Heme Consults: For Women of Color in Hematology

Whenever your life circumstances are rocky, it is up to you to help other people manage expectations about how you have to show up in the world for your current season. Taking ownership of leading your own experience allows you to show up as your best, most beautiful self - the version we have all been waiting for.

When you become a mentor, you are motivated to create opportunities that help you and your mentees win. Therefore, becoming a mentor allows you to become more creative in finding opportunities that help more mentees win. And so you'll discover that when you can mentor one person in the thing in which you thought you needed mentoring yourself, you find yourself growing into being the mentor you never had.

When you work really hard to adapt to a system that was not tailor-made for you, consider whether all the energy you expend is helping you advance in your career. If the answer is no, consider asking the environment to make the changes needed to help you thrive. And if it doesn't, it may be time to create your own tribe of amazing supporters that create the safe space in which you receive the support and accountability you need to achieve your life's mission.

Believing mentors teach skills, give information, sing your praises, provide opportunities, and protect your weaknesses Unbelieving mentors withold information, criticize you, complain, withold opportunities, and tell everyone how bad you are. Find believing mentors to come along with you on your career journey and leave all others behind.

You may not have found "the One" mentor that will transform your career; but that "One" mentor exists in many people who surround you even now. Recognize the resource available in people you may not consider "traditional" mentors, but who have something to offer you in your career advancement.

If you are going to gather a group of people together to give you feedback on something important, get very specific with your request so that they know exactly what you need. Otherwise, they don't know how to help you and you don't get much from the experience. Mentoring committees can be successful; but only if you decide to get the most out of your experience.

A mentor can be both wonderful AND not the right mentor for you. Sometimes, this gap exists because they don't believe that a person like you can succeed in the way you want to succeed. And for this reason, they give you the only gift they can give you - the gift of their unbelief. Leave unbelieving mentors behind so that you can soar to become the amazing person only you can be.

When we accept the lie of scarcity, we can justify anything. We can justify abuse, hiding information, hoarding resources, stealing ideas, and treating people poorly. By accepting the lie of scarcity, we start to work to make scarcity our personal truth. Instead, we must believe the truth of abundance, which releases us to get creative about finding what we need. It helps us take actions that don’t make sense to other people who are living a lie. The truth of abundance expands our horizons to see beyond current possibility. The truth of abundance liberates you to do the impossible.

After a career-defining experience, you have the opportunity to stop and fight for the career you really want. The career you really believe in. No one can fight this battle for you. Only you understand the dream you are fighting for and the reason for which you came into hematology. Therefore, you stand and fight because your career vision is worth fighting for.

Sometimes betrayal and disappointment happen in a space in which you least expected it. This experience stings and can sometimes leave you broken. Take time to grieve your loss and walk through the pain until you come to your place of healing. Your healing will come and you will find yourself to be a better person because of the pain you have experienced.