That’s right, when an established expert or leader chooses a sponsee who is an outstanding talent and cares about building their knowledge, sharing their expertise and developing that person’s career, creates a significant and far-reaching boost for that person. But while it is important to support this developing talent, data has shown that the sponsor also derives great benefits from this relationship.
‘Senior managers who have a protégé are 53% more likely to report receiving a promotion in the previous two years, and entry-level managers who have a protégé are 60% more likely to have received a stretch assignment.’
It is clear that sponsorship involves risk. It can be a difficult process that requires a certain level of commitment, and the relationship between sponsor and protégé can take up a lot of time, not to mention the fact that the protégé you have adopted may let you down by increasing his or her development within the organization, and that this person may even impress the people concerned or directly diminish their work.
However, therein lies the good choice of a work godson, this must be a person who in addition to being talented, effective and loyal to his teachings, must have a set of skills that allow you to expand your vision. And thus be able to build together an alliance that allows them to grow, since working together they can be a set of ambition, experience, attitude and knowledge.
Therefore, if such an exercise is done consciously, it can bring profitable benefits for both of you. Keep in mind that this means that you can delegate tasks to your protégé, those tasks for which you lack time, do not match your skills or for which you do not find motivation. Which your protégé will be able to perform with more enthusiasm and always eager to learn. This generates maximization of benefits and minimization of time. To do so, we recommend you to follow these steps:
- Identify:You must be able to recognize what skills you are looking for in your protégé. We recommend that you initially look for someone with good performance and reliability.
- Include:Recognize that potential protégés are different from you, either by mindset or gender. It is usual that due to personal interests people have a different domain of knowledge, but additionally those who belong to a different generation may bring different views that you do not consider.
- Inspire: Make sure your protégés align with your purpose, your values and use your ambitions to leverage them and stimulate their growth.
- Instruct: Strengthen your protégés from the ground up, allow them to fill knowledge gaps or strengthen their skills.
- Inspect: Evaluate your protégés frequently as this helps you confirm whether they really deliver the desired performance and confidence.
- Promote an agreement: You must first reaffirm the value you are bringing to this mutual growth, then make the request and make clear the terms of this reciprocal relationship.
- Invest in three ways: Apply all the capital, leverage and coverage. Give the support that is required and protect your sponsees, as well as provide air cover when they need it.
Whether you are a mid-level manager seeking recognition or a senior executive looking to improve your performance, reach and productivity, a protégé may be the right choice to achieve your goals. Keep in mind that it must be a rigorous process, which you should handle with care, and if carried out in such a way, it would imply a mutually growing relationship that allows both of you to move up and prosper.
