Three ingredients recipe for internal career development.

I often think of internal career development as a dish with multiple different recipes. Just like Soup – be that Italian Minestrone or Japanese Miso Soup or Mexican Tortilla Soup - these are all Soups, a universal dish found in almost every cuisine worldwide, but having very different ingredients and cooking instructions.

Same with internal career development – there are many recipes and cooking instructions, but essentially covering one big topic – internal career development.

In my point of view, one of the best recipes is a three-ingredient one: Internal Networking, Career Sponsors and Transferable skills (or rather the ability to identify and articulate transferable skills). Let me unpack each of those ingredients and why I think they are important.

When it comes to internal networking, what I find most often is that we talk a lot about it, but never really in depth and/or never really past the first interaction/connection. Maybe its only me, but it seems that it is actually the “nurturing of your network” that is way more challenging than making the first step, first ping, first email, first approach.

I also often feel that many of us do not really understand what’s the point of internal networking and maybe even sometimes resent the artificial meet and greet and small talk approach. ??

Well, internal networking is really about:

“As you get more and more senior in the organization or you aspire to acquire a senior level position, more of the decisions about promotions are increasingly made based on judgement, and judgement is influenced by relationships.” Carla Harris, “Strategize to win”

But then – how do we actually network?

In practical terms you may think of your organization’s ERG-s (Employee Resource Groups), different Teams or Slack channels, in person local company events, all hands meetings, etc.

In all of those:

Be proactive in reaching out and articulating why do you want to connect with them. Do not be afraid to be transparent:

• “I’m looking for an opportunity to participate in projects that would give me exposure to XYZ or that would contribute to my experience in project management”.
• “I want to pick your brain about your career story and how did you do this or that and what are the learnings and/or advice”.
• “Looking for an advice and objective feedback on my professional background and a potential future in your team”.
• “Looking for a mentor and after reviewing your background, thought I’d ask you if you have an availability”.

Nurture relations – this is for me the toughest part. Save time in your calendar for these “nurturing” to happen!

• Consistency is key here. This has to be planful, and to make it simpler – act on your new connection immediately:
• Prompt follow up. If you have met during an offline event – send an email or IM shortly after the event, expressing your pleasure in meeting them and reference a specific point from your conversation to show that you were actively engaged. If they shared insights or advice during your conversation – express gratitude. If there is any action that you have now planned based on their insights/advice – feel free to say: “would you mind if we connected in 2-3 months so that I could share my progress or learnings and get your view/advice on that?”
• Connect on Linkedin and use this platform to regularly like and comment on their posts (if they post anything ??)
• Offer coffee or lunch next time both of you are in the office to catch up. And if you are thinking – what will we be talking about? – try investing your time in learning more about them and business they are involved in, read the updates and see the outcomes of their work!
• Keep an interest in them. Note if they have been awarded something and congratulate them, if they have changed roles - use this as a reason to reconnect and learn more about their new role and move.
• Ping them if there is an event (virtual of in-person) coming up (like a company event in the office or an all-company call or a training workshop) and ask if they will be joining. If so – suggest catching up for a coffee before or afterwards.
• Be the connector! Think about your network, if you’ve spoken to someone and they shared an interest in something, and you’ve also spoken to someone else who is actually working on that something – connect them!

Okay, enough with internal networking, hell for an introvert ?? Let’s talk about Sponsors.

Let’s start by distinguishing Mentors from Sponsors. Mentors provide guidance and advice. They may guide you to an opportunity, support you in times when you are hesitant, can connect you to interesting people but rarely would be actually speaking for yourself or advocating for yourself. Mentors can sometimes become sponsors.

Sponsor is a person who is an advocate for you behind the closed doors, some who argues on your behalf. Your success within a company or team does not solely depend on your contribution and performance. It also depends on someone supporting and sponsoring you (believes in you, giving you a chance, giving you their support, vouch for you), as we move through our careers.

As you get more senior in your career, the content of what you do every day becomes less critical than who you are working for/with and who is sponsoring you.

Sponsors:

• Talk about you when you are not in the room. Talk good about you ??
• Make recommendations (assignments, promotions, awards)
• Open doors for you, especially those you might not know exist
• Show your and their network that they believe in you

“There are many outstanding, smart and highly qualified candidates, and often there is no clear competitive differential among them. It is human nature: we are all more comfortable with people we know than those we don’t. What really makes the difference between candidates is who is going to speak for them behind closed doors where the decision is being made. Your performance may get your name on the list of candidates under discussion, but if your name is called and no one can or will speak in your behalf, then the discussion moves to the next person.” Carla Harris, “Expect to win”

So how do you find or identify a sponsor?

