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A common theme among presidential participants was the importance of having mentors and being a member of a professional development network within their career paths. All participants acknowledged that their path to the presidency would likely have taken longer without the encouragement by their mentors to apply for higher-level positions or pursue projects or opportunities that provide professional development.

As Belle explained, “I have been invited to apply for every position I’ve attained since my first faculty position. I have been blessed to know great people who recognize my talents and recommend me to search committees, head hunters and recruitment firms. While this certainly may be a normal occurrence for white males, I would argue this is a positive anomaly for a black female.” Additionally, many participants shared they became aware of promotional positions through their professional networks, especially those that were gender or ethnicity-specific. Mentoring for the presidents worked both ways – being mentees and serving as mentors for others. For Yves:

From the knowledge that you have built up, you can advocate for yourself to perhaps create a different position or showcase your talents so people recognize

you when unusual or uncommon opportunities present themselves. I was quite deliberative and had mentors who helped me early on think about the

opportunities you should think about taking advantage of to position yourself for that next level. It was done very subtlety, and it was only after a few years that I realized I was being mentored in spite of myself. Others saw things in me that I wasn’t aware of that were there, and that’s when I took advantage of some of these professional development opportunities.

The leadership development programs were described as transformative

experiences. At the time, the academies and institutes allowed the upcoming presidents to see themselves as an institution-wide leader, more of a community leader, a

collaborative partner with the provost, vice-presidents and deans. The leadership programs enabled them to have mentors outside of their particular campus, mentors who encouraged them in different directions than their own campus would. As Anne Marie explained:

You end up being influenced by the people who share your passion and purpose. I was exposed to so many diverse people with different backgrounds which made a lasting impression. I was able to develop a closeness to and reliance upon that network of peers and mentors, where you can pick up the phone and leave a

message for a president or a provost and they call you right back. Its hard to get that kind of access and response under normal circumstances. You see and experience the transfer of knowledge from one generation and campus to another. It’s exciting to be a part of such collaboration.

resourced and very committed to women’s leadership. She shares:

I had role models and received mentorship there, not just from great women but from men who made sure I had opportunities to participate and lead board

committees and do a lot of professional education. I just developed this network of relationships, which opened doors for me and showed me to areas of higher

education and strategic planning that I never would have gotten the opportunity to learn about in a larger organization.

Colleen shares one seminal experience from her leadership development program that seems so simple, but it was really quite profound for her. In her own words:

Three weeks into my leadership development program, we were asked to develop a personal leadership philosophy. You draft this philosophy and you talk about it with your presidential mentor and you also discuss it with your team and you give

feedback to each other and critique each other. At the end of the program, we revisited our original philosophy to really think about if that accurately describes where you are, who you are – for me, it was very, very different.

In summary, mentor networks, while mentioned by both aspiring presidents and presidents, was cited as a more prevalent component of success for the sitting presidents. While the participants strongly advocate for other women and minorities, their overall professional networks are not limited to women and minorities. In fact, two of the

presidents cited their best mentors were white males who saw strong potential within them and assisted them with opening doors that may otherwise be closed if they pursued certain opportunities independently. Conversely, the mentor networks also helped the participants avoid opportunities with underlying tumultuous issues they may otherwise be unaware of.

The professional development opportunities and leadership development programs added value to their overall stock as leaders within higher education; the professional network established helped the women capitalize on advancement opportunities as they arose. This underscores the old adage of “it’s not what you know, but who you know.”