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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Quick Take Podcast, the show where you
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get targeted advice and coaching for executives by
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executives.
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I'm Suzy Tomlinchuck.
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Speaker 2: I'm James Camps.
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Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to
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address the complex topic of issues that are challenging
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executives like you today.
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Hey everybody, Welcome to Quick Take.
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This is the podcast where we talk about the things that are
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on the minds of executives everywhere.
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I'm James Camps.
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I'm here with my super duper friend, Suzy Big T Tomlinchuck.
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How are you, Suzy?
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Speaker 1: That was so good.
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That was so good.
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I'm very impressed.
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Speaker 2: I pay attention.
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I have learned from the best.
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Speaker 1: Way to bring it around and not take full credit
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yourself.
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I like it.
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I got to give you props for that.
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Speaker 2: Hey, you know what I want to talk about today.
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I want to talk about a funny thing.
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I was at an event the other night and I was talking to an
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executive and we were talking about how they had grown up in
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the industry and where they had cut their teeth.
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He said you know, I really have to give all credit to this one
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guy, this other executive.
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He said he was really my mentor , my coach, my sponsor.
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I said well, that's not great.
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He goes what do you mean?
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I said can you really be all three?
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We actually had this really interesting dialogue about what
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the difference was.
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We generally agreed that that was a great story, that he could
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have one person be those three things.
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But I really felt like you would have a great perspective
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on whether that's a real possibility or are there enough
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differences between the three of those to actually talk about
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them as separate functions?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
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I think that's why people just use them interchangeably,
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because they don't understand that they're different from one
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another.
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I think a really great topic.
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All of them are really important and what?
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Always baffles me, and especially as you're coming up
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in leadership you don't realize that most executives at a high
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level have a coach.
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Speaker 2: Oh, sure For sure.
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Speaker 1: And it's their superpower.
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It's their weapon, not their weapon, their tool to be at
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their best to get a perspective on it.
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So I love this topic.
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We can definitely talk about the differences.
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Let's go ahead.
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Speaker 2: Are you glad I brought it up?
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Oh, totally Well, I was going to mention the fact that the
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companies that I find that are the most progressive and the
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ones that really want to grow leaders look to get their
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leaders' help right, whether it's a coach or a mentor or even
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a sponsor.
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Frankly, through specifically finding sponsorships, I think
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it's all good.
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Executives are trying to grow and trying to become better, and
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these are three great tools.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, so let's talk about each one.
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I love that there's three.
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That just goes with our brand so everybody will follow along
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and I need structure.
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Speaker 2: We all know that.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk first about mentors.
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So you see a lot of organizations that have mentor
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programs internally and organizations with industry have
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mentor programs, and a mentor is somebody that can listen to
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you and give you advice, but it's in context to what you
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bring to them and it's somebody that has some knowledge of the
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organization so that they have context to give you some advice
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around that, whether it's industry specific or company
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specific.
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Speaker 2: Right, so they're closer to the situation.
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You don't have to explain all the details.
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They understand that either, whether it's the project, you're
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on the department, you're in the company you work for.
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But they do have domain expertise.
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So a mentor is somebody that's relatively close in proximity.
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Speaker 1: I would say yeah, and it's somebody to get some
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context from there.
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So they're usually like yeah.
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And they're usually like a step ahead of you or a few steps
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ahead of you, so that it feels like this relationship of this
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is some of the lessons that I learned.
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This is how I got through.
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It has a lot of that kind of themes to it.
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That it's.
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This is how I would approach it .
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Speaker 2: But your boss shouldn't be your mentor, should
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they no?
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So that's not really quite right.
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Speaker 1: That's a totally different relationship.
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I believe Okay.
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Speaker 2: So that honesty and that kind of transparency
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through it not being your boss makes that mentorship that much
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more powerful then and that's such an interesting thing
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because we'll talk about coach next.
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Okay.
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Speaker 1: And I'm starting to hear, you know, because it's
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really popular now to go from boss to coach, meaning like
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don't just tell people what to do, but give them, you know,
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things to think about or ask open-ended questions.
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So there's this technique, and that's different than coaching.
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Speaker 2: Okay, so there's coaching internally.
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Speaker 1: So good leaders are coaches.
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Speaker 2: Sure sure.
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Speaker 1: They think about what inspires they.
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So there's that kind of coaching.
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Speaker 2: Hypo-coach right.
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Speaker 1: But in this context I want to talk about an executive
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coach.
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Speaker 2: Okay, okay.
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Speaker 1: An executive coach is somebody that is normally works
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at the higher levels, high potential people, somebody
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that's on the track to leadership, and they are
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normally and I think best practice is they come from the
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outside.
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Speaker 2: Right right.
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Speaker 1: And I think the importance there is.
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They need to have some separation.
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They don't have any interests in kind of the advice that
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they're giving.
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They don't have a bias, sure, and they really are thinking of
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the best interests of that individual and they can give
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them tough feedback.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: But it comes from a place of you need to hear this,
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because this is going to inspire you to be better or enable you
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to be better.
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Right oh sure Does that make sense.
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Speaker 2: That totally makes sense.
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I've also thought that coaches are often professionally trained
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as coaches too, yeah for sure, using certain techniques to
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elicit that kind of growth.
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And I think the term coach is very accessible to everybody,
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because we've all seen a sports coach or whatever, and maybe
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there is enough of analogy in the sense that, look, not
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everybody can be a lacrosse coach, not everybody can be a
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football coach, or you know.
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That takes training, knowledge, experience, and so, yeah,
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coaching is a very separate thing.
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Speaker 1: Completely.
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In fact, when I work with leaders for the first time and
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they're like I'm teaching them some techniques on coaching, the
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first thing they say I've been a coach, I've done this.
