Tag Archives: Professional

Sponsor v. Mentor: Verdict👩🏽‍⚖️

Quite frequently, I get questions from younger professionals and sponsors as to who is my mentor. My consistent answer is ‘no one.’

Don’t get me wrong. My answer is borne out of the context in which the question is asked i.e. is there anyone I would typically discuss my career moves with and get steers from or that one person who I go to as an accountability partner in making career decisions or one who inspires me to be a go-getter career wise?

I patiently explain that there is no one person who occupies such a place as mentor in my life. Sure, I frequently bounce ideas off le hubz – after all what is he a life partner for if I can’t do so😁 But in terms of that formal person high up the ladder who I ask before taking steps – there’s none. I tell those who inquire that professionally, so many people inspire me so I prefer to just glean bits and pieces from different persons as opposed to one mentor to make up the unique me. And most times, I even do this from a distance. Of course, if I need to ask questions before making a move, I do so.

For me, I would choose a career sponsor over a mentor time and time again. Perhaps, you wonder, is there any difference between the two? There is.

A mentor advises the mentee; while the sponsor advocates for the career advancement of the protege. You see, a mentor tells you, do X, don’t do Y while a sponsor makes a case for you to be given X or Y at closed-door executive meetings where you are too far down the ladder to speak for self.

For me, a mentor does quite some talking while the sponsor acts on your behalf with fewer words. Sure, you’ve heard the truism that action speaks louder than words right? That right there is what a sponsor (not a mentor) does.

Of course, if you are extremely fortunate, you may have your sponsor + mentor embodied in one person. But if I were to pick one, I would definitely pick a sponsor over a mentor.

Sponsors have been responsible for my rapid career progression and in fact beyond my skills, it was sponsors that played a huge role in landing my current gig. And while there, other sponsors again make my landing soft, smooth and seamless.

Sponsors definitely trump mentors for me.

Best,

Adefolake

*image credit: http://www.google.com

Be YOUnique – Power of a Personal Brand

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” – Mt. 5:13 (MSG)

Riding on the introductory italicised preface above, the salt is characterised as  flavouring. A flavour improves the taste of something, as we would have noted from our addition of salt to food. The salt is also a preserver as some of us may have observed in our younger days when our mothers/grand-mothers used salt to preserve fish. We may have also observed that salt is a white and powdery substance like sugar. What then distinguishes salt from sugar you may wonder? This distinguishing factor, is the essence of personal branding.

Personal branding simply described, is that uniqueness that separates one and makes one preferable to the other person. It is personal branding that makes the curriculum vitae (CV) of certain persons preferable to the CV of others. It is also this same personal branding that makes a particular interviewee get a particular job and not another interviewee; or a particular artist preferred above contemporaries. It is yet again personal branding that makes one business idea stand out from another supposedly similar business idea.

The bottom-line is that for anyone to succeed in life, the importance of personal branding should not be neglected. Placed in context with the current tide of economic events in Nigeria where the competition has gotten stiffer, one would agree that without personal branding, one can hardly be a success.

One may wonder how he/she can be a personal brand stating, “but I am just an individual not one of those big, respected companies.” In response to this, one would remind that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the right step. Those big, respected companies did not suddenly appear on the scene, they grew through concerted efforts and exhibiting the right values.

Thus, for today’s professional/entrepreneur to grow and improve his/her personal brand, there is a need to reflect on whether the values he/she holds dear are the right values. If you were to ask five persons within your immediate vicinity, for the first word that comes to their minds when they think of you, their individual responses would give an indication as to whether a positive personal brand is being built, or there is a need to re-evaluate values. Today’s professional/entrepreneur should bear in mind that the big, respected companies or even respected individuals with positive personal brands would not have amounted to much by being tardy, sloppy or lazy.

In closing, today’s professional/entrepreneur should make concerted efforts through deliberate actions, to re-write his/her story to reflect the positive personal brand he/she craves for so that like the salt, he/she would remain a flavouring (and preserver) because ultimately, today’s professional/entrepreneur, ought to be an epistle known and read of all men (II Cor 3:2).

Hugs,

Adefolake

*www.google.com