
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Just build a relationship.
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If it's happening, it's happening.
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If it's not happening, it's not happening.
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Don't worry about it.
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I've had, I'm going to give a couple of examples.
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One example, I had a meeting with the vice president and one of my institutions in the
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past, and I hadn't even met her before.
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This was the very first time I'd just been promoted to assistant dean and I was trying
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to do a job and I needed to meet her to learn something to get the job done.
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And so I sat in her, in her office and she was about to share with me and give me insights
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into the task and the project I was working on for the first 30 minutes of that meeting.
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She's retired now.
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For the first 30 minutes of that meeting, she was just downloading about how to be an
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executive and how to be successful as an executive female.
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And I just took my notepad and my pen and I just kept writing pages and pages before
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we even got down to business.
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And that was the season when I actually was thinking about, oh, I need a mentor.
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I need a mentor.
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I never met her before.
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I didn't even, I can't even remember her name now, but that was it.
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That was the opening into here is information you've been looking for.
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Now I'm a person of faith, so I had been praying about this, obviously, to say, Lord, please
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help me.
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And I remember that word that came, which was I am that I am.
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I will be your mentor.
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Now that sounds crazy, but that relaxed me to see that I needed to just open my mind
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to understand that the people that I thought would be my best mentors or that would be
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a best fit for me may not necessarily be the ones that will give me the information that
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I needed.
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And I tell you, after she was, she told me conferences I needed to attend, ways I need
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to posture myself, how I needed to present.
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I was full.
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30 minutes, I was full.
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Then we went to business, we were done.
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Shortly after that, she retired.
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We got maybe one other chance, I took out to lunch just so that I could learn some more.
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Mentors, you have to notice and make sure you're serving them for them to serve you.
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So you don't have a sense of expectation or entitlement.
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They're giving you valued time.
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So you have to think about that.
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Can you take them out to coffee and have a conversation?
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You don't have to put too much, but learn about what they care about.
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And then before you know it, they start sharing things that you need.
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The second example that I will share, I was at a conference in Croatia and I was with
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this colleague, friend is how I will call her.
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She was a systems leader and she was also at that conference.
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She's from Australia.
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And we were supposed to go into a session and I had just gotten my role as dean and
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I was just casually sharing the news that, oh, you know, that, you know, dean now and
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so on and so forth.
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Meanwhile, before that time I had met with, because it was a new role for me, I just randomly
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five minutes would meet with people who I knew were deans and just ask them simple questions.
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And I say, knowing what you know now, what do you wish you knew before becoming a dean?
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And I tell you that opened up a whole set of tips and tricks that 20 deans were able
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to share with me.
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I'll just meet them casually one on one.
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That didn't require a whole mentoring protocol.
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It was information that was going to solidify my foundation before getting into the deanship.
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And it was so valuable because there were 20 different deans, male, female, different
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races, you know, that were sharing with me.
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And I valued that.
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So back to the Croatia example.
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So when I went there, I just, you know, told her, oh, this is going on and so on and so
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forth.
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Somebody I respect so much internationally known.
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And she said something.
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And here's the trick about mentorship, right?
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You have to know when it's about to happen and you have to be willing to sacrifice whatever
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necessary to get what is about to happen and position yourself for what's about to happen
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to you.
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And so she said, we're about to go into the next session.
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We're going to coffee break, you know, 15, 20 minute coffee break.
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We're about to go into the next session.
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I said, would you like to take a few minutes and I could just spend some time with you?
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And I was thinking like, what?
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Yes, ma'am.
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Absolutely.
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And so I just stayed.
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We were right there on a bistro table.
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The session had resumed.
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And I kid you not, we were there for at least an hour.
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At least an hour.
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She was willing to, let me tell you, if I had to pay for that session, I don't know
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how much it would have cost, but she was willing.
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Time and opportunity.
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You have to know when it's happening and make sure your position to receive whatever is
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there for you.
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And I sat there and we stood initially, then we had to move a location to sit because it
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was getting so good.
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And for a whole hour, she just started downloading examples, experiences, how to, and she pretty
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much laid the landscape, how people will approach me in my beginning weeks and so on and so
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forth and how to not take the first impressions that you get from your new role.
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Very valuable wisdom.
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Eventually, she offered that because one of the tips they tell you is you technically
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want to be careful about sharing details, particularly if you're in a decision-making
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type of role like Adine, with individuals in the exact same institution you are because
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it's going to spread.
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People will talk about what you're saying to other people.
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And so being that she was in an institution that the likelihood of her knowing anybody
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in the institution I was in was slim, it was a safer bet to have somebody like her.
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And she offered herself.
