Setting effective expectations

- [Interviewee] Yeah. - [Interviewer] What do you think are some of the largest misconceptions when it comes to black and brown professionals or just professionals in general of course. But when you think of, when they, when you say the word mentorship and expectations. What do you think are some of the largest misconceptions around that? - [Interviewee] Well, especially for mentorship, right. Well, let me just actually start with both. So both mentorship and sponsorship are a two way street, and I think a popular misconception is, you know, it's kind of a one-way relationship, but both the key thing is it is a relationship, right? And there are costs and risks and investments of time, of capital, of attention on both sides and both sponsorship and mentorship require kind of nurturing care and on, in feeding and you can't have a mentorship relationship or a sponsorship relationship where all of the value is going in one direction, it's got to be, it's got to be both ways. And so that's that for me is the biggest misconception is like, there's this perception that. Hey you know, I'm going to get something from my mentor versus, you know, what are you going to give your mentor? Or hey, I'm going to get something from the sponsor versus what are you going to give your sponsor? I talked earlier about, you know, one of the things I like to say is, you know, mentors can help guide you on a path, right? And talk about paths, you know, like, and again, that, that whole notion of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, your path is a bigger thing than just your career and just your, you know, your work and your job and a path is it's something that you're cutting yourself. It's your way of moving forward. And a mentor can talk to you about the ups and downs of that journey and how that happens. A sponsor is really about the trail, right? And it's, when you talk about trails, you're following after someone that's already blazed that trail, you're going in, you know, with a sponsor, you're sort of the protege, you're the person that they're investing into that they're expecting something from. That you're going to be a reflection on them. And again, that's the notion for a sponsor, you're an employee, right? - [Interviewer] Yeah. - [Interviewee] And you're somebody that, they are investing in. Cause you are going to do something for them and for the firm. And it's a transaction. And again, that's not the same type of relationship that you'd have necessarily with a mentor where a mentor is more somebody you're going to, you're going to want to be like, and look up to.