Over the past two decades, anyone who has wanted to be ‘someone’ has either positioned themselves within their company to be worthy of a mentor or had a mentor bestowed upon them. A mentor is supposed to advise, guide and advocate on your behalf. A mentor is meant to give you the inside scoop on how to succeed with elegance and finesse – in fact, really good mentors should be able to smooth your path right to the top.
Mentoring has now morphed to Sponsorship, although critics still split the two, saying that mentorship is less focused about securing those seats at the top table.
Whatever you call it, a new report, The Sponsor Effect: Breaking Through the Last Glass Ceiling, is questioning the ability of companies to provide sponsors to help top performing women make it into the C-Suite.
Sylvia Ann Hewitt, the author, tackles the lack of male sponsorship as a serious roadblock to women, pointing out that women must still rely on male sponsorship to get the opportunity to be considered for the C-suite team.
She also frankly discusses the fact that women can sometimes be their own worst enemies because they underestimate the critical influence of sponsors. “Women enter the white-collar workforce in the UK in far greater numbers than men: 57 females for every 43 males. As employees in large corporations move from entry-level to middle management, and from mid- to senior-level positions, men advance disproportionately. Women comprise almost a quarter (24%) of the “marzipan layer,” that talent-rich level right below the icing on the corporate cake. And there they stall out. For all their qualifications, women represent only 4% of CEOs and 6.6 % of executive directors of the FTSE 100. In addition, women currently hold only 22 % of seats in Parliament, putting the UK 54th among 189 countries with national parliaments,” says Hewitt.
There are plenty of roadblocks to that ultimate career move, putting up your own roadblocks is strategic suicide.
Join Marketingmoves on the 10th of October 2012 to find out how you can navigate your way into the C-suite. For further information contact: Sandra Malone at smalone@marketingmoves.com or on 01932 253 352 to find out more.
