- Mentors and sponsors are gonna be completely vital
for your career progression.
Stay tuned to understand how these relationship change
and unfold over time and most importantly,
how to make them work really well for you.
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(calm music)
So now we know that both mentors
and sponsors are gonna be vital for your career success,
and today I'm gonna give you a top tip
on how to find one of each.
And at the end, I'm gonna tell you the deadly secret,
the five word question that you never wanna ask a mentor,
but here's the tricky bit, you actually need to know
the answer in order to get their advocacy.
I'm Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris, founder of inclusiq
and I've been working with professional women
on these issues for the last 15 years.
So let's start with the big secret,
while sponsors often start off as mentors,
mentors rarely start off as sponsors.
So what's the difference exactly?
Sponsors, really importantly, they take a risk
with their own credibility to give you a leg up.
They'll recommend you and they're rarely going to do that
for someone that they don't know or haven't mentored.
So first, get a mentor,
and then we'll look at getting a sponsor.
So here's my top tip to get a mentor.
Go for someone who's approachable
and whose work overlaps with your own.
Now when I wrote my first book "Beyond the Boys' Club",
a senior leader in a law firm, he told me how his office
was at the end of a hallway, but how many guys,
some young bucks, would be often passing
and say, you know what, I'm just passing you.
Well, unless they were planning on jumping out
a 12th story window, no one is ever
passing this guys office.
He saw through them as trying to get his time
simply because he was senior.
By comparison, he'd always give a bit more time
for the office juniors, who were working on projects
with him who at the end of their conversations,
may say something simple like can I get your take
on a situation I'm having?
This meant he was approachable, but primarily for those
who he had something in common.
So don't just approach the most senior person you know of
because that's really obvious and annoying to them.
So my first question to you is,
where did you find one of your first mentors?
If you think back, they probably have nothing to do
with your job that you've got now.
They might have been a teacher, a minister,
a sports coach or even a scout leader?
Take a moment and write out their profession below
in the comments so that we can give these people
the amazing props that they deserve.
Okay, so here's the chronology
that you're rarely gonna find a sponsor
if that person hasn't acted as a mentor for you before.
A sponsor who's never mentored you,
well they've got no skin in the game.
So why should they go out on a limb
and actively advocate on your behalf?
So, my top tip to find a sponsor,
think about all the mentors you've had
and focus on someone who's complimented
the quality of your work, who works in a similar division,
who's got clout in the company,
or another tack is to identify someone
who'd benefit if you moved up,
perhaps to their team or join a project
on which they're already working.
Then turn them into a mentor first before you expect
an ounce of advocacy, so they've got that
beloved skin in the game and are invested in your success.
So now, I'm going to share that five word deadly question
that I really never ask you to advise a mentor
and that is, will you be my mentor?
That question, while actually flattering
sounds like it could be a lot of work
and may give your ideal mentor
pause for thought before they agree.
A better approach is to say,
can I run something past you or I was curious about how you
transitioned from X to Y,
can I buy you a cup of coffee and hear more?
Once you've made that approach,
you'll need to know exactly how to turn
that person into a mentor.
Luckily, I've created "How to Find a Mentor in 5 Steps"
that's gonna tell you just that.
I've given this advice to thousands of clients
and it's really the easiest way to start.
So all you need to do is click the link below
and enter your email address.
And if you love the topic of mentoring and coaching
but you haven't watched the rest of our other videos
in this playlist, go and check that out.
I'm gonna link to it below.
So I would love to know how many of you
who have someone, a sponsor who advocated
on your behalf, if you've benefited this way,
give me a sponsor power in the comments below.
Good luck with your search for both mentors
and sponsors and come back
and let us know your success stories.