mentors | Speechies in Business

Speech pathology mentors and supervisors commit time, attention and resources to develop other speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

Mentors and supervisors have the tricky job of simultaneously supporting SLPs while gatekeeping their competence on behalf of the profession and our clients.

Most mentors/supervisors are busy with case- and workloads, and family, community, and other commitments outside work.

Supervision and mentorship increase SLPs’ significant burnout risk. SLPs mentoring or supervising too many SLPs, SLPs from underrepresented groups, and SLPs who lack time, training, and resources to do the job are at even higher risk.

Mentoring and supervision can be rewarding: you can be a good mentor/supervisor and avoid burnout. But we need to be honest about the costs.

Exhausted, overwhelmed and disengaged SLPs make poor role models, mentors, and supervisors. Watch for early burnout signs: e.g. exhaustion, cynicism and inefficiency.

Mentees and supervisees are not responsible for mentor/supervisor burnout. The true culprits are underinvestment in systems and training, insufficient time and resources, and a lack of management and peer-support.

For the future of our workforce, mentors and supervisors must speak up about their bandwidth, boundaries and self-care needs, and demand sufficient time, training and resources to mentor and supervise SLPs properly.

Key source: Gotian, R., Pfund, C., Cook, C, & Johnson, W.B. (2022). Don’t Let Mentoring Burn You Out, Harvard Business Review, July, 2022.

For more on supervision of speech pathologists, check out our book “How to supervise speech pathologists properly in private practice“.

Good mentors serve as role models, advisers, teachers, guides, sponsors, and protectors. They help junior professionals forge identities and realise dreams.

For senior professionals, mentorship fulfils a deep-seated urge to guide younger generations of professionals.

Authentic relationships lie at the heart of good mentoring. But not all mentoring relationships are created equal: some are superficial and transactional.

According to Professor Herminia Ibarra, senior-junior professional relationships can evolve naturally through five stages:

Mentor: The senior provides advice and support privately.
Strategiser: The senior shares ‘inside knowledge’ about how the junior might advance.
Connector: The senior provides introductions to key stakeholders and includes the junior in meetings/events that give the junior access to people who can be instrumental for career development.
Opportunity giver: The senior seeks out high visibility projects/roles for the junior to take on, e.g. a presentation, strategic project, or membership of an external board.
Sponsor: The senior is committed to the junior’s long-term success, with both professionals giving and receiving value, openly sharing ideas and a mutual sense of competence and confidence, as well as a bias for taking concrete actions.

The ideal mentor relationship includes career-advancement help, public advocacy for growth opportunities, and support and validation. Done well, mentorship bolsters confidence and fosters the development of a caring, mutually satisfying bond.

Source: Ibarra, H. (2022). How To Do Sponsorship Right. Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 111-119.

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For more on supervision, check out our book “How to supervise speech pathologists properly in private practice“.

SLP Mentors and Supervisors – fight for your rights to avoid burnout

Good mentorship is about more than the occasional chat over coffee