Close your eyes and picture a board of directors. Most likely, you are imagining a conference table full of serious looking executives dressed in business suits and engaging in an intense conversation about protecting shareholders’ interests, establishing policies for management, and making decisions about important issues a company faces. Such a gathering probably seems like it would be out of place in your daily life and unlikely to ever convene in your lab.
However, you and your ambitions are just as much to be valued, respected, and esteemed as any company you picture in your mind. You, the main shareholder in your career, are equally worthy of a coordinated team to look out for your interests and advise you. Think of it as your own personal board of directors.
The Mission
Generally speaking, a board draws on its varied experience to oversee an organization’s activities. For you as a young scientist, the idea would be to gather a strategic group of mentors from different sectors and phases of your life and career. Think carefully about its members.