When first asked to be a mentor in the AUA Leadership Program, I hesitated to commit to “yet another obligation” but promptly realized what an honor and privilege this would be. After 44 years as resident, fellow, academic faculty member, and Department Head, I assumed (and hoped) that I had accumulated the knowledge, skills, and expertise to help my younger colleagues navigate the professional challenges they will face, recognize and develop their innate leadership skills, and seek out exciting new opportunities. And I was not disappointed!

The program had 6 mentors in total, and I was assigned 3 very smart, ambitious, and capable young urologists from a cross section of AUA sections to be my mentees (see Figure). The program ran for 1 year between AUA meetings. The curriculum was organized in such a way that immediately after being introduced to one another (virtually during COVID), we had to get down to business to develop 2 potential Capstone topics. These projects were intended to engage the young leaders in critical and strategic thinking around a topical question/problem/opportunity that impacts the greater urology community and would require reflection and self-awareness with a strong team approach. The expectation was not just a description of the issue, but concrete recommendations for the AUA to consider going forward. The AUA executive team reviewed all proposals, and we were assigned our topic in July.

Figure. The 2022 AUA Leadership Class.

As a mentor my role was to provide guidance and support to help my team members achieve this goal. This involved providing feedback on their teamwork and personal performance, while also providing advice on career development. The mentor-mentee relationship is built on trust, and it was a great pleasure to get to know my team and many other class members, their strengths, and areas for growth. I focused on encouraging them to share their challenges and fears, both in individual talks as well as in group discussions. The availability of regular Zoom communication was very helpful until we could finally meet in person at the AUA offices in Linthicum for our team weekend in July. This Leadership Training weekend provided talks and competitive (of course!) team exercises to understand and develop essential leadership skills such as decision-making, communication, and problem-solving.

Over the subsequent 8 months, the team worked on our Capstone project, culminating in a written manuscript which we presented to a panel of judges made up of the AUA Board of Directors (a close competition; my team’s project was ranked second). This took place in Washington, DC, immediately before all groups attended the annual Urology Advocacy Summit on Capitol Hill. A final graduation gathering took place at the next AUA meeting where all were honored and toasted for their efforts of the year.

I have to say that the AUA Leadership Program exceeded my expectations and I hope that my interactions with my team will help them to become strong leaders with integrity, empathy, and a willingness to always learn as they further develop their careers in their own institutions and on AUA committees for personal career satisfaction and for the betterment of all urologists and the care they provide.