1. Personal Journey Towards a Fulfilling Career
Defining (in great detail and in writing!!) my personalized, values-based vision of success for my career as a tenure-track faculty member
If you don’t have a clear personal career vision, others are happy (and frequently “chomping at the bit”) to offer you one
– or substitute theirs for yours
A values-based vision allows you to make values-based decisions which can simplify when/why the answer is yes vs. no
Finding supporters that listened to, affirmed, and engaged in propelling me towards success that aligned with my personal career goals, while helping me to understand institutional context
Find supporters and advocates where they are, which means you’ll have to look in AND out of your home domain (dept. & institution)

2. Personal Journey Towards a Fulfilling Career
Being clear about the distinct between destinations and milestones
Don’t let the pursuit of & focus on a milestone become THE goal. It’s one step along a longer journey towards the DESTINATION.
Craft a career plan & strategic roadmap which attracts/draws the rewarding of tenure, rather than focusing on tenure as THE goal.
Focusing on tenure (a milestone of a successful career) as THE goal can result in bending and morphing of your goals such that you successfully GET tenure but are miserable.
Although there are real practicalities in having a secured position, fight, strive & struggle to be secured in pursuing directions you respect.
Be tenured for a cause, a platform, to secure the unique contributions that your unique intellect, experiences & passions bring to academia.

4. Beronda L. Montgomery, Ph.D.
Mapping and Traversing a Personal Mentoring Roadmap Towards Career Success
Beronda L. Montgomery, Ph.D.
Michigan State University
November 30, 2016

5. What is mentoring?
What is not?

6. Advising vs. Mentoring
Advisors offer advice that can benefit any individual taking your path
Based on provision of factual info about particular activities that must occur to complete a course of action
More likely to be a “one-way” transfer of information
Mentors offer advice based on a deep understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, your personal aspirations, your values, and your self-defined career goals
Baker & Griffin, 2010; Kirchmeyer, 2005; Long et al., 2013; Montgomery et al, 2014; Ramirez, 2012

7. Mentor vs. mentors
Mentoring “Network Shuffle”* for comprehensive mentoring
Identification of multiple individuals with different, yet hopefully complementary, skills and/or resources to fulfill different mentoring functions, roles, needs
Provision of political guidance and strategies
Can be entirely separate for disciplinary or subject matter expertise
Need for mentors to understand your personal commitments/goals
Long et al., 2013; Montgomery, forthcoming; *Zambrana et al., 2014

8. Mentoring for Personal Career Goals
Mentoring can often be provided in ‘top-down’ mode that supports individuals in pursuit of institutionally-defined goals or recognized milestones related to contextual success
Shifting the focus of mentoring to an individually-center perspective allows the individual’s personalized career vision to drive mentoring, in the context of a particular institution
Focus is then on personalized vision of career success that can be supported in and contribute to an institutional context
Montgomery, forthcoming

9. What are your current mentoring needs? How will you meet your needs?

10. Mentoring Roadmap Moving ahead Maintenance Establishment
Self-reflection
Montgomery, forthcoming

11. Mentoring Roadmap
Montgomery, forthcoming

12. How are we mapping mentoring roadmaps that support our personal career visions?
How are we supporting others to define personalized career aspirations and map the roadmaps/networks needed to attain these?

13. Thank You!
Beronda L. Montgomery
@BerondaM