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So 6 p.m., 7 p.m. in Eastern time was 9 a.m. or 8 a.m. early morning in Australia time.
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And we will meet every other month just to debrief if there were any challenges that
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I had, I could bring it to her and she would help tease it out based on her experience
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because she'd been doing this a minute.
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I am grateful, grateful to God for people like that who just offered their time.
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And said that there are individuals who are available to mentor you for a fee and there's
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nothing wrong in that.
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Value their time, respect their time, bring the questions you have to the session so that
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you can get the value that you need.
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I've had to do that as well, to have a coach type individual.
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So it was almost like a coach slash mentor.
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Because they've done the work right, they can help you tease out and really give you
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the 10,000 foot view you need to have concerning what you're doing.
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So I'm going to stop there, but it's a lot.
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It's very important.
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Make sure you have mentors.
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Make sure you are sensitive to when somebody is trying to give you wisdom.
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Don't think you're smarter than anyone.
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You'll be surprised what kinds of information is out there that can make your work go faster.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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I got so much from what you said.
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I just want to make some of those things explicit.
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So one of the first things I got is the sense of not being desperate, not feeling like there's
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only one person for you.
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And so you go with that desperate energy to scare people out of your path.
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It's just really thinking about the fact that you're cultivating relationships and you're
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thinking in every relationship, how do I serve this person?
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This person may be here to serve me.
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How do I meet my end of the bargain rate?
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Because that's what I'm in control of.
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And so really thinking of people as just how do I build good relationships?
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And that takes the pressure off those, I need you to be my mentor.
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And it allows you to be a more normal human.
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You didn't say that, but that's what I got out of it.
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And then the other thing that I also hear is that it seems as if people in these positions
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are wanting to pour out.
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And they're just looking for people who are open and available.
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And I will want you to speak in a few minutes about whether that had anything to do with,
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because you talked a lot about women, I heard.
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And so I wonder if perhaps you had some male examples or whether there was a sense of this
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person is kind of sharing the same experiences as me and therefore I feel like I really need
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to invest.
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So I wonder if there's some of that.
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But it does sound like people who are in positions ahead of us, mentors that we're looking to,
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are really looking to pour out into people.
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And the moment they have opportunity, they want to do that.
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And we have to be willing to recognize it and to be available to take advantage of that.
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And then I think the third thing I heard you say is just the openness of mentoring can
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happen in different ways.
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And if you're just in a one track mind of it has to be a meeting with this person every
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week, you may miss mentoring opportunities that may be one-off mentoring opportunities,
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that may be invitations to have continued relationships of mentoring, but mentoring
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can come in different formats and so people should stay open.
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So you said a lot of things, but those are three things I wanted to say.
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And I don't know if he wanted to just reflect or share any thoughts that come from that.
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I think that's concise.
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That's very good.
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So the one thing you mentioned around whether individuals are open to mentoring, it depends.
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There's some folks who are at a stage in their life where they are ready to leave a legacy
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and they're hoping to identify proteges that will be willing to take on the mantle, so
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to speak, to take that baton and go to the next level.
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And they will be intentional about identifying said individual or individuals to mentor in
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a very deliberate way.
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Maybe they're going to end up being the next VP or the next president or the next name
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that title.
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There are other folks who have that grace, so to speak, or skill set of just raising
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leaders.
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They know how to do it.
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They identify potential leaders and they just pour in generously.
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Not too many people are like that, but when you encounter one of those, just be grateful
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and don't compare yourself with the other person who they might be mentoring as well.
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Because the historical way of succession planning has been there's one person who's going to
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take over the company and then everybody is scrambling to be the one.
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And that creates envy and that creates a lot of toxicity in the environment.
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I encourage leaders, my approach is really to share generously because you never know
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who is going to apply the information that you are sharing.
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But if you share generously, then every single person, it's like the tide that raises all
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boats, so to speak.
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If everybody gets to the level of superstar leader, the organization benefits tremendously.
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But if you pour and spend all your energy on one person and that person disappoints
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you, then you've wasted your time in the sense that that person is not going to work out.
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Now the organization is still where it was before.
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So I encourage all leaders to have the mindset of raising leaders, period.
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Now, when you get to the point of how do I begin to identify potential succession individuals
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you have to have a knack for talent and leaders have to observe and really be intentional
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about encouraging individuals to attend more training.
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Now you can offer someone training, but if they don't think they need training, then
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they miss out.
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So it's a very complex field if you think about it in that way.
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You might see 10 people who have potential and you share with them and say, look, there's
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this training opportunity in X institution that would like you to attend.
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And the individuals, maybe only two of them attend.
