Leadership Institute Fellows Receiving Valuable Coaching and Mentoring

Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Leadership Institute participant Lynette L. Craft, PhD, FACSM, wasn’t sure what to expect from her institute professional development coach.

She’d never received official career coaching before, plus the Leadership Institute was new and she was part of its very first class of fellows. She couldn’t exactly ask someone how their coaching went last year.

But as soon as Dr. Craft and her coach started talking on the phone, she knew it was going to be a worthwhile experience.

“It was really great to have an outsider’s perspective,” said Dr. Craft, who works as the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM’s) vice president for evidence-based practice and scientific affairs.

"Part of our time together was spent working on how I can better manage the groups I'm in charge of, particularly the remote working groups comprised of ACSM members," she said. "A lot of what we talked about was perspective taking. As leaders, we have to get our work done but we also need to understand the perspectives of others, especially when working with volunteers. It's really important to understand what's going on with them and what resources they need to successfully complete a project. ... We know volunteer members are busy. It was helpful to discuss strategies to engage the members and to identify ways to assist them when they're struggling to get things done."

Professional coaching is just one part of the yearlong SBM Leadership Institute, started this year to give mid-career SBM members the training and skills they need to advance their careers and take on more leadership roles. The institute is the brainchild of SBM Past-President Marian L. Fitzgibbon, PhD.

The institute kicked off with a two-day in-person workshop on March 29-30 in Washington, DC. Now, participants are having individual calls with their coaches and group calls with their institute learning communities.

The 36 Leadership Institute fellows were assigned to one of five learning communities based on similar professional interests. Each community is led by a two-person team of esteemed SBM leaders who will mentor the fellows throughout the next year as they complete individual leadership projects.

Institute fellow Corrine Voils, PhD, is looking forward to her first learning community call, which she hopes will build on knowledge she gained during one of the workshop sessions.

“The session reminded me that building diverse, inclusive, highly-functioning teams depends, in large part, on effective leadership,” said Voils, who works at the Durham VA Medical Center and Duke University. “Learning community mentoring as well as individual coaching should help me fulfill my leadership aspirations and I’m grateful to SBM for these opportunities.”

Applications for the 2017-18 Leadership Institute will be available on the SBM website this fall.

Congratulations to the inaugural 2016-17 Leadership Institute fellows:

Ana M. Abrantes, PhD	Kimberly J. Arriola, PhD, MPH
Maureen C. Ashe, PhD, PT	James F. Konopack, PhD
Jamile A. Ashmore, PhD	Meghan Lines, PhD
S. Bryn Austin, ScD	David X. Marquez, PhD
Carmen Radecki Breitkopf, PhD	Michelle Y. Martin, PhD
Matthew P. Buman, PhD	Karen M. Mustian, PhD
Kelly M. Carpenter, PhD	Angela Odoms-Young, PhD
Mei-Wei Chang, PhD	Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc
Christopher Coleman, PhD, RN, FAAN	Caryn E. Peterson, PhD
Mary E. Cooley, PhD, RN, FAAN	Courtney A. Pinard, PhD
Elliot J. Coups, PhD	Brian A. Primack, MD, PhD
Lynette L. Craft, PhD	Melinda R. Stolley, PhD
Gareth R. Dutton, PhD	Mark Stoutenberg, PhD, MSPH
Sabrina Ford, PhD	Kimberlee J. Trudeau, PhD
Amy A. Gorin, PhD	Corrine I. Voils, PhD
Joseph A. Greer, PhD	Randal K. Wada, MD
Jennifer L. Huberty, PhD	Jessica A. Whiteley, PhD
Marc T. Kiviniemi, PhD	Melicia C. Whitt-Glover, PhD

 

Leadership Institute participants met for a two-day training workshop on March 29-30 during SBM’s 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.