Actually, you may already have a sponsor or sponsors! Let us look at the common behaviours of a sponsor:

-????????? Public endorsement: Sponsors publicly endorse and champion your capabilities. They are willing to speak positively about your achievements and advocate for your promotions or key assignments.

-????????? Providing opportunities: Sponsors actively seek out and provide high-visibility opportunities for you. This could include challenging projects, leadership roles, or exposure to decision-makers within the organization. They may ping you with “hey, here’s this interesting project, do you want to come join?”. Have you ever been just pinged by someone saying – this is a cool role I think you should try it! Or people pulling you into interesting projects you would not have known about if it wasn’t for them? This is a sponsorship behaviour!

-????????? Defend and protect: Sponsors are willing to defend and protect you when necessary. This may involve advocating for your interests in meetings, ensuring fair treatment, and actively supporting your career progression.

-????????? Connect you with Networks: Sponsors introduce you to their professional networks, opening doors to new opportunities and connections. This exposure can significantly enhance your visibility within the organization.

As for the key strategies to find a sponsor (sponsors) – we can start with these few:

-????????? Demonstrate strong performance and potential. Make sure your work is consistently great and goes above and beyond expectations. Sponsors are more likely to invest in individuals who have proven themselves.

-????????? Build visibility. Increase your visibility within the org by taking on high-impact projects, volunteering and participating in cross-functional projects. The more people who know about your capabilities, the higher the chance of attracting a sponsor. But be thoughtful about visibility – its not just any visibility, but visibility in front of the right people.

-????????? Identify potential sponsors. Look for individuals in leadership positions who have the influencing power to support your career advancement. These are people who can open doors, provide opportunities and actively advocate for you.

-????????? Articulate your career goals. Clearly and regularly communicate your career goals and aspirations to everyone. When others know what you are aiming for, they are more likely to support you in achieving those goals or advice you to connect to someone who could help you.

-????????? Show gratitude and reciprocate. Acknowledge and appreciate the support you receive. Train yourself to identify those sponsorship events and acknowledge people who lead those, appreciate and show gratitude. Additionally, be ready to reciprocate when possible, creating a mutually beneficial relationship, or, even better, be proactive!

Now to the last ingredient: Transferable skills.

What is a transferable skill?

“Transferable skills are those you can carry from one job to another. Transferable skills are soft skills that can be applied across various industries and roles. You often develop transferable skills as you work with different departments and roles. You can also gain transferable skills outside of work – in college or university, during a community project, when working on personal or creative projects or as a volunteer.” (Transferable skills: what companies want | Indeed.com UK )

Think about skills like:

Communication – ability to effectively convey information and ideas to others.

Teamwork – ability to work collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal.

Adaptability – the ability to adjust to new situations and learn new skills quickly.

Problem solving – ability to identify and analyse problems and develop effective solutions.

Leadership – ability to inspire, motivate, and guide others towards a common goal.

Time management – ability to prioritise tasks and use time effectively to meet deadlines.

Organization – ability to plan and coordinate tasks and resources to achieve goals.

Creativity – ability to generate new ideas and think outside the box.

Attention to detail – ability t focus on the details of a task and ensure accuracy.

Coachability – the ability to accept feedback and learn from it to improve performance.

Once you have identified your transferable skills (list all the skills you have now or practiced in your previous jobs, uni etc) - list all the skills the new interesting role that you have been looking at for a while has, and look for similar skills.

Start your career discussion with potential hiring managers with transferable skills. “I may seem to be coming from a totally different experience and background, but I would like to tell you more about what skills my job(s) included which, by the looks of it, are exactly the skills you are looking for”.

Here are few books that I quoted here and thoroughly enjoyed reading. Highly recommended ??

Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career: Amazon.co.uk :?Hewlett, Sylvia Ann: 9781422187166: Books

Expect to Win: 10 Proven Strategies for Thriving in the Workplace: Amazon.co.uk : Harris,?Carla: 9781399806046: Books

Lead to Win: How to be a Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader in Any Environment eBook :?Harris, Carla: Amazon.co.uk : Books

Strategize to Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up and Start Over in Your Career (Audio?Download): Carla Harris, Carla Harris, Nicholas Brealey Publishing: Amazon.co.uk : Books