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Whereas you identify 10, guess what?
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Those two have distinguished themselves to be at a different caliber than the ones that
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you had identified though in the same class, so to speak.
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Now that's one thing that many rising stars don't realize.
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Follow instructions.
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Listen to the leaders who've been there, done that and are telling you things.
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Even if you think it's minute and insignificant, there is a reason why they are sharing what
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they're sharing with you.
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I've learned that.
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I've learned that.
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And I take very seriously every single piece of advice that my mentors have provided me
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over the years.
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I write it down.
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I go back before I go back to meet my mentor, whoever I've identified as a mentor, even
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before they call themselves my mentor.
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And I've seen that, look, here is something regular coming from this individual.
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I make sure to be accountable.
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I go back to them and I say, you told me during our last minute to read this book.
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I read the book.
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I thank you.
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This is what I learned from it so that they can see that the investment of time in my
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life is worth it.
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So that next time they would consider something else that they want to add value for me.
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So I encourage mentors to think about that.
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I mean mentees, excuse me.
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You want to be a star mentee?
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Listen to that mentor.
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Hold yourself accountable before your next meeting.
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Let them know what you have done since the last time.
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Don't waste anybody's time.
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Please don't tell them from the last time we met, you told me this, this, and this.
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This is what's been going on.
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This is what has happened.
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This is what I've done differently.
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I'm teaching my boys the same thing, you know, that when they meet with folks to make sure
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that they follow the instructions that whoever is mentoring them is sharing with them.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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That's really valuable and thank you for sharing so much wisdom.
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I want you to talk about obstacles now because, you know, in my conversations with you over
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the years and even in the last few years, you know, you seem to indicate that obstacles
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are part of the course, they're part for the course.
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And so where I think I felt like, oh my gosh, this is too hard.
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It was like, oh yeah, this is the way it is.
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Can you just speak to obstacles and the role that they have to play, especially the, I
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don't want to say people obstacles because I mean, all obstacles really are, are really
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about relationships, I think.
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But can you speak to their role in our growth and development and how we should be looking
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at them, especially for, for people who feel like this is not working and I want to quit?
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Yeah.
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So the obstacles that you face, they say, you know, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
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Yes.
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Obstacles can help us build resilience.
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It also helps us build experience and it helps us learn and that learning can eventually
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become wisdom.
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So for example, you face a situation, maybe it's a difficult employee, employer, peer,
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whatever that is personality, and you're just wondering how in the world am I going to survive
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with said individual in my life or in this job.
455
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,960
If you want to quit because of somebody, let me tell you, when you go to the next place,
456
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:10,080
you might find five people worse than that individual in that job that you think is better
457
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:11,660
than the one you have.
458
00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:14,960
Because during the interview, you're not going to know every single person you're trying
459
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,920
to interact with.
460
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:22,800
And so the approach that I have taken, particularly when it becomes people challenges is to try
461
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:32,360
to understand, seek to understand, try not to get sucked up in the emotional approach,
462
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:38,360
presentation of the individual triggers, try to focus on what's objective.
463
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:39,840
What are they trying to tell me?
464
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,560
What feedback are they giving me?
465
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:47,920
I remember a lady who many people in one of the organizations had been married when the
466
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,740
organization had said so many negative things about.
467
00:30:51,740 --> 00:30:57,560
And the feedback I received from the individual was valuable, so much so that it seemed like
468
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,600
they would always come off negative and so on and so forth.
469
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:08,520
And I just would think, okay, if this were 2% true, that's one of the things they tell
470
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:13,720
us in our coaching classes is think about the 2% truth instead of just writing off the
471
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:18,320
feedback you're receiving is what's the 2% truth here?
472
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:19,960
That way you're not taking it personal.
473
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,560
You're trying to be as objective as necessary.
474
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:29,480
And after looking at things in that way, I found that when we would have meetings, I
475
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,840
would ask the question, what could go wrong?
476
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:37,280
And I could count on this individual to name at least a few things that would go wrong
477
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:39,120
in the plan.
478
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,400
But what I also did was it allowed my plan to be better.
479
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:44,400
Why?
480
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:51,040
Because you have included the reasons for it to go wrong and you have come up with solutions
481
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,440
for those reasons for it to go wrong.
482
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:58,440
So next time you have what people consider a naysayer, they might be the ones that are
483
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,080
going to strengthen your plan the best.
484
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:06,620
So that way you've had the positive outlook of what your plan is, what could go right.
485
00:32:06,620 --> 00:32:08,800
This has such great potential.
486
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,120
That's good.
487
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:14,400
And then you look at it on the other side of things to see what could go wrong.
