Failing to Enlist Allies from Day One

'Failing to enlist Allies from Day One' - *Marshall Goldsmith & Sally Helgesen say this is the Number 5 challenge holding women back.

Our thoughts:

Firstly, you can enlist allies at any stage in your career – so many of us did not know about enlisting allies back on 'Day One'!

So, whether 'Day One' or 'Today', how do we go about enlisting allies?

We find that establishing Mentor relationships is easy - the optimal starting point is asking for advice. Literally 'Can I ask your advice, your perspective, your views on ....' Make it easy for people with experience to share their knowledge with you and acknowledge back the value they've brought you – creating the mutual respect that begins the shift from adviser to mentor and beyond.

We all need a few Mentors – go to different people for different types of support and different areas of expertise – and perspectives. It's important to notice, as your context changes, that there could be new people to ask for advice.

Be aware too that when folk ask you for advice they may be hoping to establish an informal mentorship relationship with you.

**Advocate and Sponsor type allies take more time to develop – both are putting themselves out on a limb for you – so they've got to believe in you, trust you, see talent, ambition, commitment.

(**Advocates speak well of you when you're not in the room, they suggest your name for interesting / developmental assignments, make sure you get credit for your contribution. Sponsors are generally in positions of power – they directly give you opportunities, developmental experiences, promotions, and are consciously creating the optimal opportunities for you to shine and for your career to thrive.)

We think a starting point here is to become a good Advocate/Sponsor yourself – watch for excellence, for people going the extra mile, for the people who are adding value in your organisation at all levels and draw attention to their contributions. Ask questions to get colleagues thinking e.g. 'Who's making a super contribution here that we're not acknowledging?'

Model the behaviours you'd like to experience and start a virtuous circle of acknowledgement, appreciation, development and growth. Lifting your head from your everyday will open your eyes to wonderful opportunities to be an ally and to benefit from allyship.


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*Marshall Goldsmith & Sally Helgesen's book, 'How Women Rise: Breaking the 12 Habits Holding You Back' is worth reading over and over.

We're sharing a series of reflections on their 12 Habits based on our own experience; hope we spark some ideas for you!