One of the most difficult jobs in business: being a “sponsor” to protect rising female executives
-Sponsoring her. Women in the workplace need both mentorship and sponsorship. The latter is the one who defends you when you’re not in the room, explains Rosalind Chow, sponsorship advocate and author of the new book Doors that can be opened.
However, sponsorships often become even bigger questions for women rather than small questions from senior leaders. High-sex women are more likely to need “protection” from their sponsors.
“Women’s protectors tend to be criticized more frequently, so female sponsors need to engage in protection more frequently than male sponsors,” says Chow, who teaches organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University. “But protection is a very expensive sponsorship action. …It means they’re running out of social capital. Every time they do this, it knocks a little more on their credibility.” Over time, it can hurt promising women in the workplace. Their sponsor’s efforts “may start to lose their effectiveness,” Chau says.
She shares examples from the book. The director of the Women’s Leadership Program recommended part-time instructors for full-time positions. The instructor is handed over and the university administration cites the lack of doctoral degrees as a determinant factor. In addition to this, the superintendent met with accusations that she had opposed the hiring process and went against the wishes of other teachers. “Because of her efforts, she was rewarded with damaged relationships and broken trust,” writes Chau.
Courtesy of PublicAffairs
This is just one of the differences in which women emerge in search of allies and support career progression. The contradiction begins Who is Women are looking for sponsors. Often other women. As men still dominate most corporate leadership, that means that “sponsor power levels” can be different for women who are rising compared to men.
Efforts to counter these gaps, such as networking, can involve unique penalties. “Networking is manipulative when done by women. When done by men, it’s like, ‘Yeah, this is what people do,'” says Chow. Women who actively network with a network are often rated for lower leadership than men. Also, connections with high stuttas people are considered negatively strategic.
Ironically, sponsorships can hurt elderly women. This is often seen by women as a more “smellless” networking. “You don’t have a focus. It’s about helping others, not trying to maximize everything for yourself,” she says.
Chow previously developed a mentorship program for black professionals at the Advanced Leadership Institute. She was aiming to push mentors from mentorship to sponsorship.
So she says one of the most important ways men can help women in the workplace is to sponsor them. Men can unleash the power they have generated and take risks that senior women often cannot if they do not have the risk of hurting their careers. A senior male leader should ask himself, “How many women do I know? How many women do I trust, spend time and admire?” She advises. “All the women you know and admire, you should be a sponsor.”
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