Effective Sponsorship Across Difference (for Sponsors)

An organization’s ability to attract and keep great talent depends on its ability to cultivate diverse people on every level of the company. This requires senior leaders taking on the job of sponsoring not only people who are most like them, but also sponsoring individuals who may be very different from them. This course from Vernā Myers teaches skills for sponsoring across difference for sponsors. Vernā starts with defining the role of sponsors and discusses the challenges of sponsoring across difference, then describes three key approaches to successfully sponsoring across difference: Be open to commonalities and differences; keep your standards high; and check your biases and the biases of others. Using stories and examples, Vernā teaches sponsors how to overcome challenges, recognize and counter biases, and how to advocate for protégés. She shares concrete tips with sponsors to ensure that they are proactive and know how to support the protégés in their organizations.