Had a meeting with my department chair today and he said something about leadership being a combination of influence and power; which was thought provoking as we all have influence in our own way. What are the ways that you leverage your influence?

Yesterday was the retirement party for @denahofkosh who leveraged her influence in a major way to impact my career. In an act of sponsorship, she singlehandedly changed the trajectory of my career. She introduced me to the Vice Dean of our Medical school

I met Dena through @DrEckstrand when we were developing a Med student elective for LGBTQ health. I was applying for faculty jobs at the time, Dena sponsored me to Dean Thompson, scored a meeting with her, and then took the time to coach me on how to approach her

This meeting led to a (small) position with funding at the medical school AND frequent meetings with the leadership which allowed me to showcase my goals, my efforts and my hopes. This is just one small example in the grand scheme of things, but humongous impact on me.

#MedTwitter #heforshe #BlackintheIvory #mentorship #sponsorship