488
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:19,720
So that's where you start strengthening the risky parts of your plan.
489
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:20,720
And don't give up.
490
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,440
It's like, okay, what is the solution to that?
491
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:28,760
Well, the sky is going to fall and everybody, okay, how can we keep the sky from falling?
492
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,840
Or if the sky is going to fall anyway, how can we create, is it umbrellas or is it a
493
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:39,740
little shed to make sure everybody's protected, to think about the contingency plans to whatever
494
00:32:39,740 --> 00:32:41,520
it is that comes forth.
495
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,440
And it just makes you a better administrator because you've thought of it from the positive
496
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:50,200
extreme and you've planned through the negative extreme as well.
497
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,760
And in the process, you've included the ideas of the individuals.
498
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:59,400
And so it's a little bit more robust in terms of the plan that you have.
499
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,400
Wow.
500
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:01,400
Wow.
501
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:02,400
That's really, really powerful.
502
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:03,400
Thank you so much.
503
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:04,400
That's so insightful.
504
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,640
So here are a couple of things that come out for me.
505
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:13,320
But one is that I hear you saying that the agent who needs change is you.
506
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:17,960
Where if someone, even if they're so negative, is sharing something that's upsetting, it's
507
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,720
like, well, what are they saying that I can actually make use of?
508
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,160
And let's focus on that.
509
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,960
And where I think our tendency, at least I'll speak for myself, my tendency is to say, well,
510
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,080
look at the 98%, this person is clearly awful.
511
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,960
But to say, okay, well, this 2%, how do we use this to our advantage?
512
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:37,680
And so I hear you talking about opportunities to say, well, if someone is entirely negative,
513
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,440
how can you take advantage of that negativity to say, well, tell me all the negatives so
514
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:42,440
I can prepare?
515
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:43,440
Right?
516
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:49,680
And it's just, how do you best manage yourself so that you're able to really help people
517
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,720
serve you to their best advantage?
518
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,240
Whether other people might see it as negative, you're able to use the negative to your advantage.
519
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:57,240
That's amazing.
520
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:02,440
And I think that's an opportunity to grow, to be able to say, well, what can I take from
521
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:07,040
this person even if most of it feels like it's negative?
522
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,040
So that's one thing.
523
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:14,600
I think another thing that I hear you saying is kind of the importance of wanting all the
524
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:15,600
sides.
525
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:20,240
And so it's not wanting people who are always saying, well, great, everything is going great,
526
00:34:20,240 --> 00:34:25,440
but really soliciting, and sometimes you don't have to solicit it, it comes free of charge,
527
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:30,240
but soliciting feedback from people who do have negative things to say, because it allows
528
00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:35,960
you to really build a more realistic real world plan that is able to withstand either
529
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,560
extremes, the extremes of great or the extremes of not so great.
530
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,820
And then I think the third thing I heard you say is that, wow, if you think that you're
531
00:34:43,820 --> 00:34:48,000
having a challenge with someone in one place, you have to recognize that that person is
532
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,720
going to be at your next place, even if it's not that same person.
533
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:55,160
And so you have to ask, well, how do I manage that person here?
534
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:57,820
So then I know I'm equipped to manage the other person there.
535
00:34:57,820 --> 00:35:02,980
But I also hear you saying in the background of that, do not quit a job because of a person,
536
00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:05,440
because that's not a great reason to do that.
537
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:07,760
Do you want to speak more about that?
538
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:12,400
Yeah, the question to ask is, what am I supposed to learn here?
539
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,200
What am I supposed to learn in this scenario?
540
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:20,560
I remember feeling that someone was trying to sabotage my work, at least that's the perception
541
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:24,280
that I had in one of the institutions I had.
542
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,320
That was the view that I had, and I had to go search.
543
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,160
How do you deal with saboteurs in an organization?
544
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:36,960
And the message from it, and I think it was HBR, one of those really wonderful newsletters
545
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:39,640
or so, was that you focus on your work.
546
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,660
Just stay focused on your work.
547
00:35:42,660 --> 00:35:47,800
Don't get sucked into what the person is doing or not doing or how they're trying to pull
548
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,600
things down, so to speak.
549
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:50,600
Just stay focused.
550
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:55,380
And when you get results, the results will speak for themselves.
551
00:35:55,380 --> 00:35:58,760
And that's what I've learned all through the years, and I've found that I've been able
552
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:08,080
to mentor individuals because of that experience that I've had, to say, don't get sucked in.
553
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,420
You focus on your work.
554
00:36:10,420 --> 00:36:11,420
Get the results.
555
00:36:11,420 --> 00:36:16,600
The results will speak.
