Women in Tech: Career Sponsorship Important to have the right "power base" and someone to help you, support you and protect you Three Steps to Successful Career Sponsorship - Women in Business Superseries Centre for Talent Innovation: Why Do Sponsors Matter? - Lack of women in C-suite - Not due to credentials, track record OR lack of ambition (polled senior women in UK and found 91% had ambition to be promoted! Men: 79%) - Sponsorship gender gap: 50% of senior men more likely to have a sponsor than women - The Sponsor Effect: sponsor really helps happiness with career trajectory A Sponsor Is... - Not a mentor - Not for life (career changes, people change, sponsors change) - Not your boss - Not private (unlike mentoring; your sponsor is your advocate / "cheerleader") - Not a role model (though women often look for sponsors that ARE role models, that they can look to) - Not just one person (you need a portfolio of sponsors) - Not a matching contest (look for someone who will bring something new that you can learn from) - Not likely to be female (statistically! Reality) - IS one person who can specifically help with an area of your career How do they help - Inner circle (more senior, hear about things sooner) - Your champion (both offence & defence) - Critical feedback (they are publicly supporting you so they are going to tell you what the reality is - no sugar coating) How Do You Get A Sponsor - You earn one - Marketing + Strategy Rule 1) Commitment, Commitment, Commitment - Attitude (strong work ethic, push yourself all the time, "marketing mode all the time": always positive with your sponsor. Martha Lane Fox: always be upbeat) - Loyalty (100% trustworthy: see everything, tell no one, be "ears on the ground") - Consistency Rule 2) The Favour System "Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill" - Return favours (ingrained within us anyway, hardwired human behaviour) - Obligation: proactive (eg trader-investment banker relationship fix), reactive (in a bind, ask for help getting out of situation) Rule 3) The Go-To Person "Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher" Be an expert in something so people come to you - Added value (figure out how you bring expertise to the table; don't undermine what you know / what you're good at) - Position your message (you can't be the go-to person if no one knows what you're good at; pick the right time, the right people to talk to; how you deliver the message) - Reputation (essential that you guard your reputation: make sure others are aware of it; people assume the worst rather than the best) Biggest mistakes Q: - Assuming people knew what I was good at / not telling the story yourself or the right bits of the story (Aimie) - Choosing someone who was very unreliable (found out from another sponsor who HATED him) - Not recognising that I was being sponsored at the time