Mentorship: The Foundation of Psychiatric Leadership Development

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In an era of rapid change, increasing complexity, and demand for more effective leadership in health care, psychiatry is well positioned to answer the call. There is a growing need for leaders who are emotionally intelligent and capable of understanding the complexities of human behavior and systems thinking. As a result, many psychiatrists find themselves in leadership positions, but with little formal training or understanding of their role. As I reflect upon my own experiences as a psychiatrist and leader, I am deeply aware of the impact that mentorship has had on my own career trajectory and development. This reflection led me to be curious to better understand what we can learn about the impact of mentorship on leadership development in general, and in psychiatry in particular. This article draws on the literature and personal reflections in these domains to underscore the critical role mentorship plays in developing psychiatric leaders.

The Case for Leadership in Psychiatry

Psychiatry as a discipline is uniquely positioned to influence the future of health care delivery. Our training equips us with a heightened understanding of our own emotions and the influence of thoughts and feelings on behavior (what we would consider the foundations of cognitive behavioral therapy and business school professors would call “emotional intelligence”). Psychiatrists are also trained to develop their communication skills and capacity to think holistically about individuals and systems. These qualities form a strong foundation for leadership. However, psychiatric residency and fellowship programs often do not explicitly train physicians in the practical skills of leadership: strategic problem solving, change management, organizational politics, and team development.

Mentorship, if properly cultivated, may be able to help fill this gap. It offers real time, relationship based learning that helps psychiatrists develop not just leadership skills, but also leadership identity. As such, mentorship is more than a means of professional development—it holds the potential to serve as a mechanism for cultural change, talent cultivation, and institutional resilience.

Benefits for Mentees, Mentors, and Organizations

Mentorship is a developmental relationship in which a more experienced individual (the mentor) supports the growth and advancement of a less experienced individual (the mentee). Mentorship is a bidirectional relationship: mentees gain guidance and opportunity, while mentors experience renewal, generativity, and leadership growth.^1,2

The literature consistently affirms the benefits of mentorship for all stakeholders involved:

• Mentees report increased self-efficacy, career satisfaction, research productivity, and clarity about promotion and advancement.
• Mentors gain personal fulfillment, hone leadership skills, and often report a renewed sense of purpose and connection to their work.
• Organizations benefit from higher staff engagement, reduced burnout, improved retention, and a more prepared leadership pipeline.

Specific Impacts of Mentorship

It is not hard to imagine that focused support, guidance and nurturing in one’s career development would generally be beneficial. What is notable, however, is what the literature tells us about the specific impacts of mentorship on burnout, for specific under represented populations, and within behavioral health fields.

Reduction of burnout. A notable study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center of over 14,500 employees found that those engaged in mentoring relationships were significantly less likely to report burnout—across job roles and demographics.² These findings support mentorship as a protective factor against burnout and disengagement—2 of the most significant threats to the health care workforce today.

Women in medicine.Mentorship has been shown to be particularly impactful for women in medicine. Studies show that women in academic medicine often experience more barriers to productivity, including time constraints due to caregiving roles and fewer networking opportunities. When provided with strong mentorship, however, women achieved higher rates of promotion, research funding, and job satisfaction.³ Structured, inclusive mentorship programs may serve as an essential tool for closing the gender gap in academic medicine.

Behavioral health field. A Mayo Clinic study examined the relationship between mentorship and career outcomes among psychiatry and psychology faculty. Of the 104 respondents (54% female; 10% underrepresented in medicine), only 44% reported having a current mentor. Yet those with mentors demonstrated significantly higher self efficacy, greater academic productivity (more publications), and better career satisfaction.⁴ Quantitative correlations confirmed the strength of this relationship: mentorship frequency and quality were positively associated with research output (r = 0.44), academic self efficacy (r = 0.35), and career satisfaction (r = 0.29). These metrics validate what many intuitively understand—mentorship drives performance and confidence in a way that formal coursework or policy mandates cannot.

