TED speaker, executive coach and personal development advocate to businesses around the world shares how to launch your own reverse mentorship program, where senior leaders learn from and foster junior employees, creating a culture where people feel safe to contribute their ideas, with a sense of engagement and belonging.
Employee diversity and inclusive leadership, as well as younger and fresher ideas, are goals for most organizations today, but how do we get there? Reverse Mentoring is when "the novice teaches the master"-while typical mentoring programs arrange for a senior manager to teach the more junior employee, Reverse Mentoring is the opposite: it's all about a leader leaning into their vulnerability, forming a relationship with an underrepresented employee, and creating a way to amplify the voice of underrepresented people within the company.
From executive coach and personal development advocate Patrice Gordon, Reverse Mentoring offers various tips to make reverse mentorship work. Gordon talks about the value of uncomfortable and awkward moments becoming key points of transformation when people have to pause, reflect and assess their past behaviors and current assumptions which are at odds with the topic at hand. Patrice Gordon is a highly qualified Executive Coach and Personal Development advocate specializing in Women's Development Programs and Reverse Mentoring. Her efforts on building an inclusive environment for all at Virgin Atlantic has been recognized internationally by Richard Branson, the TED leadership community and Brene Brown. She has a passion for helping people realize their potential which is what led her to developing a career in coaching. Originally training as a Chartered Accountant, Gordon has developed both her Financial & Commercial acumen to rise expeditiously through the ranks. She now has over 10 years experience at a senior level in the Commercial Airline & Logistics space across British Airways, Royal Mail and Virgin Atlantic. She most recently led the formation of the ground-breaking Joint Venture relationship between Virgin Atlantic, Delta & Air France KLM. She lives in London.
