Great article from Nature on what traits make certain professors great mentors to their graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (stage between grad school and assistant professorship). The journal Nature apparently gives out awards for mentorship every year and realized that the comments they were getting from mentees about why their mentors were so great could, in aggregate, provide a blueprint for how to be a great scientific mentor.My mentor, who I think does a fantastic job, recommended the article to me, saying everyone could learn something from it. When I somewhat jokingly asked him what revelations he had had he chuckled, a little embarrassed, and replied seriously, "More than I'd like to admit." So while some of the general prescriptions may seem a little obvious (Be supportive! Be enthusiastic!), putting them into practice may not be as natural or straight-forward as one might suppose.
To be honest, having only ever had one very dinky Real World job, I'm not sure how much some of the specifics apply outside of academia. However, it may well be more generalizable and I think it's worth a read none the less. If nothing else, it should give you a glimpse into what life of a scientist (grad student or prof) entails. If you have trouble with the link, email me at alissaw at gmail dot com.
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