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Speaker 2: Right, it's not the same.
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Not the same, not the same.
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Yeah, for sure.
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Speaker 1: That's a bad flag.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's easy to have.
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Yeah, I hear you.
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So what do we talk about?
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We talk about mentorship.
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We talked about coaching and then sponsorship.
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Speaker 1: Nice.
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Yeah, sponsorship is a little different, and so a sponsor is
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somebody that is definitely ahead of you in I guess most
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commonly is within an organization, because not only
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do they have contextual knowledge, or what's it called
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within a company, information, but they also have the means to
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be effective.
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So a sponsor will not only provide some feedback or
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mentorship, but they will, without being asked, advocate
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for that person.
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Speaker 2: Right, I think that's the key word there advocate.
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Speaker 1: I have a good example that actually includes you.
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I had a sponsor after I'd left the company that we worked for
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and he was a senior leader that you reported into his
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organization and I was looking for a job and he sent out.
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I didn't know it, but he sent emails out to his people and
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said, hey, look out for some opportunities for this person.
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She's exceptional.
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And you told me he did that.
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Speaker 2: That's right and I would have known it.
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I didn't know that he had done that for me, and so that's a
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sponsor, yeah, that's a class of individual and that kind of
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sponsorship, yeah, and I think sponsors are super important.
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I think that they're harder to come by and it's not there's no
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like sponsorship program or that specifically built out in many
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companies.
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So that's a that's a really key differentiator.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's, you know, one of those
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things for a sponsor for sure is people say well then, how do
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you get one?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was what I was going to bring.
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Let's tie that together and go look at a sponsor and you're
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we're saying we, you need a sponsor, you need a mentor, you
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need a coach.
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How does somebody go about getting one?
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And what's that conversation like?
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Speaker 1: I think it's really important that you have all
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three in your career at some point maybe not always at the
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same time.
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Mentor could be somebody that you admire.
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It's good for your brand to even ask because it shows that
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you're open to development and shows people.
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It gives you more exposure.
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So it's an important thing to ask.
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So you can absolutely approach somebody and say, hey, could we
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have a mentor relationship?
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But give them some parameters.
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Say, could we meet once a month for the next four months?
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Speaker 2: That would be really helpful.
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Speaker 1: And I want to cover this.
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All I need is you to listen and give me some advice and context
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.
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Speaker 2: Well, I like the way you are you time.
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Box that and give us some structure, because then that
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actually takes the pressure off the person you're speaking to,
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who probably has so much going on already and has other mentor
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ease.
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Perhaps that gives them an opportunity to say yes, with
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some boundaries.
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Yeah, I like that a lot.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that one's a good one, or there might
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be a program internally.
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Speaker 2: Oh sure.
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Speaker 1: And those are good.
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I the only thing that I caution people is they'll assign you
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somebody and sometimes just understand if that's a good fit
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or not for you.
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Speaker 2: Sure, oh, that's great.
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That's great.
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So let's talk about sponsorship .
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How does someone go about finding that type of support in
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an organization?
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Speaker 1: Well, as we have identified here, not everybody
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understands these three different personas, I guess, or
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characters, and so having somebody understand what it is,
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I think, is important.
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So if I'm a high potential person, that I know that I'm
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well respected within the organization and I'm looking to
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really make some moves in the next few years, I would approach
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somebody, maybe not in my direct hierarchy, maybe just
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adjacent, and I would ask for that and I'd be very clear, just
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like with the mentor conversation is I'm looking for
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a sponsor, I'm looking for somebody that will advocate for
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me while I'm there and when I'm not there, and would you be that
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person for me?
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Speaker 2: Right, that's great.
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So let's see if we can bring it home what we're basically
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saying as an executive, as a leader, as an up and coming
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there's three things that we recommend that you pursue to
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really help you foster your growth.
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And what are those three things we're?
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Speaker 1: saying One is mentor, get a mentor, find a mentor To
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consider getting a coach and outside entity, go to your HR
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department and ask them if they have budget for that or seek out
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one on your own.
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And then the third is a sponsor .
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As you get up, I would do those in that order have a mentor
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kind of earlier in your career, then get a coach and then as you
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get higher up and you're looking to make some executive
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moves, I think that's when using a sponsor is really helpful.
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Speaker 2: Boy.
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That's super helpful and, as we're going through the strike,
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you're thinking about who has been my sponsor in the past, who
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has been my mentor and my coach in the past, and it's so
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interesting to look at how they kind of patchwork your career,
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as at certain times, this is what I needed and then I didn't
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need that anymore, and it is a journey, and those are really
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that's three great resources that you can grow, if that can
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help you grow your career Well thank you, Susie.
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Speaker 1: That was super fun and you should go thank those
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people.
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That's right.
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I will take action and go back and reach out to each one of
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them and say thank you At least three.
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Speaker 2: Three.
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There's been more than three.
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I've had more than that in this case.
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Well, thank you, susie, great topic and thank you for
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listening everybody.
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This has been Quick Take, I want to shout out to all our
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Quiksters out there Thank you for the notes.
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I appreciate that.
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Thank you, that's always fun to hear from you guys.
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This is a great topic.
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This was a topic suggested to us by one of our listeners, so
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drop us a note if you have an idea that you want us to cover
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off on.
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We are both on LinkedIn.
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Drop us a note.
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That's an easy way to listen to us.
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Thanks for joining us everybody .
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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick
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Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the minds
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of executives everywhere.
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Connect with us and share what's on your mind.
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Speaker 2: You can find us on LinkedIn, youtube or whatever
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nerdy place on the Internet you find in your podcasts.
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The things you really did are in the show notes.
