Dwayne A. Keeling, MHA/MBA, senior system engineer, Atrium Health Care, Charlotte, N.C., is the chair of the Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives’ Mentor Committee and served as a mentor through its 2021 program cohort. Mr. Keeling is a passionate advocate for mentoring, and he shares his insights about the importance of a mentoring relationship and how to make the most of it. Are you ready to become a mentor or mentee? Reach out to your local chapter to see if it has a mentoring program. Also, check out ACHE’s Leadership Mentoring Network to sign up as a mentor or mentee.
How did you decide to be a mentor?
Being a mentor means being inspiring, motivating and influential. Passing on my knowledge and experience to a mentee to help shape their career development can be a rewarding experience. My competencies have allowed me to become a more perfect individual in my career thanks to achievements and knowledge, mistakes and failures during my career journey. An unknown author once wrote, “Gaining knowledge is the first step to wisdom, and sharing it, is the first step of humanity.”
In my career journey, I have experienced a lot of challenges. Because I lacked guidance, I did not know whom to ask for help, and other times, I did not know how to ask the questions that will help me navigate my career journey. Now when I look back, I ask myself, “what could I have done differently?” If only I knew someone or an organization who would have found the time to challenge my working style and assumptions. I always told myself if I ever get the opportunity to use my career experience and knowledge to be of value to others, I will consider being a mentor to help a mentee break down barriers and create opportunities for success.
Describe your own mentoring experience from 2021.
As a mentor, the Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives Mentor Committee gave me the extraordinary opportunity to facilitate a mentee’s personal and professional growth by sharing the knowledge I have learned through years of professional experience. While the primary intent of mentoring is to challenge my mentee to think in new and different ways, as a mentor, I developed new relationships that expanded my professional network. Last year, I was honored to mentor a mentee (Soumya Mannadiar) and assist her with receiving a fellowship with the University of North Carolina Physicians Network. It was truly an honor to assist Soumya with achieving her career goals. I highly recommend the mentorship program for early careerists and anyone on their career journey.
Why is it important for senior-level executives to get involved as a mentor?
I love this quote from John C. Maxwell, an author on leadership: “One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” Senior-level executives can get involved as mentors to help mentees grow their skills, make better decisions and gain new perspectives on their career development journey. Senior-level executives have a wealth of experience and knowledge they can use to bring out the best in people and help them work their way to success.
What advice do you have for mentors and mentees who are starting their relationship?
The mentor-mentee relationship is one of the most crucial relationships both parties will develop during their career. The best advice I have for mentors and mentees who are starting their relationship in a mentor program is to understand that mentoring is a two-way street. Below are some tips to consider for a meaningful relationship:
- Be coachable and open to receiving guidance, motivation and advice from your mentor. Be willing to allow your mentor to take the lead.
- Mentees should commit to their personal development and professional growth.
- Respect each other’s time. This is a commitment that requires consistency, and it is the responsibility of both parties to follow up and hold each other accountable.
- Mentors are charged with creating an action plan and setting deadlines for objectives to help the mentee in achieving their goals. The mentees may struggle with defining their professional goals. After all, this is what mentorship is all about.
How has ACHE and your local chapter helped you in your career journey?
ACHE and Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives have provided me with opportunities for personal growth and learning that helped me be successful in my career journey and as the chair of the chapter’s Mentor Committee. Leveraging my association membership was the key to my career advancement at Atrium Health Care. My membership allowed me to reach out to other ACHE members and members of my chapter to get diverse perspectives on how I might create opportunities for myself to get experiences that aligned with my career goals.
Dwayne A. Keeling, MHA/MBA, senior system engineer, Atrium Health Care, Charlotte, N.C.