The Missing Bridge

Walked through the woods with a mentee this morning! Four stars. Would recommend.

Then– by complete happenstance– I read this quote when I got home:

“A mentor is someone who speaks with you behind closed doors, while a sponsor is someone who speaks about you behind closed doors.”

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It’s tempting as a DEI champion to read that quote and just nod in knowing, self-satisfied agreement.

But there's a giant gaping hole in both practices— a critical bridge between mentorship and sponsorship that rarely gets built. And that is the need for the two of you to deliver business results together— to solve something so complex that it forces you to roll up your sleeves and get into the weeds… together.

Because minus the learning one does from that shared experience, a mentee doesn’t learn to fly… and a sponsor doesn’t land the data points they need to advocate equitably.

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And yes, DEI sponsorship is— and should be— held to a higher standard than the biased practices that it’s meant to replace. That’s the E in the middle.

As much as we all value active listening, radical candor, and empathy, they go only so far. Because if your commitment starts and ends with talk— even world-class, raise-the-hair-on-your-arm talk— you’re just replacing one kind of inequity with another.

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So… keep joining me on my walks. Please. I *love* your company. And… let’s be honest… I’m learning way more than you are.

But know that we need to build something together– and I mean that literally– before we know each other well enough to sponsor… or to be sponsored… with integrity.

#OneWeekOfDailyUpdates