556
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:17,600
That's one example.
557
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:18,600
No, it's good.
558
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:19,600
It's good, and thank you for sharing.
559
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,740
What I hear you talking about is the importance of self-management.
560
00:36:22,740 --> 00:36:24,140
That's so important.
561
00:36:24,140 --> 00:36:28,600
And being able to be self-aware enough to say, well, okay, well, maybe I think someone's
562
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:33,440
sabotaging my work instead of yelling at this person or saying, you saboteur, you.
563
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:35,320
Saying, well, how do people manage saboteurs?
564
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:36,760
Because this is not the first time.
565
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,320
Obviously, this is happening.
566
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:43,160
And being kind of aware enough to say, well, let me go find out information that helps
567
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:47,620
you grow so that the next time you face a saboteur, you're not thrown for a loop.
568
00:36:47,620 --> 00:36:48,620
You know what to do.
569
00:36:48,620 --> 00:36:53,780
So it's kind of the importance of focusing on what you control rather than the things
570
00:36:53,780 --> 00:36:54,780
you don't control.
571
00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:55,780
Absolutely.
572
00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:56,780
You could summarize it.
573
00:36:56,780 --> 00:36:57,780
You could write a book on this now.
574
00:36:57,780 --> 00:36:58,780
Thank you.
575
00:36:58,780 --> 00:36:59,780
Thank you.
576
00:36:59,780 --> 00:37:00,780
Thank you.
577
00:37:00,780 --> 00:37:03,460
No, it's really great.
578
00:37:03,460 --> 00:37:05,140
I feel like you have so many great points.
579
00:37:05,140 --> 00:37:09,780
And to be honest, there's so many more nuances to what you're saying.
580
00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:14,260
And yeah, but those are at least some of the highlights I want to highlight for my audience.
581
00:37:14,260 --> 00:37:15,260
Wow.
582
00:37:15,260 --> 00:37:19,460
So I want to first of all say thank you so much, President Tafare.
583
00:37:19,460 --> 00:37:23,820
Your time is so precious, and I appreciate that you spent it with me and my audience.
584
00:37:23,820 --> 00:37:29,140
And I do want to ask before we close the conversation though, what have we left on set?
585
00:37:29,140 --> 00:37:35,060
What is something that's important for early career faculty to be thinking about on their
586
00:37:35,060 --> 00:37:38,220
journey in academia?
587
00:37:38,220 --> 00:37:46,500
Be humble, be willing to learn, and don't discriminate against who can teach you.
588
00:37:46,500 --> 00:37:52,020
Anybody can teach you, no matter their age, no matter their experience, no matter their
589
00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:55,220
gender or identity.
590
00:37:55,220 --> 00:37:56,980
Anybody can teach you.
591
00:37:56,980 --> 00:37:58,140
Be open.
592
00:37:58,140 --> 00:38:00,680
Just be open to learn.
593
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,860
And if you're open to learn, you're more likely to grow as fast as you'd be surprised what
594
00:38:05,860 --> 00:38:08,980
you can accomplish when you learn from people.
595
00:38:08,980 --> 00:38:11,260
That's what I've seen.
596
00:38:11,260 --> 00:38:17,260
It's those individuals who humble themselves, receive information from mentors or even just
597
00:38:17,260 --> 00:38:20,220
general advice, hallway advice.
598
00:38:20,220 --> 00:38:25,260
Remember the advice that I received where someone said, oh, you have to make sure you
599
00:38:25,260 --> 00:38:30,780
publish two papers every, at least two papers a year, right, to be able to qualify for professorship.
600
00:38:30,780 --> 00:38:33,060
And I was like, is that right?
601
00:38:33,060 --> 00:38:34,940
So I just stuck that in my brain.
602
00:38:34,940 --> 00:38:40,300
I don't think it's written anywhere in stone, but it's that general advice people give.
603
00:38:40,300 --> 00:38:48,460
And if you build your system to the point where you're very productive with publications,
604
00:38:48,460 --> 00:38:49,740
then people notice.
605
00:38:49,740 --> 00:38:51,380
The results will show.
606
00:38:51,380 --> 00:38:56,020
You wouldn't have to lobby for, I'm worth it, it's my time.
607
00:38:56,020 --> 00:38:59,180
The results will show, and then it becomes a slam dunk in the end.
608
00:38:59,180 --> 00:39:03,260
So there's a lot to be said, but I just wanted to wrap it up there.
609
00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:04,260
Yeah.
610
00:39:04,260 --> 00:39:05,260
No, thank you.
611
00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:06,260
Thank you, actually.
612
00:39:06,260 --> 00:39:07,260
I don't want you to wrap it up just yet.
