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Mentoring, Role Modeling, and Networking: Personal Perspectives |
No matter where you are in your career, just entering or at a mid- or turning point, there is always the twin imperative’s insistence: You must continue developing your talents and building your self-esteem. You can’t do it only with good work; you need the confidence to allow you to take advantage of opportunity.
You can’t do it alone. You need connection to your professional association, which you will find right here at the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) if you are able to embrace it. While a continuum exists within any profession, greater success and fulfillment require a leap—a leap of faith in the choice, in your network, and in yourself.
Current trends reveal that more careers are opening and more jobs are expected, but with less stability, less security, even less financial reward. Despite any trend, I have found that bad economic times create the chance for more innovation and invention. What is needed is both self-confidence and self-management. The time is here and now at this conference—ripe with opportunities that are not labeled. If you don’t take a chance on them, someone else will.
Test your own willingness for that chance. Think of how you came into the conference or even into this event. Consider it quite literally. If you took your seat apart from everyone else, then let every empty seat between you and other women represent a unit of fear. Giving in to fear is the undoing of our success. Experiment with it. Don’t just sit next to someone—start a conversation about the conference, your work, their work. Don’t complain. Share something positive. Respond positively to their experiences. Each of us is waiting to be recognized for our worth. Begin the process yourself, and watch it take shape. It might be that your seatmate, a speaker, or a colleague who asks a question about a topic you are deeply interested in will lead you to a new idea, a journal article, a new position, or even a lifelong friend or mentor.
Examine what makes ADEA so supportive, and think about your willingness to involve yourself in the process. Ask to participate beyond just being a member. Join your local chapter, and build up to the national organization. You will learn to prune your fears of being wrong or not smart enough and develop the confidence muscle that will lead you to action you will be proud of, action that will carry over to many other aspects of life. It’s you who creates a different person than the passive, obedient girl who is astonished when others do or say what has been in her own mind all along. This ADEA conference provides the impetus.
To move from the personal to the professional, create a strategy group. Ask up to five like-minded people to commit to meeting an hour or two monthly for six months. Divide the time among you equally and take turns sharing your goals and dilemmas, leaving time for your group to come up with brainstorming ideas and contacts critical for your success. Take each other seriously. Help promote each other. Think of new opportunities. Pledge confidentiality. Don’t let anyone drop out. If at first you don’t succeed, try different approaches. Over time—perhaps much longer than six months—you will experience the thrill of making your own and each others’ dreams come true.
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