You Should Have Mentors and Sponsors

September 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sponsorship is becoming more main stream and savvy women and men should be on the lookout for those who can assist them in moving upwards on their career journey. While a mentor can answer your questions and advise on how to navigate the organizational landscape, a sponsor will actually get you there.

A sponsor knows your accomplishments well and will sell you to others that do not know you in your organization and beyond. Your sponsor puts her (or his) reputation on the line for you and gives you a professional endorsement that gives you clout and credibility. You may actually spend more contact time with your mentor discussing your innermost doubts and issues but your sponsor is willing to put her name out there for you in order to help you advance.

It’s important to keep your sponsor well informed about your accomplishments so she can go to bat for you and recommend you for key projects that will help you distinguish yourself in the organization. Is it possible to have a sponsor and a mentor? Yes, and you should look for both.

Finding a sponsor is a more delicate task. You should seek out someone in your organization that is well respected and influential. Once you identify a potential sponsor, introduce yourself, earn her trust and respect, and then begin to share your value-add with strategic information about your accomplishments and goals within the organization.

You must be courageous in developing new relationships while searching for a sponsor. Reach across generational, gender, and racial boundaries to develop new and meaningful professional relationships. Your sponsor will most likely be a stretch relationship while your mentor may be a personal confidant with whom you already share a lot in common.

Securing a sponsor also focuses on the need to develop professional relationships internally and externally in your career field. You should be innovative in managing up and getting to know people beyond your rank and pay grade in your organization as this is the most likely talent pool for a sponsor. Someone who is a lateral counterpart will not have the clout you need to help you move upwards and serve as a sponsor.

Another strategy is to become more visible by volunteering to work on key projects that prospective sponsors will also be involved in. Distinguish yourself, be a consummate professional, and make your potential sponsor also look good, and you will earn the opportunity to ask a sponsor to consider you as a protégé.

Remember, sponsorship must be earned so it’s imperative to build a relationship with respect so you can demonstrate your worth and value to the organization. A sponsor won’t put their reputation on the line by endorsing you unless they are confident in your abilities to go above and beyond.

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Who’s Got Your Back?

July 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My Huffington Post article on developing your personal Board of Directors has gotten a lot of traction and positive feedback. I am thrilled that people are tapping into this amazing resource to help them move forward. Your personal village is there to help – but you need to mobilize them.

I just finished reading Keith Ferrazzi’s book: Who’s Got Your Back which illustrates a similar philosophy of lifeline relationships and why they are essential. As you consider people for your personal Board, check out why Ferrazzi believes that these lifeline relationships will benefit you.

  1. To help us identify what success truly means for us, including our long-term career plans.
  2. To help us figure out the most robust plan possible to get there, through short-term goals and strategies that would tie us into knots if we tried to go it alone.
  3. To help us identify what we need to stop doing to move forward in our lives. (Referring to the things we all do that hold us back from achieving the success we deserve.)
  4. To have people around us committed to ensuring that we sustain change so that we can transform our lives from good to great.

Ferrazzi goes on to say that a lifeline relationship can be between equals, peers, intellectual sparring partners, and confidants. You must choose who will serve you the best. And remember to pay-it-forward and serve on someone else’s Board – it may give you some valuable perspective.

I recently tapped one of my lifeline resources on my personal Board of Directors for advice and counsel about a career question of my own.  She helped clarify my situation and asked compelling questions I needed to address in order to move forward with my situation.  After our discussion, I can say with conviction that I am fortunate to know that she has my back!

Asking for the help of others isn’t about changing who you are but enlisting others to help you become who you can be. Keith Ferrazzi’s book is a great read – I highly recommend it. This is a resource you will highlight and refer to for years to come.

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Janet Sanders, The Diabetes Coach

July 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Janet Sanders went to law school because she wanted to exercise her philanthropic muscles. After reading an article in Time magazine about a parent/child support center, she aspired to open a similar facility in her native Philadelphia. By pursuing a law degree, Janet thought she would gain the skill set and professional competencies necessary to realize her dream. She did in fact hone these transferable skills, but her career went in a different direction than she had planned. [Read more...]

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What Now? What Next?

