Aug 6, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min · 14 segments
with guests Drs. Reeni Abraham, Bryan Brown, Stefanie R Brown, and Matthew A Clark Come on the adventure with Drs. Reeni Abraham…
Stefanie BrownGuest
Reeni AbrahamGuest
Matthew ClarkGuest
Bryan BrownGuest
Molly HeubleinHost
Mike ChengHost
Um, but to get started in covering the workshops today, um, Stephanie and Rini, I know you had some reflections about the plenary, um, with Dr. Ray Bignall, um, Do You See What I See? Five Lessons I've Learned About Mentorship as a Black Man in a White Coat.
And we, um, have had, uh, Dr. Bignall previously on the podcast and just absolutely love his, his teaching and message and would love to hear your reflections on, on that plenary.
I think one of the first things I took away was one of the first sort of, uh, lessons that he talked about, is that we, we as mentors need to mentor towards an unseen future for our trainees.
And the example he gave is that our first mentors are often our parents, um, and they're mentoring towards...
They don't know what necessarily what future we're going to have or even where we're going to go or what our, you know, what our point A to point B will be, um, but mentor us nonetheless.
So I think that as mentors, um, we need to really mentor trainees towards their own vision and their own ca- career and guide them there and not mentor them to what we, what we imagine for them, um, but what they imagine for themselves, and I think that was the, the first thing.
And we need to mentor and center around the trainee's growth and not our own assumptions about their potential.
Also that, that lesson, which was, like, lesson number two, about not centering, um, yourself but centering your mentee, um, I thought really resonated so well.
Um, 'cause I think sometimes the challenge when you're mentoring, and he talked a little bit a- about that, is, um, that you often feel like you need to be it all for that person or, or you need to have all the skills, but it's not, it's not about me.
And so really, I think that was helpful when thinking about imposter syndrome and not being a mentor but also just reminding us, um, of what we need to do and in the intentionality.
I also really loved the analogy he used about the room, um, when he talked about the differences, um, between mentorship, sponsorship, and coaching.
Um, he talked about how, uh, mentorship is pointing out the door in the room that you didn't know existed, how sponsorship advocates for you in a room that you're not a part of, and how coaching gives you those skills that need, you need to perform the best in the rooms that you are.
And then, um, he had a, a fourth lesson, which is like benefit of learning from your mentee.
Um, and he shared a story about moral injury, um, and how burnout is not really about doing more yoga, but it's really about moral injury.
Um, and then he, he shared a quote when talking about that, about how we must not abandon our values out of fear of those who do not share our values.
And I thought that was just so excellent just to remind us that we need to be consistently rooted in our values.
He cited a JAMA article, and one of them was called "The World Traveler," somebody that's too busy with leadership and lectures and all of the things they need to do, um, to show up for mentees and how important it is to be present.
And then, and then, and that sort of dovetails with the other one, which is the bottleneck, where you're a bottleneck, um, in your, in your mentee's progress because you don't prioritize them with all of the competing, all of the competing priorities in your life, the meetings and the committees and, and the vision and all of those other things.
Um, so great mentorship doesn't have to look like you, as you said, or where you came from.
Um, but to get started in covering the workshops today, um, Stephanie and Rini, I know you had some reflections about the plenary, um, with Dr. Ray Bignall, um, Do You See What I See? Five Lessons I've Learned About Mentorship as a Black Man in a White Coat.
And we, um, have had, uh, Dr. Bignall previously on the podcast and just absolutely love his, his teaching and message and would love to hear your reflections on, on that plenary.
I think one of the first things I took away was one of the first sort of, uh, lessons that he talked about, is that we, we as mentors need to mentor towards an unseen future for our trainees.
And the example he gave is that our first mentors are often our parents, um, and they're mentoring towards...
They don't know what necessarily what future we're going to have or even where we're going to go or what our, you know, what our point A to point B will be, um, but mentor us nonetheless.
So I think that as mentors, um, we need to really mentor trainees towards their own vision and their own ca- career and guide them there and not mentor them to what we, what we imagine for them, um, but what they imagine for themselves, and I think that was the, the first thing.
And we need to mentor and center around the trainee's growth and not our own assumptions about their potential.
Also that, that lesson, which was, like, lesson number two, about not centering, um, yourself but centering your mentee, um, I thought really resonated so well.
Um, 'cause I think sometimes the challenge when you're mentoring, and he talked a little bit a- about that, is, um, that you often feel like you need to be it all for that person or, or you need to have all the skills, but it's not, it's not about me.
And so really, I think that was helpful when thinking about imposter syndrome and not being a mentor but also just reminding us, um, of what we need to do and in the intentionality.
I also really loved the analogy he used about the room, um, when he talked about the differences, um, between mentorship, sponsorship, and coaching.
Um, he talked about how, uh, mentorship is pointing out the door in the room that you didn't know existed, how sponsorship advocates for you in a room that you're not a part of, and how coaching gives you those skills that need, you need to perform the best in the rooms that you are.
And then, um, he had a, a fourth lesson, which is like benefit of learning from your mentee.
Um, and he shared a story about moral injury, um, and how burnout is not really about doing more yoga, but it's really about moral injury.
Um, and then he, he shared a quote when talking about that, about how we must not abandon our values out of fear of those who do not share our values.
And I thought that was just so excellent just to remind us that we need to be consistently rooted in our values.
He cited a JAMA article, and one of them was called "The World Traveler," somebody that's too busy with leadership and lectures and all of the things they need to do, um, to show up for mentees and how important it is to be present.
And then, and then, and that sort of dovetails with the other one, which is the bottleneck, where you're a bottleneck, um, in your, in your mentee's progress because you don't prioritize them with all of the competing, all of the competing priorities in your life, the meetings and the committees and, and the vision and all of those other things.
Um, so great mentorship doesn't have to look like you, as you said, or where you came from.
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