Abstract
In molding a career, the onus falls on the junior faculty to reflect on their mentoring needs and seek the appropriate individual to guide them in the particular task at hand. Even in institutions with formalized mentoring programs these relationships do not just happen. Intense work is required on the part of the junior faculty member who must do the personal preparation to know how best to utilize the strengths of the mentor. This is true both in the course of any meeting as well as in the course of the relationship over time.
Junior faculty members often have an idealized notion of the mentoring relationship and seek a single mentor who will be able to meet all of their needs. Faculty may find themselves frustrated when this one person is hard to find or when their identified mentor is not as helpful as they had hoped. In reality, it is nearly impossible to find one person who can meet all of these needs.
Although a normal part of the mature mentoring relationship, it is often an unsettling time when a young faculty member realizes that even the most well respected mentors are human beings with strengths and weaknesses, great skills as well as blind spots. In truth, these relationships will be more effective when this reality is embraced and faculty feel empowered to get their needs met by a team of mentors who work well together and have complementary skill sets. Although optimal to have at least one mentor with a deeper understanding of the junior faculty, in the end, it is the responsibility of the junior faculty to manage his or her career after weighing the guidance provided by others.
Drs. Carey and Weisman present a model of mosaic mentoring as well as practical advice to guide the personal work required to build meaningful one-on-one connections with mentors. Both are critical for faculty seeking to build successful mentoring relationships and successful academic careers.