Kenneth的部落格

Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career

別再找饅頭(mentor)了，該找Sponsor.

一開始讀這本書是想跟一個群組裡來讀書會，可是沒有人想要讀這本書，而我還是把這本書讀完了。

這本書帶給我很多觀點， 雖然作者主要是寫給女性工作者的，因為作者在書中不斷的鼓勵女性工作者，也以女性角度來看事情與討論事情。

例如: Women increasingly needed their earning power and sought to fulfill dreams beyond home and family. Women are not afraid of hard work, but they most certainly fear what hard work will net them in the way of greater visibility, accountability, and time away from their families.

就如以往一樣先研究目錄，研讀目錄有一項重要任務，就是要挑出全書的重點章節，進行精讀，不過這次中文翻譯似乎都有扭曲的原來的意思，就是只是帶出那一章節的一小部分，其實作者寫的想表達還要更多，不過譯者一定有看完整本書才翻譯的，意思雖然有不同但是跟內容卻有相關的，建議還是仔細看完。

第一部　The Sponsor Imperative為什麼需要贊助人？
第一章　What Is Sponsorship什麼是贊助人
第二章　How Sponsorship Works如何開啟贊助關係

第二部　Road Map for Protégés 成功發展職涯贊助關係
第三章　Embrace Your Dream and Do a Diagnostic畫出夢想職涯
第四章　Scan the Horizon for Potential Sponsors鎖定潛在贊助人
第五章　Distribute Your risk善用2+1定律
第六章　Understand That’s It’s Not All About You保持回饋與聯繫
第七章　Come Through on Two Obvious Fronts展示成績與忠誠
第八章　Develop and Deploy Your Currency找到個人特色做表現王牌
第九章　Lean In and Lead with a Yes把握機會挺身而進

第三部　Pitfalls and Trip Wires陷阱與阻礙
第十章　Sex性別間的安全距離
第十一章　Distrust被偏見限制
第十二章　Executive Presence欠缺領導架勢

後記　Castles再畫一個夢想計劃

第一部  The Sponsor Imperative

Who’s pulling for you? Who’s got you back? Who’s putting your hat in the ring?

最近幾年，很多人都說要在職涯中要找饅頭(mentor)，導師很重要，在職場上你絕對需要導師的幫助，因為導師給予你建議，而你會跟他常常交流，你覺得從他那邊受益匪淺，他就是你的饅頭了。 在讀這本書之前，我是覺得只要饅頭就好，剩下就靠自己努力，看完這本書後，覺得作者說的對，應該還要找Sponsor，因為Sponsor跟自己的利益是相通的並互利的。Sponsor 的中文翻譯是贊助者，贊助者是相信你和願意投資你，更重要是他會幫你爭取機會，因為當你得利時，贊助者也會因此得利，簡單說是贊助人會擴大解讀你的能力、將你引薦給其他資深領導者、提升你在公司內的能見度、持續為你提供機會、針對你表現的形象給予建議、將你引薦給客戶，以及給你誠實的批判意見，提升你的競爭力。用作者的話總結贊助者與饅頭的不同:Mentors give, whereas sponsors invest

What is a sponsor?

A sponsor is a senior leader who, at a minimum:

• Believe in me and goes out on a limb on my behalf
• Advocates for my next promotion
• Provides “air cover” so I can take risk

• Expands my perception of what I can do
• Makes connections to senior leaders
• Promotes my visibility
• Provides stretch opportunities
• Gives advice on “presentation of self”
• Makes connections to clients/ customers
• Gives honest/critical feedback on skill gaps

Sponsorship versus Mentorship

第二部　Road Map for Protégés 成功發展職涯贊助關係

贊助者不會從天而降，也不會憑空出現，第一步當然是自己身上要先散發出吸引他的「氣味」，但是當贊助者靠近以後呢？要做的事不是「感謝」而已，更要深化雙方關係，朝互利、雙贏的方向邁進，讓自己也逐步成為贊助者不可或缺的夥伴，這段關係才不會因只有單向給予而趨於失衡、貧瘠，畢竟對贊助者來說，他也有很多其他對象可以選擇。

1.作者透過分析組織的結構教我們如何找出往上的路

Assess Your Organization :

• Is your firm flat or hierarchical? If there is a ladder, how is it constructed?
• What do titles mean in terms of what you do, where you do it, and whom you manage? Where are you on the ladder?
• If your organization is flat and titles mean nothing, how do you then navigate the organization?
• What deliverables will get you promoted?

