Advancing your career with a mentor

The adage, "It is not what you know, it is who you know," is very true. Having a sponsor or mentor is extremely important to the career minded individual. The unfortunate aspect is that the “who” needs to be at a higher rank than the one you hold.

Having a mentor, sponsor, or advocate for your career will give you access to attending meetings with decision makers. And, you guessed it, one of those decisions they make is who will be promoted.

The sponsor will teach you how to act, speak, and otherwise participate in important meetings and then see that you are included in the meetings with higher ranking officials. These meetings could be large groups or smaller, more private meetings. Regardless of the size, they are your opportunity to shine.

Prior to the meeting make sure your sponsor clues you in on the personalities of key attendees and the protocol that will likely be used. Participate as much as possible but make sure your participation adds value.

After the meeting get a quick debrief from your sponsor while thoughts are fresh in their mind. Another recap later will also be important.

Most important, do not participate in or attend any meeting where you will be so nervous you will make a bad impression. At high levels of organizations first impressions are very hard to shake off.

About the author:

Rick Weaver has half a century’s experience in leadership development in retailing. He founded Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and business development consultancy company in 2002. His major accomplishments include working himself from stock clerk to director at a Fortune 50 retail chain and building a $40MM+ construction company in under 5 years. Today he works as an Executive Search Consultant matching management talent with the job culture for which they are uniquely wired.