Monique Gary, DO, is now a breast surgical oncologist and medical director of the Grand View Health/Penn Cancer Network cancer program in Sellersville, Pa., and she credits a mentor from the early days of her career with helping her get to where she is today.
Dr. Gary told Becker's she met this mentor while working in research toward the beginning of her career. She was a researcher, and the mentor was a principal investigator in a laboratory.
"She took note of my interest and she said, 'You seem really interested in that. Would you like to learn more?'" Dr. Gary said. "And that one question changed my entire trajectory in research and enabled me to go to graduate school and get a master's degree. It fostered my interest in not only learning more but finding my own voice."
The mentor also gave her some advice.
"She said, 'Always remember to strut your stuff. Learn to toot your own horn. Learn to acknowledge the things that you have done and the contributions that you make.' And that bit of advice was something that was so valuable," Dr. Gary said.
She said she strives to emulate her mentor now as she guides others to ensure their voices are heard and represented.
Dr. Gary is not alone in seeing the value of mentorship.
A LinkedIn survey of 6,403 professionals in the U.S. from March 9 through April 19 found that 46% of women surveyed say they need a mentor — compared to 36% of men surveyed — and that 36% of women surveyed already have a mentor at work — compared to 29% of men.
The survey also found that more than half of respondents have a friend at work, but women (56%) are slightly more likely to have one than men (50%). Additionally, 42% of women surveyed are more likely than men surveyed (34%) to say that they "need" a close work friend.
Becker's asked women in healthcare leadership to share their experiences with having close friends and mentors at work, and how that has shaped their approach to fostering these relationships within the hospital.
Heidi Gartland. Chief Government and Community Relations Officer for University Hospitals (Cleveland): Some of my best friends at work have also been my mentors and close colleagues, and many of them are women. And some of the best moments I've had at work came from finding other women leaders to confide in and to discuss tough issues with. I appreciate how a woman can put an arm around you and just be honest about how she really sees you in a leadership moment. Or she might suggest that you role play in determining how to better handle a situation. Women can authentically and closely listen as I describe the issues that I'm struggling with. In my experience, they don't just jump in and try to solve the issue but rather they reflect on what I've said and give honest — sometimes brutally honest — feedback.
Women's Employee Resource Groups, such as the one we created at University Hospitals called UH FLOURISH [Uplifting Her via Fulfillment, Leadership, Opportunity, Unity, Resilience, Inspiration, Support, Hope], offer another way to create a community of women leaders who can be called upon almost as a "personal board of directors" to let us know how well we are doing as leaders, what we can do to take risks and how we can learn to improve.
Monique Gary, DO. Breast Surgical Oncologist and Medical Director of the Grand View Health/Penn Cancer Network cancer program (Sellersville, Pa.): Having workplace friends, female friends, has been an important source of job satisfaction. I don't think I realized how much it meant to me until I got to a place where there were more women in my workplace I could relate to. As I grew in my interest in leadership and my desire to progress in healthcare leadership and administration, I found those relationships to be really valuable, both from a mentorship and a sponsorship standpoint. Having those relationships also helps to certainly decrease the feelings of burnout, increase feelings of camaraderie. It also can help identify the key areas in a workplace that might be a bit toxic that lend itself to burnout.
Colleen Koch, MD. Group Senior Vice President and COO for NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Division (New York City): For young women, exposure to role models early in their careers is particularly important for disciplines in which women have been underrepresented in order that they might envision themselves finding success and fulfillment in those roles. Regarding fulfillment, there are few roles more rewarding than changing lives by improving health. Therefore, if someone envisions medicine as their life's work, I encourage them to seek mentors. It's been an amazing journey for me, both as a mentor and as a mentee. I'm particularly grateful for the mentors I've had throughout my career.