#sponsorher

Dear Aspiring Woman,

As an organization invested in creating more women leaders in the world, we are constantly looking for ways to support women leaders and contribute to ecosystems that will foster their growth to senior and influential roles. Over the years, our work with hundreds of women, conversations with senior leaders and research on what it will take to increase the percentage of women in top leadership roles, has made it clear to us that to move the needle, not only do we need to create more awareness about sponsorship as a concept, but we need to actively promote it as a positive practice.

What is sponsorship?

Sponsorship is active support by someone appropriately placed in the organization who has a significant influence on decision-making processes and who is advocating for, protecting, and fighting for the career advancement of an individual.

Why is sponsorship important?

As per a report published by Catalyst, women start out behind and often remain behind men, even with mentoring. However, when women’s mentors are highly placed, women are just as likely as men to get promoted. That’s where power and sponsorship come into play. A highly placed, influential mentor, more precisely called a sponsor, goes far beyond giving general career feedback and advice; a sponsor can propel a protégé to the top of a list or pile of candidates or even eliminate the list itself.

How does sponsorship create a win-win for sponsors and organizations as well?

Sponsorship not only advances the career of the protege, it benefits the sponsor and the organization as well. The sponsor gains important feedback and perspectives about levels within the organization that they may no longer be directly in touch with. It enhances their influence further. For organizations, the direct benefit is effective leadership, greater employee satisfaction, higher retention, more diverse leadership, and a culture driven to pay it forward.

Let’s look at
the statistics:

Only 4.2% Women CEOs

Only 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women – The Sponsor Effect by Sylvia Ann Hewlett

About 20% women handle big responsibilities

By the time women reach the upper middle management levels, only about 20% are in jobs with profit and loss responsibility.

Women’s mentors are less senior than those of the men

Having a mentor increases the likelihood of promotion two years later for men, but had no effect on promotion for women. One reason was that the women’s mentors were less senior than those of the men and, as a result, lacked the clout needed to advocate for them.

More sponsors for Men

Men are 46 percent more likely than women to have a sponsor

The #sponsorher Campaign

Our campaign, #SponsorHer is aimed at increasing awareness around the need for sponsorship for emerging women leaders as well as its positive impact on the sponsor and the culture of the organization. We will be running awareness campaigns, sharing stories around sponsorship, and useful information on how to find a sponsor and how to be an impactful sponsor.

You can support our campaign by:

Sharing your stories

Please share you sponsorship story with us. Tell us about how you have created a meaningful and rewarding sponsorship connect.

Ask for support

If you feel the need for support in form of coaching around how to prepare yourself to find the right sponsor, please reach out to us.

Get in touch

If you would like to contribute to this campaign in any way, or would like us to speak to the leaders in your organization about sponsorship, please get in touch with us at manisha@shenomics.com

We look forward to creating a world where women do not hesitate to have their voices be heard!

With Gratitude,
Team Shenomics