Ever wondered why some professionals seem to advance in their careers more quickly and seamlessly? The secret could be a solid trifecta of a mentor, coach, and sponsor. Join us as we break down the distinct roles each of these figures play in an executive's growth. Discover why it's critical to have not only a mentor and a sponsor, but also an external coach who is trained to deliver unbiased, tough feedback and promote growth with efficient techniques.
Moving beyond the conventional advice, we also address the art of feedback in our conversation. We expose the intricacies of these roles and how they can efficiently expedite your career progression. It's not just about finding individuals for these roles, but about selecting the right people who genuinely benefit your professional journey. We'll share our personal stories, experiences, and offer practical advice on building a robust support network.
This episode is sponsored by LucidPoint
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We help our customers do so with confidence. Turn your vision into reality, call LucidPoint today!
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CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/
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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.