Similarly, data from the AAMC StandPoint Faculty Engagement Survey (2020–2023) found that formal mentorship in psychiatry and neurology departments correlated with improved faculty engagement and institutional loyalty.⁵ Mentorship was linked to greater satisfaction with professional development, clearer understanding of promotion processes, and higher departmental engagement. Further, faculty receiving formal mentorship reported greater career satisfaction and were more likely to recommend their institution, showing mentorship’s positive impact on engagement and retention.

Mentorship and Leadership Development: A Transformative Relationship

Now we turn to examine the specific relationship between mentorship and leadership development. What do we know about how or why mentorship can be so effective at cultivating leaders? The literature tells us that mentorship can help build key leadership competencies, including:

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving
• Emotional intelligence and cultural humility
• Conflict resolution and effective communication

Mentorship helps future leaders cultivate several important leadership strengths and capacities. For example, through encouragement, feedback, and role modeling, mentors help mentees develop leadership self efficacy, expanding upon Bandura’s original ideas about self efficacy and fostering mentees’ belief in their own ability to lead. Further, mentorship fosters mentees’ “psychological capital,” a term used to reflect the reservoir of hope, optimism, resilience, and confidence that leaders need to navigate complexity. These psychological assets are not fixed traits but are fostered through supportive relationships and affirming experiences.^6-9 As mentors empower mentees to lead, mentors themselves further enhance their own reflective capacity and emotional intelligence, reinforcing the reciprocal nature of the mentorship relationship. Mentorship provides both a scaffold and a mirror—offering support while encouraging self-awareness and identity development. This growth process can be especially important for early career professionals and underrepresented groups in medicine, who may lack robust access to informal networks or experience greater degrees of “imposter syndrome.”

The Ripple Effect: From Mentee to Mentor

Mentorship benefits not only mentees, but mentors as well. One of the most compelling aspects of mentorship is the generative modeling and trajectory it establishes as today’s mentees often become tomorrow’s mentors. This progression helps to support the development of leadership pipelines and fosters a culture of learning, reflection, and service.

Mentorship creates leaders who are not only skilled but value driven. It promotes community stewardship, a sense of responsibility to develop others, and an orientation toward long term, sustainable change. Indeed, the ripple effect of mentorship enhances the entire ecosystem: departments with strong mentorship cultures report higher morale, better collaboration, and greater innovation.⁷

Designing Effective Mentorship Programs

To reap all the potential benefits mentorship has to offer, organizations are best served by moving beyond merely informal or ad-hoc mentorship. Instead, organizations that invest in structured, inclusive mentorship programs have the opportunity to transform the culture of the institution. Best practices for mentorship programs include the expectation that mentor and mentee will^6-9:

• Set of clear goals and mutual expectations for the relationship
• Have regular, meaningful mentor-mentee interactions
• Provide support for mentors through training and protected time
• Incorporate structured feedback and evaluation mechanisms for all involved

Concluding Thoughts

For organizations committed to developing the next generation of psychiatric leaders, mentorship is not a luxury or an add on, but instead should represent a strategic imperative. Mentorship helps to foster self efficacy, resilience, emotional intelligence, and leadership identity. Organizations that invest in mentorship reap dividends in talent development, retention, and innovation. Mentees have enhanced potential to develop into confident and capable leaders, while mentors experience a greater sense of renewal and generativity.

As we face unprecedented challenges in the future of health care, never has it been more important to invest in our future generation of leaders. By helping to nourish our future leaders, we create the best possible future for our patients.

Dr Wasser is the immediate past president of the AAPAL and the chair and professor of Psychiatry for the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. He also leads behavioral health services for Hartford Healthcare's Fairfield Region as the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.

References

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8. Solansky ST. The evaluation of two key leadership development program components: Leadership skills assessment and leadership mentoring. Leadership Q. 2010;21(4):675-681.

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