Mentors Matter: Growing Together in the Profession
Mentors Matter: Growing Together in the Profession
Published in the September 2025 issue of the ISHA Voice.
By Barbara Goodson, Member, ISHA Leadership Development Committee
What do the following words and phrases have in common? Someone with more experience, is approachable, facilitates growth, asks guiding questions, engages in reflective practice, challenges you to grow, believes in your potential, someone to be vulnerable with, sees me where I am, asks me the hard questions, challenges me to continually reflect, offers insight and encouragement.
They all describe mentorship, based on an informal survey conducted to explore how people perceive it. Think about those who have mentored you, and those you have mentored, both inside and outside the professions. What is mentorship? What do you look for in a mentor?
According to ASHA, “Mentoring is not simply answering questions and giving advice; it requires a unique set of skills and practice.” Throughout our careers, we each have had opportunities to be mentored and, hopefully, to mentor others in return. I have had many mentors who embodied the qualities identified in my informal survey—they guided me, asked the hard questions, challenged me to reflect, and offered insight and encouragement.
What I remember most is that they were there for me, giving their time to help me become a better speech-language pathologist, someone more prepared to serve clients, and a more effective leader. Over the years, the roles shifted, and I became the mentor to numerous students, clinical fellows, early career professionals, and even some seasoned SLPs. That is one of the beauties of mentorship: it transcends age, location, or employment setting. We can seek mentees and mentors who align with our interests, needs, and sought after goals and expertise.
Mentorship is not a chance meeting by the coffee pot; it takes time and commitment from both parties. Rapport must be built to establish the trust and vulnerability that make these relationships meaningful. Hastings and Sunderman (2020) note that mentoring requires investment in personal development and sustained engagement from both mentor and mentee.
Achambeau (2021) describes a mentor as someone who has successfully traveled a particular path and developed a “tool-kit” of success—proven approaches, perspectives, decision-making strategies, and a willingness to share knowledge. Mentorship is collaborative: a give-and-take relationship where hard questions and reflective challenges often replace direct answers. In these relationships, mentees can safely dream, explore potential opportunities, and receive encouragement and resources to take their first steps into leadership or administrative roles.
ISHA is fortunate to have many members who generously volunteer their time and expertise to mentor others. As Hastings and Sunderman (2020) cite research by Day, Fleenor, Atwater, Sturm, & McKee (2014), “mentoring develops intrapersonal and interpersonal competence in the mentee, expanding their understanding of organizations.”
In recent years, ISHA has created two exceptional mentoring and leadership programs to support members at various career stages: the Leadership Development Program and the ISHA Mentorship Program. These programs have strengthened ISHA by engaging more volunteers and leaders, bringing diversity of ideas, and expanding opportunities for members to grow professionally. It is the hope that the continued success of both programs will provide mentorship and collaboration to members who desire to engage, grow, and become more involved in both the Association and their professional careers.
Mentorship is a bidirectional, mutually beneficial relationship whose impact extends beyond the mentor and mentee—to clients, colleagues, employers, and the Association. While it requires a time commitment, it is an excellent way to give back and shape the future of our profession. Our mentors and mentees matter to each other, and together we continue to grow our field.
Sources:
Archambeau, S. (2021). Leaders developing leaders. Leader to Leader, 2021(101), 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.20553
Hastings, L. J., & Sunderman, H. M. (2020). Evidence-based practices in mentoring for leadership development. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2020(168), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20410
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Coaching and mentoring. https://www.asha.org/students/mentoring/coach/?srsltid=AfmBOooJzpD4vfQK5d5DMEC7TDFqrURMVL1AbMUI9R0Rb72w0OL9UNvJ (Accessed August 31, 2025)
