The NZCCP leadership committee has established a 6 month pilot mentoring scheme for members interested in progression to leadership roles. This scheme is aligned to the NZCCP strategic objective of building the leadership and organisational capability of its members. The explicit goal of the mentoring scheme is to increase clinical psychology participation in leadership roles at executive, consultant and clinical levels over the next 3-5 years onwards.
Potential benefits
- Mentees: Support those who are considering a move into leadership take action, help individuals identify current leadership skills and roles including informal leadership roles, increasing professional self-confidence, obtaining a role model, acquire skills and knowledge, expand networks, gain insights into the leadership role and about how to get things done including the “unwritten rules” of leadership positions, consider potential leadership roles to seek, identify leadership strengths and gaps in leadership knowledge needing further training.
- Mentors: Satisfaction in serving altruistically, supporting development of others and the profession more generally, opportunity to enhance mentorship skills and model the role to other seniors in the profession, opportunity to re-examine own practices and be exposed to fresh perspectives and emerging issues, extend network of colleagues, contribute to increasing the leadership potential of the profession thereby contributing to the systemic influence of psychology in our communities and organisations.
- Organisational level: Strengthen the culture and increase collegiality, supports succession planning, opportunity to pass on new ideas and maximise potential of colleagues, supports alignment with strategic objectives and contributes to changing status quo in health leadership in New Zealand.
Structure
This programme will span a period of 6 months, matching 10 mentees to mentors for the broad purpose of promoting and developing clinical psychology leadership capability in New Zealand. Participants will have one to one mentoring sessions (face to face or virtual) at a self determined frequency, over the 6 month period, targeting the mentees individualised needs within the domain of “leadership development. A minimum of 3 contacts during the period will be a requirement of participation.
Participation in the programme is voluntary. The pilot will be communicated and promoted via usual NZCCP channels in July 2020. Applications close the following month and a checklist and selection criteria will be provided. Guidelines will be provided to mentors and mentees regarding expectations of the scheme, suggested structures for their mentorship relationship and a list of reference resources to assist.
The programme will be co-ordinated by the leadership committee and the executive director. Following the recruitment and application process, the committee will provide mentees with a directory of potential mentors. Mentees will then indicate their preferred mentor. The committee will put the proposed match to the mentor for their approval. If a mismatch is identified, the committee will work with the mentee until a match is achieved. As a general guide, pairings will be made with a view to who can offer the best career assistance, considering the mentees specific developmental needs. Mentors will be outside of the mentees direct line of management / supervision. The mentoring relationship is private bar feedback required regarding outcomes for participants and about the programme generally.
Ongoing support to participants will be provided as required by the leadership committee and/or the executive director as appropriate throughout the duration of the pilot.
The NZCCP Executive will sponsor the project and will facilitate resourcing. The programme will be consistent with the College’s views on equity and ethics. At the end of the pilot, the leadership committee will undertake an evaluation of the programme to determine whether participants achieved the outcomes they aimed for and whether they perceived value in the programme. Review will also consider whether an ongoing programme is desirable for the college and whether any adjustments to the programme would enhance it. This information will be presented to the National Executive Council for consideration of whether to establish the programme on a permanent basis.