613
00:39:07,260 --> 00:39:08,260
Okay.
614
00:39:08,260 --> 00:39:14,660
What might you say differently for people who identify as women?
615
00:39:14,660 --> 00:39:15,660
Yeah.
616
00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:22,820
So one of the things I've learned by attending conferences and listening to presentations
617
00:39:22,820 --> 00:39:28,500
about scholarly activity, growth, and just general leadership and advancement for females
618
00:39:28,500 --> 00:39:36,980
is that we as females tend to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
619
00:39:36,980 --> 00:39:46,740
Whereas our male counterparts are more likely to take risks and to allow the good to help
620
00:39:46,740 --> 00:39:47,820
spur them along.
621
00:39:47,820 --> 00:39:56,380
So for example, if there were a job out there that a female looked at it and said, well,
622
00:39:56,380 --> 00:39:57,820
I'm not quite 80%.
623
00:39:57,820 --> 00:40:01,620
I can't do, you know, I'm maybe just 60% of this.
624
00:40:01,620 --> 00:40:07,820
You'll feel comfortable taking the job or applying for the job if she feels like, yeah,
625
00:40:07,820 --> 00:40:09,580
I can do about 80% of this.
626
00:40:09,580 --> 00:40:10,580
Let's go for it.
627
00:40:10,580 --> 00:40:12,140
Whereas a guy will say, 60%?
628
00:40:12,140 --> 00:40:13,180
Ah, let's go.
629
00:40:13,180 --> 00:40:14,180
Let's go.
630
00:40:14,180 --> 00:40:19,940
And then we find, and I'm not trying to overgeneralize, yes, there are equity issues out there and
631
00:40:19,940 --> 00:40:23,980
there's so much that needs to be fixed with pay and all that good stuff.
632
00:40:23,980 --> 00:40:29,600
But there are some observations that I have seen even as a leader for how females approach
633
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,440
offers.
634
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:36,060
Not many females negotiate, even the smart ones.
635
00:40:36,060 --> 00:40:45,300
Whereas some guys who may not even have the same expertise as same female believe in that
636
00:40:45,300 --> 00:40:47,260
they deserve more.
637
00:40:47,260 --> 00:40:48,260
Why is that?
638
00:40:48,260 --> 00:40:49,980
I don't have an answer.
639
00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:53,740
It's just my observation from my few years of leadership.
640
00:40:53,740 --> 00:40:59,100
So I want to encourage our females out there is to believe in yourself.
641
00:40:59,100 --> 00:41:02,860
Talk to somebody who has gone ahead of you.
642
00:41:02,860 --> 00:41:08,900
Have them coach you through what to be asking for and what to expect and what to say and
643
00:41:08,900 --> 00:41:10,740
what not to say.
644
00:41:10,740 --> 00:41:14,220
Simple advice somebody gave me is don't take the first offer that's out there, regardless
645
00:41:14,220 --> 00:41:16,100
of whether you think it's a good one.
646
00:41:16,100 --> 00:41:17,100
Don't.
647
00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:22,100
And that can be scary sometimes, but I just learned that through listening to people who've
648
00:41:22,100 --> 00:41:23,580
gone through.
649
00:41:23,580 --> 00:41:28,260
And then I strongly encourage females that you should have male mentors.
650
00:41:28,260 --> 00:41:29,860
I'm not saying you shouldn't have female mentors.
651
00:41:29,860 --> 00:41:33,580
Make sure that part of your suite of six to eight that you have male mentors.
652
00:41:33,580 --> 00:41:37,620
There's a different way that guys look at things.
653
00:41:37,620 --> 00:41:40,660
Sometimes as females we get sucked in the emotion around it.
654
00:41:40,660 --> 00:41:44,780
It makes us really good leaders actually is what I've observed.
655
00:41:44,780 --> 00:41:48,220
But there are times when you just have to do it and just have to go.
656
00:41:48,220 --> 00:41:56,220
One guy asked me this question and he said, if you didn't have to worry about anything,
657
00:41:56,220 --> 00:42:00,300
what would you do?
658
00:42:00,300 --> 00:42:02,940
I wrote it on a little sticky note.
659
00:42:02,940 --> 00:42:08,620
I put it in front of my computer and I look at it every day.
660
00:42:08,620 --> 00:42:13,260
If you didn't have to worry about anything, what would you do?
661
00:42:13,260 --> 00:42:16,660
As females many times we have the guilt problem.
662
00:42:16,660 --> 00:42:17,660
Guilt.
