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Reverse Mentoring with Patrice Gordon
Podcast

Reverse Mentoring with Patrice Gordon

Dare to Lead Podcast with Brené Brown

Brené Brown and Patrice Gordon
Dare to Lead, 2021
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7

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What comes to mind when you think of a workplace mentor? Probably someone older, with years of managerial experience. But junior employees – particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds – have a lot to teach their supervisors. Leaders, after all, must understand the challenges their employees face before making executive decisions. In an episode of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead podcast, executive coach Patrice Gordon discusses how to use “reverse mentoring” to build trust and foster inclusion in your organization.

Summary

Reverse mentoring is a management practice in which a senior employee seeks leadership insights from a junior staff member.

Instead of senior staff members passing on their experience to subordinates, reverse mentoring matches junior team members, often from underrepresented groups, with senior employees.

Reverse mentoring is based on the premise that everyone can learn from everyone else, regardless of age, job title or racial background. It is a powerful way to bring employees together and build trust in an organization.

Virgin Atlantic’s reverse mentoring pilot program was so successful, HR incorporated it into its people strategy.

The vice president of people experience at Virgin Atlantic invited Patrice Gordon to become a “reverse mentor” to company CEO Craig Kreeger, after he expressed an interest in learning more about employees from backgrounds that were not represented ...

About the Podcast

Dare to Lead is a podcast based on Brené Brown’s best-selling playbook for leaders. Brown is an influential researcher, author and TEDx speaker. Her guest Patrice Gordon is an executive coach and personal development advocate specializing in inclusive leadership, reverse mentoring and women’s development programs. She was Virgin Atlantic’s first “reverse mentor.”

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