June 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The career development journey is an exciting one but the overload of new information, opportunities, and ideas can often lead to analysis paralysis. With the myriad of possibilities you can get overwhelmed if you don’t have a system in place for choosing what action to take.

Tai Goodwin, the Career Makeover Coach suggests two simple questions to bring you clarity about what to do when there are too many options.

What now?

What next?

Sometimes it’s important to focus on these baby steps instead of the big picture so you can tie your answers to the above questions with actions. Tai suggests you write down your ideas. Always carry a note pad so you can be ready on the fly and don’t make a decision until you’ve gotten clarity about what really matters to you in life and career.

Big picture clarity can be scary so this is a perfect opportunity to have a brainstorming session with the strategist on your personal Board of Directors. Have someone help you outline your passion, purpose, values, and strengths along with the vision you have of the lifestyle you want.

A career coach can certainly help facilitate this type of session but if you are lucky enough to have a strategist in your circle of trust – have at it with them and map out 3 paths to create the life and work you want.

The map can be realized with a vision board, journal, or simple outline, whatever suits your personal style. By creating 3 paths you won’t stress yourself out with just one way of doing things and you won’t be limited to a single choice. You can mix and match strategies but the first step will get you moving in the right direction.

By answering what now and what next you will be able to realistically narrow your options based on what really matters to you and take the all important first steps forward on your journey.

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The Law of Attraction

June 5, 2011 By 2 Comments

Two years ago, Deborah Stephens, a friend and mentor on my personal Board of Directors sat me down and asked what I wanted to accomplish professionally in the next 5 years. She asked me to be very specific and envision my future goals so I could develop strategies to make them happen.

At the time, my goals seemed so out of reach and far off in the future but this exercise with Deborah taught me that first I needed to announce my goals out loud, then write them down, and then continue on the path of making them a reality. I remember announcing to my family that I was writing a book and at that time I was still early on in the research phase. They politely said – “that’s nice” and the conversation moved on to other things. My family loves me but I’m not sure they really believed I was serious about the book in the early days.

When I began telling everyone in my circle of trust (and beyond) that I was writing a book, the dream became a reality for me and people with publishing expertise started popping up in my world. Coincidence – maybe, but I really believe it was the law of attraction at work. My family began to realize I was serious and began to appreciate my vision more seriously.

When I fully owned my dreams and goals, the plan began to unfold and people started entering my life who became an integral part of my book journey. I’m not saying these people just fell out of the sky but I am saying that when I owned my goals and repeatedly announced them, the strategy became clearer and the resources I needed became available. This also illustrated the power of positive networking.

Many of you who have heard me speak know that my newest goal is to develop a TV show based on my book that will enable me to spread my message of career reinvention, empowerment, and playing to your strengths to a wider audience. I started sharing this dream aloud about 6 months ago, wrote down my goals, and true to the law of attraction have begun to assemble a fabulous team of media professionals who share my vision of making this TV show a reality. I knew very few of these people 6 months ago but the energy surrounding this project is palpable and contagious and I’m thrilled to be working towards a new goal.

So as you tap members of your personal Board of Directors, think very specifically about what you want to accomplish. Write it down, say it out loud to all who will listen, work hard, and be open to the people who will enter your life to assist you in realizing your goals.

Create your career destiny -don’t let it happen by default!

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Build Your Personal Board of Directors

May 31, 2010 By 1 Comment

It’s no secret that a mentor can be a terrific resource as you navigate your personal career path. Some organizations assign mentors and other relationships develop naturally when like minded people hit it off. If you are your own boss, or don’t have a company to connect you with a mentor, you can and should pursue mentors on your own.

Seeking a mentor starts simply with asking for advice from a trusted professional who has been there and done that in your industry. Start by asking for information and advice and see how the relationship develops. You will know when you have made an authentic connection with someone and taken the relationship beyond colleague to personal guru.

Mentors help to improve upon your strengths and guide you along your path to success with inspiration and resources that come from experience. A mentor can also help you set and accomplish your goals. Mentors will guide you and offer practical ideas about how you might do things differently. We all need at least one mentor that can speak candidly and offer constructive criticism, even when we don’t want to hear it.

