How to Attract and Keep a Workplace Sponsor

How to Attract and Keep a Workplace SponsorHow to Attract and Keep a Workplace SponsorA sponsor is someone with power who knows you and your potential, who advocates for your success on the corporate (or organizational) ladder, and who helps remove obstacles to your progress. A sponsor is someone who is willing to champion your progress. A sponsor is someone who has enough clout to make a difference in decisions others make about your progress. A sponsor believes in you and your skills and abilities enough to risk her or his own credibility for you. A sponsor has enough faith in your ultimate success to protect you so that you can take risks and make occasional mistakes and missteps without setting your career back. What Does a Workplace Sponsor Do? Some examples of the kinds of actions that a sponsor might take on your behalf Hires you for a position, especially one where you can learn and advance even further.Actively puts your name forward when an opening is available that mat ches your skills and abilities.Actively considers and seeks out openings, assignments, and opportunities where you can advance.Makes a call to or has a one-on-one meeting with a decision maker who has the authority to say yes to an opportunity or promotion for you.Speaks up for your skills and abilities in meetings, when your name comes up or when opportunities come up. Tells you what you need to do and know to get chosen for the opening or opportunity.Connects you with others who can help you make progress, and prepares them to see you favorably.Advocates for good anfangsbuchstabe pay in a new position, or a good pay raise or bonus within a current position - and has enough influence with the decision makers to make these likely to happen.If youre an entrepreneur, a sponsor may open doors for venture capital or other investment.Defends or protects you in times when youve taken risks and failed, reminding the decision makers that risk is part of success - and expresses faith in yo ur ultimate success. How a Workplace Sponsor Differs From a Supporter or Mentor A good sponsor is also a supporter and a ratgeber, but a sponsor is more than either of those. A supporter or mentor is sometimes the partie who will help you figure out that you need a sponsor and how to find one. A supporter is someone at any level who supports your progress, but may not have the clout to remove obstacles. Supporters express encouragement, and sometimes speak up for you or helpyour progress. A mentor is someone who helps you understand what you need to progress through the organization, to fulfill your potential. Your mentor is an advisor - to you. A mentor focuses on changes you need to make to progress. Sometimes, a change you need to make is to find a sponsor. A sponsor is also a supporter and sometimes is also a mentor, but is much more. He or she is an active advocate with the power to smooth the path for you, to get your name into the right conversations at the right level, and to open doors by influencing decision-makers you might otherwise have no access to. Advantages to Having a Workplace Sponsor To be on the fast track in your organizational progress, youll want a sponsor. Mentors and supporters can help you make career progress, but that kind of help depends on decision makers happening to notice you and your work. A sponsor speeds up the process, by getting your name into the right conversations at the right time and at the right level, and helping decision-makers understand why you are the right person for the opportunity. What Are a Workplace Sponsors Responsibilities? To be an advocate, first, a sponsor needs to be familiar with you and your best - your skills, abilities, and your success record. If a sponsor pushes your case for an opportunity that isnt a good fit, that isnt good for your success, for the sponsors reputation, or for the decision-makers, they will not be helpful in your career success. Next, the sponsor is proactive in looking for opportunities that interest you and promoting your fit for those workplace positions. The sponsor talks up your potential with decision-makers, usually with information about past successes that provide evidence to back up the sponsors faith in you, and an enthusiasm that expresses that faith. The sponsor is willing to use influence with contacts in buchung to promote your success. Or to make opportunities more directly, hiring you or investing in your project. The sponsor and you keep in contact so that the sponsor can continue to promote you where you are and keep eyes open for further opportunities. The sponsor makes clear that this is a professional relationship, not a personal one, and actively avoids situations and occasions that would cross that line. When the sponsor is a man and is sponsoring a woman, this is especially important. A sponsor can help you propel your career forward in ways that youd otherwise not experience.For career success, consider how to find and keep a sponsor who can really help you advance. How to Attract a Sponsor Who Can Help You If you are interested in attracting a sponsor who can help you find opportunities to learn and grow in your career, the relationship must be mutually beneficial. Think about it whats in it for the sponsor? The sponsor takes the risks and spends the time promoting your career because your success will reflect well on the sponsor. And, those the sponsor influences to take you on will be grateful to the sponsor for the great find that you are. So, to attract and keep a sponsor, you have to show that youre worth that risk and effort. To find a possible sponsor, seek opportunities to interact with those who are in more senior positions than you are with clout and power. Volunteer to be the one to make a presentation for your group. Look around for people in your family and friendship circles who have influence in the field youre in or want to be in. Get involved in networking and profes sional groups that include people in more senior positions, in your organization or in related organizations. Youll need to show a potential sponsor your extraordinary success record, and make clear through your current performance that you have high potential to succeed even more as you advance. Promote your own strengths and successes, in a way that also shows you are a team player, who works well with others and whose colleagues are supporters. Make sure that visible evidence exists that demonstrates your potential in both your current and past performance. (No reputable sponsor is going to go to bat for you if your approach is Im not doing well in this job because it isnt right for me, but Id be much better in a more responsible position.) Be clear, first with yourself, then with possible sponsors, about your dreams and what you see as your potential. You want a sponsor to open the doors to your dream career, not to sidetrack it to opportunities that arent interesting or appropr iate for you. If youre looking for a career in higher education, for example, a sponsor who finds you aperfectspot in the meat-packing industry isnt going to be very helpful. Your sponsor will want to see that you are respectful at your workplace towards current colleagues, managers, customers, and other contacts. Respect for those with whom you workdoesnt mean that you arent ever going to move on. But, it does mean that you dontgossip about people with whom you workor to whom you report, put them down, or otherwise show disrespect for them. Tips for Communicating With Your Workplace Sponsor The sponsor puts his or her credibility on the line, so make sure that you are honest with your sponsorsand vertrauenswrdig to them. If you have any opportunities to help your sponsors success, take advantage of them. Its not a quid pro quo - your sponsor is likely much more powerful than you are right now. Your sponsor may do far more for you than you can do for her or him - but there mus t be a sense that youre looking out for each other. Dont hide your mistakes - that would be both dishonest and disloyal. Your sponsor doesnt want to be surprised by very bad news from valued associates and friends. If you do make mistakes in an opportunity the sponsor made possible, own up to your failure to your sponsor. Make clear what measures youre already taking to pick yourself up, and share the lessons youve learned.Ask for feedback and advice from your sponsor. Keep your sponsor in the loop on successes, too, so when another opportunity arises, the sponsor knows youre ready. While the sponsor has responsibility for not crossing the professional/personal line, you also have responsibility for this as the person being sponsored. Appearances matter, so avoid situations and occasions that might confuse onlookers (or you or the sponsor). Does Workplace Sponsorship Work? In an article in theNew York Times, Mentors Are Good. Sponsors Are Better., and in her book,Forget a Mento r, Find a Sponsor, Sylvia Ann Hewlett details research showing that those with sponsors succeed more quickly, on averagethan those without sponsors, even those with a mentor. Hewlett also lists major corporations, including American Express, ATT, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Genentech and Morgan Stanley, that have begun programs to encourage sponsorship. If you are willing to reach out to potential sponsors and have a positive track record, and the potential to soar - reach out. People are proud and happy to sponsor women and men who will make them look good - and who will have their backs, too.