663
00:42:17,660 --> 00:42:24,860
We are the most sacrificial individuals I know, or species I know, and still we're feeling
664
00:42:24,860 --> 00:42:26,140
guilty about it.
665
00:42:26,140 --> 00:42:30,060
It's just amazing.
666
00:42:30,060 --> 00:42:35,420
If you have somebody to say, that's why you need those people to help keep you objective
667
00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:37,500
to say, look, look at what you're doing.
668
00:42:37,500 --> 00:42:38,500
You're amazing.
669
00:42:38,500 --> 00:42:39,600
You're doing fantastic over here.
670
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,500
This is what you need to do next.
671
00:42:42,500 --> 00:42:45,340
That individual who asked me that question was a male.
672
00:42:45,340 --> 00:42:53,340
I looked at him and after looking at that question I saw that he was trying to say that
673
00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:55,260
I was holding myself back.
674
00:42:55,260 --> 00:43:01,020
The worst challenge, the worst obstacle we have as females is ourselves.
675
00:43:01,020 --> 00:43:06,540
Let me tell you, if I were to talk to my younger self, and that's why I spend a lot of time
676
00:43:06,540 --> 00:43:10,780
with younger people is don't be so hard on yourself.
677
00:43:10,780 --> 00:43:17,260
I told a lady yesterday, a very young lady I have respect for, she's finishing up her
678
00:43:17,260 --> 00:43:18,260
undergraduate.
679
00:43:18,260 --> 00:43:19,260
Brilliant lady.
680
00:43:19,260 --> 00:43:24,340
She's going to graduate a four-year program in under four years and she's still hard
681
00:43:24,340 --> 00:43:25,340
on herself.
682
00:43:25,340 --> 00:43:28,340
I said, honey, don't be so hard on yourself.
683
00:43:28,340 --> 00:43:32,180
I know your type because I'm like that too.
684
00:43:32,180 --> 00:43:34,420
So hard on myself, have high expectations of myself.
685
00:43:34,420 --> 00:43:35,980
I said, don't be so hard.
686
00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:36,980
You're brilliant.
687
00:43:36,980 --> 00:43:38,600
You're a superstar.
688
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:44,980
We need more people to remind ourselves, to remind our females that they're superstars.
689
00:43:44,980 --> 00:43:52,100
One of the things I've had to do even as a president is I was sharing this with some
690
00:43:52,100 --> 00:43:53,460
of my female presidents.
691
00:43:53,460 --> 00:43:58,340
I'm a member of a women president's organization and they had come to my college.
692
00:43:58,340 --> 00:43:59,660
They spent time with my students.
693
00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:01,380
It was such a delightful time.
694
00:44:01,380 --> 00:44:04,820
They poured into them and the students were asking questions.
695
00:44:04,820 --> 00:44:06,500
It was just heaven on earth.
696
00:44:06,500 --> 00:44:08,500
It was beautiful.
697
00:44:08,500 --> 00:44:14,460
One of the things that we were sharing at one point, I said, sometimes with us females,
698
00:44:14,460 --> 00:44:16,100
we're the hardest on ourselves.
699
00:44:16,100 --> 00:44:21,260
You're like Wonder Woman Plus over there and still you think you're a zero.
700
00:44:21,260 --> 00:44:24,060
Seriously?
701
00:44:24,060 --> 00:44:28,080
Sometimes you have to actually type down, and I remember having to do this exercise
702
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:32,060
at one point, the feedback that people had given me that were positive.
703
00:44:32,060 --> 00:44:37,600
I typed it down on one of my notes and started with the words, you are.
704
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:39,620
You are one of the most powerful first words.
705
00:44:39,620 --> 00:44:44,700
You can put anything you put after that, negative or positive, can have significant impact.
706
00:44:44,700 --> 00:44:48,100
So try and find something positive after that.
707
00:44:48,100 --> 00:44:49,100
You are amazing.
708
00:44:49,100 --> 00:44:50,100
Okay.
709
00:44:50,100 --> 00:44:51,420
What did so and so say about you?
710
00:44:51,420 --> 00:44:52,700
So and so say you're a good cook.
711
00:44:52,700 --> 00:44:53,700
Okay, put it there.
712
00:44:53,700 --> 00:44:54,780
So and so say you're a good leader.
713
00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:55,780
Put it down.
714
00:44:55,780 --> 00:44:59,980
Write the list of everything people have told you because we are also not the ones that
715
00:44:59,980 --> 00:45:01,580
tend to give ourselves good self-talk.
716
00:45:01,580 --> 00:45:03,460
We're not.
717
00:45:03,460 --> 00:45:04,460
Not usually.
718
00:45:04,460 --> 00:45:07,900
So write down everything people have said, even the ones you didn't believe.