Mentors should help boost your self confidence and empower you to achieve and overcome obstacles. But don’t think that you need one perfect mentor to help you on your professional way. In reality, life is full of mentors that can advise you day-by-day, sharing important bits of wisdom incrementally over time. I encourage you to take a close look at the many people in your life and reflect on how they may actually be mentoring you right now. Build your own personal Board of Directors, your personal posse, to guide you in your career pursuits.

You can gain a wealth of support and resources with a team. Sometimes these relationships develop organically and sometimes you need to take the driver’s seat and ask others for help.  No matter which, mentors volunteer their time and experience so always show them your respect. Listen, don’t argue – and always follow-up with a personal thank you note or gesture of gratitude. The mentor relationship is powerful and valuable, so cultivate it wisely and be mindful of how you can help others and keep the circle of wisdom continuous by becoming a mentor yourself.

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Write it Down!

May 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

Having dreams and goals for the future is a wonderful way to focus on what you want in your life and career.  A wise mentor once told me it’s not enough to just think about your goals – you must write them down. Putting your wishes on paper helps you articulate things more clearly and gives you accountability for achieving your goals.

I interviewed a woman for my book who has laid out a 50-year plan for her career goal of taking a product to market that will cure cancer. Her project is massive in every respect since she must first take the cancer curing protocol through a series of clinical trials that will literally take years to accomplish. You need not carve out a 50-year plan but I urge you to take a close look at the next 90 days and write down what you want to accomplish. You can always change your mind and adjust your game plan, but dig deep to think about what you really want.

Split your 90-day goal into smaller, attainable actions and chop it into manageable baby steps. My very first book interviewee, Angela Jia Kim is the Founder of Savor the Success www.savorthesuccess.com a premium business network for women entrepreneurs. She just launched a hybrid magazine/notebook (the magbook) that will help you write down your goals, check them off, and discover solutions to realize your dreams. Her Savor magbook is a secret weapon designed to empower you to be the best you can be and focus your objectives.

This is also a good time to look to your posse, your personal Board of Directors, or resource team to assemble the masterminds that will help you reach your target. Identify your solutions instead of focusing on the problems and seek out information and help from your advisers. According to Angela – passion, plus natural ability, plus hard work, plus flow, equals results!

It’s easy to get bogged down with over ambitious to-do lists. The point of the exercise is to manage the work flow into reasonable and attainable increments. Reaching a goal is extremely gratifying so set small, attainable goals for each day and work incrementally towards the big finale. Research tells us that you are 90 times more likely to accomplish a goal when it is written down. What are you waiting for…grab a pen and write down your goals!

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Networking Before You Need It

April 19, 2010 By 2 Comments

According to Keith Ferrazzi, a networking expert and author of: Never Eat Alone, you should build your resource team before you need it. Nothing is worse than the image of the unemployed individual desperately taking business cards at a professional conference in order to find a job. The reality is that you should start connecting with people and building your community long before you need anything.

We know that networking is not just about finding a job but building your circle of friends, mentors, and colleagues as part of your personal Board of Directors. If you are in a job now or developing a business you should be thinking ahead about the ways you want to move forward and how the people on your resource team might play a role.  Building trusting relationships takes time and earning the opportunity to ask your network for support is not instantaneous, or a given.

Former President, Bill Clinton was famous for keeping index cards with notes about each new person he met daily. His forward thinking attitude helped him build a strong network even while in college as he planned for his future political career. Known for his ability to connect with people and form a personal bond, Clinton utilized his index card system to recall important facts about people he met.

I encourage my students and clients to write notes on the back of business cards they acquire to remember specifics about people. This can be especially helpful after an interview when you are composing a thank you note.  And when it comes to stewarding your network, you should write thank you notes and follow-up with phone calls intermittently to show your sincere appreciation, even when you are not seeking their assistance.

As an experiment, start logging the new people you meet each day and jot down a few notes about them on an index card, à la Bill Clinton. At the end of the week reflect upon the number of new contacts you have made and take stock of these new members of your community. From the UPS delivery person to the new client at work, this is how you grow your network one person at a time.

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