Leveraging Your Network & Sponsor Relationships
WOMN’s Sheila Murphy recently moderated a panel entitled Leveraging Your Network & Sponsor Relationships for the Office of Diversity & Inclusion for the New York City Bar Association‘s 2019 Associate Leadership Institute Fellows. On the engaging panel of mentors and proteges were M. Scott Peeler and Tope Yusuf, both partners at Arent Fox, Sharis Pozen, VP, Global Competition Law and Policy of GE and Wendy Huang Waszmer, a partner at Wilson Sonsini.
Sheila set the table by explaining the differences between coaching, mentoring and sponsoring. Research shows that people are generally more likely to sponsor people who are like them and this lack of sponsorship may be impacting underrepresented populations. The panel discussed that people who sponsor those who are dissimilar from themselves are role models who must advocate the benefits of these types of sponsor-protege relationships.
The panel also encouraged those seeking sponsorship to build relationships with people who don’t look like them- even if these bonds take more time to develop as the rewards are great.
