Prelims

Half Title Page

THE GAME PLAN OF SUCCESSFUL CAREER SPONSORSHIP: HARNESSING THE TALENT OF ASPIRING MANAGERS AND SENIOR LEADERS

Title Page

THE GAME PLAN OF SUCCESSFUL CAREER SPONSORSHIP: HARNESSING THE TALENT OF ASPIRING MANAGERS AND SENIOR LEADERS

JOVINA ANG

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78756-296-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-295-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-297-4 (Epub)

Dedication

To my husband, children and Phil.

Acknowledgements

This book marks the culmination of my research on career sponsorship, and it would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the guidance and support I received from a few individuals.

I’d like to thank Jochen Reb, my PhD advisor for his guidance throughout my PhD journey. I’d also like to thank my PhD committee members, specifically Don Ferrin, Layne Paddock and Phil Zerrillo, as well as Anne Gregory for their invaluable advice and support.

Last but not least, I want to express my heart-felt gratitude to Phil McKenzie, my trusted friend who has helped me so much for the past 30 years.

Preface

Despite implementing multiple mentoring programs, Women and Leadership conferences, networking events and many other initiatives in my roles as the lead for Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft and Women-in-Business Group, the progress of women up the corporate ladder remained slow. I wondered whether there could be another answer to solving the problem of too few women leaders.

I became intrigued by the topic of career sponsorship several years ago. The more I read about sponsorship, the more I came to appreciate the importance of sponsorship for career success. It also made me realise that a significant portion of my corporate success was due to sponsorship from senior leaders who not only nurtured my growth, but also opened many opportunities in my career.

Even though there existed practitioner-oriented articles on sponsorship then, there was a lack of empirical evidence on this important topic – which led me to pursue doctoral research. I wanted to contribute to the knowledge of sponsorship, as I believed then and still do believe that it is one of the keys to solving the problem of too few senior women leaders at the top of the corporate ladder.

As the world of work becomes more ‘boundaryless’ and more contingent, in a work environment where frequent career changes and contractual work are the norm, sponsorship will be critical to traverse the boundaries of organisations to secure the top and coveted jobs.

This book is primarily based on my doctoral dissertation. In this book, I cover in detail the phenomenon of the sponsor relationship and its impact on career success. Unlike previous accounts of sponsorship, my account of sponsorship combines both the perspectives of the sponsee (the person being sponsored) and the sponsor.

The chapters of this book have been carefully laid out to answer the questions of the why, what and how of sponsorship. Sponsorship is a reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship – both the sponsor and sponsee can benefit from this relationship. I also highlight that sponsorship is not an all bright and rosy relationship. There are circumstances that drive the sponsor relationship to turn sour – that is, the dark side of sponsorship exists – which is why it is prudent for sponsors and sponsees to have strategies to mitigate the risks that are inherent in the sponsor relationship.

In this book, I also offer the game plan of successful sponsorship for the various stakeholders of sponsorship, specifically the sponsee, sponsor and organisation, and I show how these stakeholders can harness sponsorship for their individual and collective success. I conclude this book by elaborating on two case studies – Deutsche Bank’s ATLAS (Accomplished Top Leaders Advancement Strategy) programme and Canada’s The Protégé Project.

The chapters are organised as follows:

Chapter 1: The Case for Sponsorship

Chapter 2: The Antecedents of Sponsorship

Chapter 3: Phases of Sponsor Relationship

Chapter 4: Reciprocal Nature of the Sponsor Relationship

Chapter 5: Outcomes from the Sponsor Relationship

Chapter 6: The Importance of a Home Support System

Chapter 7: The Sponsorship Model

Chapter 8: The Capital Framework of Sponsorship

Chapter 9: Sponsorship and the Development of Women Leaders

Chapter 10: The Risks of Sponsor Relationships

Chapter 11: The Dark Side of Sponsorship

Chapter 12: The Sponsorship Game Plan for the Aspiring Manager

Chapter 13: The Sponsorship Game Plan for the Senior Leader

Chapter 14: The Sponsorship Game Plan for the Organisation

Chapter 15: Sponsorship and its Application to the Future of Work

Chapter 16: Sponsorship Case Studies

Thank you for reading my book. If you have any suggestions or would like to offer your thoughts on this important topic, please feel free to write to me at jang@communicatio.com.sg.