How to Draft: Sponsors, Mentors & Getting Ahead

How to Draft: Sponsors, Mentors & Getting Ahead

by Maureen Berkner Boyt

Women are mentoring one another to death, men are sponsoring one another to the top. That pretty much sums up what’s happening, based on the research on the topic and the observations many women have shared with me. It’s time to get ourselves some sponsors.



What’s In the Way?
Two big things- sex, or rather the implication of sex, and head trash.  Research shows that women think differently about having a sponsor than men do, somehow seeing it as cheating, or an unfair advantage. It’s time to take that trash out and understand that sponsorship is simply a part of the leadership path, and part of the way things work. A sponsor won’t even consider taking you under their wing unless they think you've got what it takes because of the risk to their personal brand, so you've got to have the goods first, and the sponsorship comes second.

The oft thought and rarely talked about barrier to sponsorship is the presumption that there’s an affair taking place when an older man takes interest in the career of a younger woman. Given the stats that men hold senior leadership position at a 10:1 ratio to women, the likelihood of an older man/younger woman sponsorship pairing is very high. Organizations need to take the lead on this one, and start an open dialogue on the topic and it’s impact on the availability of sponsor relationship for women. We need to make it safe for men and women to enter into a sponsor relationships, and that means talking about unwarranted perceptions.

What are sponsors looking for in a protege?

If someone is going to go out on a limb and sponsor you, they need to know you can deliver. They are hitching you to their wagon and their brand and want to see:
-A proven track record of results
-Growth potential
-Ambition & drive
-A strong personal brand
-Loyalty to the company & to them

In other words, a whole lot of moxie.

Resources to help you get started:

Sylvia Ann Hewlett has led the some great research on the impact of sponsorship on women’s careers and has just written a new book on the topic,  “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor”. Among her finding are the ‘Sponsorship Effect’, which amounts to 30%- more pay, more promotions, more stretch assignments. The Mentoring Women’s Network has some great resources for individuals and organizations ready to tackle the sponsorship challenge for women.

I’d love to hear some success stories, so if you've had a great sponsor do tell! Likewise, are there other barriers you've encountered?

Maureen Berkner Boyt
www.moxieexchange.com  
Maureen@moxieexchange.com

4 Keys to Getting Women In To Leadership Positions

4 Keys to Getting Women In To Leadership Positions
by Maureen Berkner Boyt

In the Spring of 2013 Moxie Exchange Movement convened its inaugural Summit on “Women, Leadership and Corporate America” in response to a need expressed by corporate leadership, diversity and talent development experts to connect with like-minded influencers committed to women’s leadership development. Participants in this groundbreaking meeting were a select group of female executives from well-known corporations who make up the Moxie Board of Advisers.
We are pleased to share a report on the findings discovered during the Summit, and we believe the ideas and insights contained within have the potential to change the status of women in business and achieve gender parity in corporate leadership. The Moxie report contains four key findings and action steps that will provide a roadmap for women and corporations committed to increasing the number of women in high-ranking leadership positions.
Download a full copy of the Spring Summit Report at: MoxieExchange.com/SummitReport

The Four Findings

#1 Make Filling the Shoes Coveted The cultural norms and the daily experience of current leaders that women observe on a daily basis are key drivers in their decision to step into a leadership role, stay in place or leave altogether. She is watching what the leader’s daily experience is like and opting in or out based on what she sees.

#2 The Secret Sauce: The Role of the Respected Translator The respected translator is a woman in a leadership position who has the absolute respect of people at all levels in the organization and has deep credibility based on her experience and the understanding. She is also committed to the long-term health and financial stability of the organization. She is consistently translating the impact actions and decisions will have on the organization’s ability to successfully promote qualified women and on individual’s abilities to be prepared and positioned for promotions

#3 Don’t Let Her Pull the Plug: Offer Life Support Those companies that are proactive, and discuss both the emotional and practical implications of life events, and offer empathy and support solutions stand a much better chance of retaining their female talent. The best life-support solutions employed by Summit participant companies take into account the realities of balancing multiple priorities and ensure that women are not forced to make the choice; climb the leadership ladder or leave.

#4 Promise Little, Perform Much Efforts to get to gender-equity in leadership often start out as a business imperative, become a business strategy, and end up as a marketing strategy. Under-promising and over-delivering on commitments to investing in women’s leadership development strategies led to strong engagement of high-potential women.

Make Filling the Shoes Coveted
Seek feedback from a group of high potential women about the perception of what being a leader at your organization is like – the good, the bad and the ugly. Do something with what you learn.
As a leadership team, discuss the impression of leadership roles you are setting by your day-to-day activities (email, hours, flexibility of schedule etc.) Agree on norms and how you will communicate those norms in action and words.

The Secret Sauce: The Role of the Respected Translator
Identify women that are already serving as respected translators in your company. Discuss the purpose and the importance of the role with them. Thank them for playing a key function in women’s ability to successfully move into leadership roles at your company.
Add to the ranks. Gather a small group of women who fit the criteria of a respected translator and discuss the role and the importance it plays. Appoint several key, interested women to the role.
Connect new and existing respected translators to one another so they can discuss roadblocks, share ideas and solutions across the organization, and support one another in the role.