719
00:45:07,900 --> 00:45:08,900
Just write it down.
720
00:45:08,900 --> 00:45:09,900
Make a list.
721
00:45:09,900 --> 00:45:13,140
Keep making that list until you feel like you've captured everything people have been
722
00:45:13,140 --> 00:45:17,660
telling you that you are this, you are that, the positive things.
723
00:45:17,660 --> 00:45:19,180
Put it down there.
724
00:45:19,180 --> 00:45:27,660
And then on the day when you think the hurricane has hit and the tornado came through town
725
00:45:27,660 --> 00:45:32,620
and career-wise, journey-wise, whatever you want to call it, it looks like, ooh, it's
726
00:45:32,620 --> 00:45:34,100
one of those days.
727
00:45:34,100 --> 00:45:36,060
Go back to your notes.
728
00:45:36,060 --> 00:45:37,700
Read through it.
729
00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:38,700
See what it says.
730
00:45:38,700 --> 00:45:42,900
Remind yourself of who you are.
731
00:45:42,900 --> 00:45:48,220
And that should bring a burst of joy and a burst of confidence and a burst of positivity
732
00:45:48,220 --> 00:45:49,220
into your life.
733
00:45:49,220 --> 00:45:53,820
I also encourage females to make sure everybody actually needs this.
734
00:45:53,820 --> 00:45:55,260
Make sure you have a stress toolkit.
735
00:45:55,260 --> 00:46:00,860
Make sure you have a sunshine folder where you can put positive things to help push you
736
00:46:00,860 --> 00:46:05,620
through those obstacles, those challenges, those bad days.
737
00:46:05,620 --> 00:46:07,500
Bad days will come.
738
00:46:07,500 --> 00:46:08,500
The storm comes.
739
00:46:08,500 --> 00:46:10,700
The rain comes.
740
00:46:10,700 --> 00:46:13,260
Summer comes.
741
00:46:13,260 --> 00:46:17,140
Summer comes.
742
00:46:17,140 --> 00:46:19,580
And the sun will shine again.
743
00:46:19,580 --> 00:46:23,900
Wow, President Tawthani, thank you so much.
744
00:46:23,900 --> 00:46:25,860
It's been such a pleasure talking with you.
745
00:46:25,860 --> 00:46:27,980
I appreciate you sharing your insights.
746
00:46:27,980 --> 00:46:29,460
I mean, just so much.
747
00:46:29,460 --> 00:46:31,420
So much I still want to ask you.
748
00:46:31,420 --> 00:46:32,900
But we're going to wrap up the show.
749
00:46:32,900 --> 00:46:35,540
I'm going to allow you to go on to your next thing.
750
00:46:35,540 --> 00:46:39,780
But I want to thank you so much for being on the show and just for your words of wisdom.
751
00:46:39,780 --> 00:46:40,980
Thanks for being here.
752
00:46:40,980 --> 00:46:42,340
Thank you for having me.
753
00:46:42,340 --> 00:46:44,060
It's my pleasure.
754
00:46:44,060 --> 00:46:48,700
Well, for every member of our audience, thank you so much for listening.
755
00:46:48,700 --> 00:46:49,700
We look forward to...
756
00:46:49,700 --> 00:46:53,740
I look forward to talking with you again next time on the Clinician Researcher Podcast.
757
00:46:53,740 --> 00:46:55,580
Thank you for listening.
758
00:46:55,580 --> 00:46:56,580
Thank you.
759
00:46:56,580 --> 00:46:57,580
Okay, don't go anywhere.
760
00:46:57,580 --> 00:46:58,580
Not yet.
761
00:46:58,580 --> 00:47:11,300
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast where academic
762
00:47:11,300 --> 00:47:16,700
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they
763
00:47:16,700 --> 00:47:18,060
have a mentor.
764
00:47:18,060 --> 00:47:24,060
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.
765
00:47:24,060 --> 00:47:25,940
Someone else needs to hear it.
766
00:47:25,940 --> 00:47:29,980
So take a minute right now and share it.
767
00:47:29,980 --> 00:47:35,460
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation
768
00:47:35,460 --> 00:47:41,580
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.
President, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
President Toyin Tofade is the 10th president of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS). Prior to her appointment as ACPHS President in July 2022, President Tofade served as Dean at the Howard University College of Pharmacy in Washington, D.C. Toyin Tofade is a distinguished educator and leader in pharmacy education who has contributed to the advancement of the pharmaceutical science field and the practice of pharmacy globally. She is a fellow of the International Pharmacy Federation (FIP) and the president of the FIP academic pharmacy section