Whats The Key Difference Between Massive Career Success And Stagnation? Sallie Krawcheck, past head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney, shares her career experience: When I started at Sanford Bernstein, one senior colleague took a real interest in my work: he read my research, corrected it, coached me on presentations, critiqued me afterwards, talked me up to clients, and advocated for me to receive promotions….and was vocal to management when his advice was not taken. I know this cut years off of my career trajectory because I could compare myself to (equally hard-working and certainly smarter) colleagues who started at about the same time I did, but were a couple of years behind in their success. Ok, so how do you get one of these magical sponsors? How do you turn a by-definition-less-involved mentor into a sponsor? As with all relationships, there is no easy answer. One way to start is to ask for feedback ALL THE TIME; the resulting give-and-take can form the first steps to a sponsorship relationship, as the sponsor becomes invested in your success and gains trust in you. For women in particular, proactively asking for feedback is crucial, because research has shown senior men are less willing to give women feedback (and, yes, it’s because they’re nervous we will cry….and, no, I’m not making this up.) (Full link in comments; the rest of this advice is gold.)
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 00:14:29 +0000
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