One thing I tell graduate students just joining my lab is to always remember that “you are here for YOU, not for me.” This is a central tenet of my mentoring philosophy that I try to uphold in all aspects of mentoring for everyone in the Franco Lab. The other side of the same coin is for me to always remember that “I am here for you.” My ultimate objective as a mentor is help students and postdocs achieve THEIR professional and personal goals, which are likely different from mine.
One of YOUR first orders of business as a trainee is to identify why you’re here - what are your goals for graduate school or postdoctoral training? One of MY first orders of business as a mentor is to help you accomplish this task. I will help you identify what motivates you, what skills you want to gain, what milestones you want to reach, what short-term professional goals you want to achieve, and what long-term career aspirations you want to realize. If we can do this together, we’ll be on the same page and will be off to a good start in our mentor/mentee relationship. It's also important that we learn about your strengths and talents together, so we can build on those throughout your training. This will also help us identify what new areas you would like to add to that list by the end of your training.
Overall, my mentoring approach is focused on the mentee and what I can provide to you. I strongly believe that students and postdocs are NOT in my lab to generate products (papers and grants), but to gain identity, experience, expertise, confidence, and opportunities.
One of YOUR first orders of business as a trainee is to identify why you’re here - what are your goals for graduate school or postdoctoral training? One of MY first orders of business as a mentor is to help you accomplish this task. I will help you identify what motivates you, what skills you want to gain, what milestones you want to reach, what short-term professional goals you want to achieve, and what long-term career aspirations you want to realize. If we can do this together, we’ll be on the same page and will be off to a good start in our mentor/mentee relationship. It's also important that we learn about your strengths and talents together, so we can build on those throughout your training. This will also help us identify what new areas you would like to add to that list by the end of your training.
Overall, my mentoring approach is focused on the mentee and what I can provide to you. I strongly believe that students and postdocs are NOT in my lab to generate products (papers and grants), but to gain identity, experience, expertise, confidence, and opportunities.