It is easy to place too much emphasis on what individuals, mostly women, need to do differently, in order to progress their careers. The reality is that often it is organisations that need to change. However, if your organisation is not helping to co-create your career, then it’s time to take action yourself. And now is a good time. Unemployment is low, and there are opportunities to move employer.
Careers do not take place in isolation. They take place within webs of enabling relationships. Your career success is not just a function of your talent and hard work. It also depends on the culture of your organisation, your leaders, and your peers. Leaders, supervisors, and peers all play a part in building the web, as do you.
There is some good advice out there about how to ask for a pay rise. And thats great. But before you can make a compelling case for a pay rise you need to have had the opportunity to develop, be visible and to shine. Sponsorship, that is the creation of opportunities which allow you to develop, needs to be an integral part of how your supervisor and your workplace operate.
The career spiral diagram I have developed shows how sponsorship works.
This spiral emerged from my research, where senior successful leaders described their careers and the sponsorship that had contributed to their career success. Sponsorship created a positive spiral of success, where each opportunity lay the foundation for the next opportunity, and in fact made the next opportunity more likely.
This is the upward spiral, where sponsorship is career-making. Sponsorship, the provision of opportunity, provides powerful validation and boosts self esteem, allows individuals to develop skills and capacity, increases their confidence, builds their networks and visibility, and this in turn creates further opportunity. The person is valued, rewarded and promoted. This is how sponsorship develops talent.
Equally a lack of sponsorship can result in a negative career-breaking spiral, where sponsorship becomes less and less likely. Without opportunity people lack validation, confidence decreases, there is a lack of visibility and networks, opportunity remains lacking, talent is not developed. The individual’s capacity to contribute, be promoted, be valued or rewarded is diminished, often leading to discouragement, stagnation and sometimes exit.
A participant on a mentoring program remarked on how thin the line is that separates the upward and downward spiral, and this is true. One critical act of sponsorship can make all the difference.
Where you would currently place yourself? You will have been at different places at different times in your career, with different roles, bosses, and employers. It is not static. You are not stuck.
If you’ve placed yourself below the line, and are currently experiencing the downward spiral it is time to take stock. Don’t blame yourself and don’t hand in your resignation letter straight away either! There are ways that you can increase the likelihood of sponsorship.
Firstly, investigate. Develop, what I like to call, ‘sponsorship savvy’. How do opportunities get distributed in your workplace. Is it all informal taps on the shoulder. Or is there a process in place? Is it based on affinity rather than talent? Is it those who spruik their own success who get ahead? Is there a boys network or other form of in-group to which you don’t belong? Ask questions - how did you get that opportunity? Talk to people about their careers and what opportunities have been important to them. Make sponsorship visible in your workplace.
Secondly, voice your ambition. Hard work and doing a good job is never enough. Are there ways you can put your hand up? Advocate for yourself? Use your performance development review process to discuss opportunities you’d like? Can you nominate yourself for a committee, or a development course? Perhaps do something outside your organisation if it will be valued by the organisation, for example engage with professional bodies.
Thirdly, make yourself visible. This is difficult for those with caring responsibilities who see socialising as taking time they can’t afford. As the workplace opens back up, go back into the office at least on some days even if you prefer to work remotely. Make yourself very visible on those days. Have coffee, do lunch. Don’t under-estimate the power of corridor chat in building those webs of enabling relationships. The reality is that visibility is key.
Lastly, make a realistic assessment. Is responsibility for your career success shared? Are others interested in your development, in providing opportunities, in helping you grow? Are there systemic issues that obstruct this? For example unchecked bias that is accepted, a lack of accountability for leaders in developing staff, a hyper-competitive environment where people don’t support each other’s careers because they are too busy looking after #1, or particular roles that lead nowhere?
If you make a decision to seek change, do your homework. Now that you’ve developed your sponsorship savvy you’ll know what to look for in any new employer. And what questions to ask in your interview. Good luck.