Don’t Let Her Pull the Plug: Offer Life Support
Be proactive. Have key life-event conversations with up-and-coming women, including “How I Did It” formal or informal lunches with senior women.
Map the typical leadership path in your organization, including travel and time commitments and timeframe for average advancement. Overlay the typical times at which major life events occur (marriage, children, care of aging parents) and note the intersection of those events and the leadership path. Use whatever methodology your company employs for business case problem solving, and design solutions that mitigate the risk of highly talented women exiting during the life-event intersection points.
Involve her family, especially spouses/partners in the conversation about her leadership path. Change the dynamic from ‘work vs. home’ with the woman caught in the middle to ‘we’re all in this together’ to help her succeed.

Promise Little, Perform Much
Make it real. There is consistent data about financial performance and gender diversity in leadership. Take that data and your company’s financial performance data and create a financial model showing financial performance with and without leadership gender parity. Add in the statistics about the impending labor shortage and war for talent to make the solid business case for gender parity being a business imperative.
 Make individuals and the organization accountable for results. Tie a name to a goal, a number and a deadline. What gets measured gets done.

More Information Available
Download a full copy of the Spring Summit Report at:
MoxieExchange.com/SummitReport

Power Moves

Power Moves
by Maureen Berkner Boyt

Issue 3, bullets of Chapter 3 - Power Moves

1. Keep an accomplishments list or portfolio of your work that you can easily access to remind yourself what you are capable of.


2. If you’re in a position to hire or select vendors, understand that qualified women may not be stepping up. Seek out women you believe are qualified and ask them to consider applying or pursuing the work. Sometimes a nudge is all it takes.


3. Change your mindset from ‘already performing’ to ‘able to grow into’ when looking at potential opportunities.


4. Take requirements as suggestions. Go for that big client, pursue the promotion, ask for the stretch assignment.


5. Catch yourself when you find yourself short-­‐changing your abilities and questioning your qualifications and change your internal dialogue to, “I’m ready and I’m qualified.” If that’s not enough, think of a person you know that you are most shocked to find out has been very successful (I have a few stoners I knew in high school I think about in these situations) and remind yourself that if they can do it, you sure as hell can, too. Do the same for other women if you hear them down-­‐playing their work or abilities.

Wonder Woman Is A Fraud

by Maureen Berkner Boyt

1.  Learn to be an effective delegator. This means setting everyone up for success. You need to be explicit about expectations of results, timelines, and levels of decision-making authority. Know that your team may do something differently than you would have, but that the end result is what is important.


2.  Share with your team that you have set a goal to be a better delegator and create a stronger team. Ask them to call you on it when they see you acting like Wonder Woman. Add an item to your team meeting agenda where the team will quickly grade your delegation effectiveness and give you suggestions for improvement.

3.  Use the power of questions to elicit the best from your team and family. Here are some good questions to start with: What do you think we should do? What ideas do you have? What do you think the next step should be? How would you handle it?


4.  Ask for help in your personal life. You should not be the only one taking care of the house, shopping etc. If your family is unwilling or inconsistently stepping up, get a new family. Joking! Pay someone. Your time is far too valuable to spend cleaning toilets. If you’re worried about the money, ask that this be the gift you get for your birthday and the holidays.

5.  Be kind to yourself. Guilt is self-limiting. There is always going  to be someone that you think ‘has it all together’ who is bringing a 3-tiered cake to your kid’s soccer game when you brought the pre-made Rice Krispie treats. You are doing the best you can, and it is enough. You’re the only one who compares and cares.

Maureen Berkner Boyt - Book 1 - Chapter 1 Own It, Create It – Book 1 – 5 Secrets of Women Who Have Made it to the Top

Maureen Berkner Boyt, founder of The Moxie Exchange Movement in Fort Collins, Colorado, will be sharing ideas from her books highlighting steps and systems used by successful female leaders she’s interviewed from around the country.

Maureen Berkner Boyt, Founder, " Rock Your Moxie Contributor "

1. Create a list of your strengths, abilities and successes. Keep it in a handy place in an easily updateable format. Review it and add to it quarterly.

2. Ask five people to share what they believe your professional and leadership strengths are. Do not ask your parents! You won’t believe them, because you’ll think they’re inherently biased, which they should be. If they are not, you shouldn’t want to know what they think anyway! The five should include a mix of people in your world, such as a boss/former boss, co-worker, employee or direct report, good friend and your partner. Write down their responses and add them to your own list

3. Get a group of 5-6 kick butt professional women together. Let them know in advance that each of you will be sharing things you are good at, strengths you have and recent accomplishments. Provide wine if it’s slow going at first! Joking aside, make sure each of you can articulate in a strong way what you’re good at. This practice will help you ‘own it’ in real-world scenarios.

4. Create three lists in relation to your work and professional development: things to start doing, stop doing and stay the course on. Pick one each week to take action on

5. At the end of each day, review your calendar. What action do you need to take based on what happened in your day? No more than three things should make the cut, so make them worth your time and energy.

Maureen Berkner Boyt, Head Moxie
www.moxieexchange.com
"Where business and the coolest women you know collide"