US Chamber

Why mentorship is a
career-must, according to Cisco’s
Senior Vice President and Chief Social Impact & Inclusion
Officer, Brian Tippens:

• Mentors
  and networks form a critical leg of a career’s three-legged stool,
  says Tippens: “You
  have your education, your experience, and the third leg is your
  network, the people around you.”
• The power of leading by example is invaluable because colleagues and mentees are constantly watching and learning, he says.

• Mentors give you courage to pursue your passions.

Brian Tippens
is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the fields of social
justice, diversity, and sustainability.

As
the head of the Social Impact & Inclusion organization at Cisco,
he oversees functions addressing the challenges facing the planet and
vulnerable, underserved communities. The organization combines
Cisco’s people and technology to address systemic causes of
inequity, break down barriers, and create lasting generational
change.

A
World Economic Forum
contributor, Tippens is a member of the Executive Leadership Council
and has served as a director or advisor to several organizations
including Operation HOPE, the
Hispanic IT Executive Council,
and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.

Brian’s
career spans over 30 years of leadership in the IT industry, serving
in prior posts such as Chief Sustainability Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
(HPE).

Here,
Tippens tells CO— how mentorship has fueled his purpose-driven
career and why we can all learn from the power of example.

CO—:
Who is your mentor and how did the relationship fall into place?

BT:
I have had several mentors and many whom I have followed for the
power of their example. But I will specifically call out John Hope Bryant,
the founder of a nonprofit organization called Operation HOPE, which
works to uplift underserved communities through financial literacy.

John
has been a mentor for close to 25 years. Before I met him in 2000 at
a trade show in Northern California, I had admired him from afar. So,
contrary to the advice I give today, I immediately asked if he would
be my mentor. At the time, I was a young professional just getting
out of law school, and John was well on the path to building his
nonprofit organization. He said yes, and that relationship set my
career on the path to where it is today.

CO—:
What was it about John that appealed to you as a mentor?

BT:
Even early on in my career, I wanted to find a way to work in
purpose-driven roles. And John had achieved what I had hoped to one
day, which is a singularity of purpose. I wanted to find a way to be
able to do that.

CO—: Tell me a story that
illustrates the direct impact of this mentorship.

BT:
Around 2006, I had an opportunity to throw my hat in the ring to lead
the supplier diversity program at HP. Because the role was at a lower
level than my legal work, I questioned whether I should apply for the
job. John advised me that I should do what most closely aligned to my
passion and purpose. And that if I felt this was something I was
passionate about and that aligned to my purpose to be able to give
back, I should not only throw my hat in the ring but pursue it
aggressively.

And
I did. I was happy when I
got the job after a competitive process but was less happy when I got
the system-generated email from HR that said “DEMOTION” in big
letters. The move ended up being one of the best career decisions I
ever made because I was chasing a purpose. I went from being an
individual contributor to a team leader to an executive. It really
set me on the path to where I am now.

CO—:
How has his advice unconsciously fueled your career?

BT:
Because of the mentorship, I have reached a point in my career where
I can focus on a singularity of purpose. All my roles over the last
several years have been purpose-driven, whether as the head of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or Chief Sustainability Officer, or
head of a foundation, or now doing the social impact work at Cisco.
It’s all about changing lives and impacting communities. Because I
love the field, I’m never not working. Whether I’m listening to an
audiobook about social impact while driving or having weekend
meetings with folks on the topic. The emphasis on singularity of
purpose always stuck with me and I think it comes from advice that
John gave me. I’m also committed to lifelong learning, advice which
also came from John, so his mentorship has made a significant impact.

CO—:
Complete the sentence: “Had I not met my mentor, I would not have
been able to…”

BT:
Had I not met John and had his mentorship, I would not have had the
courage to pursue my passion and my purpose.

CO—:
How has it shaped your own attitude toward mentoring or mentoring
others?

BT:
It taught me early on about the need to be selfless in mentoring. I
used to discourage people from asking, “Will you be my mentor?”
because it scares people, especially busy executives, away. But I
have learned that in a perfect world, relationships grow organically,
and you have to be open to conversations. And if the relationship is
meant to flourish, it will.

Mentorship
is invaluable because it’s so critical to career growth. I stress
the importance of a network, whether it’s made up of official
mentors or sponsors. In a career’s three-legged stool, you have
your education and then your experience, and the third leg is your
network, the people around you.

I
do some official mentoring and consider myself a mentor to the folks
who work for me in my own organization. I pride myself on being a
talent developer, and so I invest in every relationship with my nine
direct leaders who work with me. I spend a lot of time thinking and
talking about their development in their own roles and even beyond
the organization.

I
am also an executive sponsor of one of our talent development
programs at Cisco, which brings in a cohort right out of
undergraduate or graduate school and places them through three years
of rotations. I mentor each of the approximately 50 people in that
program.

I
have also been one of very few very senior African American
executives in the companies that I’ve worked in, and so I’m very
visible as a leader and role model. I take that role very seriously
and I know the importance of example because someone’s always
watching the example you set.

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Published January 21, 2025

Poornima Apte

This post was originally published on this site