2. 贊助人不一定要找比自己高階層的，同時也要注意與自己同一層的，因為有些人或許會爬得比自己還快並會帶給自己機會，不過主要是主動找尋你的贊助人。

Choose your  targets carefully

• Friends don’t make the best sponsors.
• By all means impress your boss but seek as your sponsor someone with the power to change your career

Get in front of would-be sponsors

• Attend networking events, conferences and extracurricular or informal or informal gatherings where you might have occasion to approach your target and introduce yourself. Be able to articulate not just who you are and what you do but your distinct value added.
• Request a meeting with your target sponsor for career development advice.

2. 尋找與吸引贊助人.

Increase your internal visibility.

• Ask your boss to introduce you to his or her boos
• Spearhead a philanthropic project, cultural event , or company sports team.

Increase your external visibility.

• Join a nonprofit board relevant to your industry or sector.
• Attend conferences and figure out how to be a speaker, panelist, or facilitator.

Figure out the levels of power and work them..

• Timing is everything when you think your job is under siege. Be proactive: as soon as you see the handwriting on the wall, mobilize your external as well as internal champions
• Change firms.

• 1. Delivering outstanding bottom-line results
• 2. Hitting targets and deadlines
• 3. Displaying an impressive work ethic and availability.

• 1. Demonstrating trustworthiness and discretion and having her sponsor’s back
• 2. Burnishing her sponsor’s brand across the organization
• 3. Growing her sponsor’s legacy.

第三部 Pitfalls and Trip Wires

1. 對贊助人要保持距離，別因為是贊助人而有性關係。

2. 打破一些社會偏見:

2.1  選一個運動或參加一個團體，你不用成為專家，但是要持續參與接觸，這樣你能說上幾句與同事或長官聊。

2.2 敢於求助: 需要幫忙就求助，我們不是萬能的，有些事要讓會的人來做，別擔心有損自己的形象。

3. Executive Presence : 在往上爬的過程中，最需要具備的就leadership，所以在往上之前就要努力培養leadership，第一是外表 第二是溝通，在溝通時有幾個小技巧例如音調放低，少說還有只講重點等等。第三是Gravitas: 當你知道你是對的時候，就要堅持到底。

三部的總結:

規劃未來藍圖，縮小贊助人所在範圍；

• 從範圍中篩選，有影響力和決策權的人就是首選；
• 最好能在公司內找2位，組織外找1位贊助人，分散風險；
• 定期聯繫贊助人，主動回饋成績、進度、困難；
• 以工作表現和忠誠加深信任；
• 發揮自己的優勢，讓更多人看見你；
• 機會來了，積極正面回應，挺身而進！

不論你是要在組織中向上爬還是要創業，學習尋找、培養與聯繫贊助人，都是打通更上一層樓的關鍵人際策略！

Career success starts with building a castle

– to give shape and form to a vision of where you want your journey to take you.

When building a castle, keep the most critical elements:

• I’d built a castle and embraced my dream.
• I’d targeted the right leader and gotten myself in front of them.
• I’d figured out that for every “get”, I needed to give.
• I gave 110 percent and stood firm in my loyalties, thereby establishing a two-way street.
• I’d discovered my special currency – the value-added that was all my own but that would effectively burnish and expand on what others brought to the table.
• And I absolutely led with a yes. I learned to lean in with everything I had.