Calvin4021 | Dreamstime Stock Photos | Stock Free Images

While a mentor is someone whose highest value is when you are in room with them, providing you advice and skills to grow your career, a “sponsor” is someone whose highest value is when you are not in the room with them — such as advocating for your next promotion and making connections to senior leaders both inside and outside of your company.

My sponsor and I weren’t just the typical advisor-advisee relationship; we became what I call “sparring partners.” Every time we met, we had really important conversations that shifted the direction of my thinking through deep questioning. I asked her for help getting promotions, debated big decisions with her, and began to gain new opportunities just by the conversations she had with others when I wasn’t in the room. Looking back, making the most of my first sponsor relationship changed my life.

Now I take a very different approach. Everyone can have their own sponsors, but they need to learn how to make it worthwhile for both parties.

Want to make the most of the sponsors in your life? Here are seven ways to shore up your relationship:

1. When looking for sponsors, reach out to them first with what you want to achieve. They are there to help you create your future reality, but you need to define what your future reality is for them first.
2. Be clear on what a sponsor can do, and what makes sense to ask him or her. Don’t ask for too much at the beginning. Nurture the relationship and show that you’re worth it based on your skills, expertise and potential.
3. Ask your sponsor for help. It can make all the difference in your career, from raises to promotions. In fact, according to research in The Sponsor Effect, without a sponsor behind them, “The majority of unsponsored men (67%) and women (70%) resist confronting their boss about a raise; with a sponsor in their corner, nearly half of men and 38% of women summon the courage to negotiate. A sponsor confers a statistical career benefit of anything from 22 to 30%, depending on what’s being requested (assignment or pay raise) and who’s asking (men or women).” (More on the findings here.)
4. Recognize your value to the sponsor. Sponsors want to hear your perspective, understand your challenges and help you grow. Find ways to support them and ask them about their challenges — you’ll be surprised how much value you can add back!
5. Reach out to sponsors who are different from you. The days when sponsors tended to choose protégés who looked like them (and everyone else in the senior group) are disappearing. And that’s leading to a culture shift. You never know what you can learn. Male sponsors and sponsors from different sectors and cultures can be great advocates for young women. Get out of your comfort zone and build your own personal sponsors.
6. Learn how to use offline and online sponsors. In-person meetings with sponsors are much more helpful than emails or phone calls. Be prepared to know and ask for what you need when you are in proximity to them. Don’t expect email responses all the time. Give them a call, or plan time to meet them. Share with them that they are on your personal board.
7. Be careful if you work for a sponsor. Sponsors who work with you will have a set of loyalties to others; thus, you must be careful in managing this sponsor relationship. A sponsor should be someone who can go to bat to support you — even if you’d like to leave the company.

This post first appeared at Forbes.com.

If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it's free) plus exclusive access to a private collection of leadership and career tools.

The post 7 Ways on How to Use a Mentor and Sponsor appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Image courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Do you think leaders are born with this skill? Please share your responses in the comments below. 

The post MONDAY INSPIRATION: Warren Bennis appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Justincz | Dreamstime Stock Photos | Stock Free Images

The biggest myth about productivity isn’t about tips, its about focusing on what you really want to do. . But it involves finding ways to do things more efficiently on everyday basis.

There are some simple tools to make it happen—when you try for yourself. Here are my Top 7 Key Productivity Tools:

1)    Never log onto Facebook or Twitter the first thing in the day. The night before, think of the two things that must get done and write those down. When you get them done, you’ll feel productive.

2)    Make a “Do Less” List: Steve Jobs told his management team—we need to do less, not more. Provoke your company or organization to do less by noticing what you’ll do less of each month.

3)    Check your email three times a day..MAX. Stop checking email so much. You know what I’m talking about.

4)    Use Boomerang. Schedule your messages so you can be more available and accessible and reach people at the best time.

5)    Use Rapportive. Pull up social networks in the sidebar of your gmail account.  It will show you their Linked in profile, last 5 tweets, and their Facebook page. A quick way to connect with others.

6)    Use Google Voice. Sends text message transcription of the voicemails you receive to your email.  

7)    Use Evernote. Hands down—a super productive online tool to organize your files, notes, and top articles.

8)    Try Instapaper. Want to save articles so you can read them later? Instapaper is your answer!

If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it's free) plus exclusive access to a private collection of leadership and career tools.

The post 8 Ways to Avoid Being Overwhelmed appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Superj79 | Dreamstime Stock Photos | Stock Free Images

Here is a question to think further about this great quote - What holds you back from influencing others? 

The post MONDAY INSPIRATION: JOHN C. MAXWELL appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Why do conferences matter? Conferences are self-selected communities of people who come together around a shared cause. Conferences are places for inspiration, connection, and vision to be created. They are also places filled with hallways where random connections are created that can turn into fruitful friendships, projects, and long-term relationships (this is the best part!).

So you might ask–why are conferences still important in our digitized, video-based world? Conferences introduce us to people who want to talk about topics we are passionate about as well. They allow us to talk about points of view, problems, opportunities, and even wild ideas. Let's face it–Twitter and Instagram started at a conference.

What conferences will you be attending over the next few months? How will you create space to connect with 'old' and 'new' people in your life? During conference season this year, I am excited about traveling to speak at many amazing events with some of the best and brightest executives and high potentials in cities around the world. So where will I be? Here are upcoming events I'll be at. I would love to meet you personally and get blog readers together. Comment below if you'll be in town and or can join one of my keynotes or sessions. I'll be speaking on Connectional Intelligence, Innovation, Leadership and Creating Breakthroughs across Multi-Generations. I promise to offer some Bollywood too (if there is strong interest of course!)

1) KPMG Shared Services Conference Keynote, Unlock Generations through Connectional Intelligence New York, May 8-9

2) White House Office of Public Engagement, World Economic Forum, D.C, May 10

2) American Society for Learning and Development National Conference, Dallas, May 18-21

3) Blake's Unleash the Power of Generations Keynote, Toronto, May 29-30

4) ATKearney Partners retreat, Connectional Intelligence session, June 4-5

5) Huffington Post Women's Conference, New York, June 6

6) Sewickley Academy graduation commencement Keynote (my high school!), Pittsburgh, June 9

7) StartingBloc Institute Keynote, New York, June 10

8) The Future Work Institute's Emerging Majority Conference, Millennials Connectional Intelligence session, New York June 11-12

9) Working Mother Media Social Media Summit, New York, June 14

10) Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference, Chicago, June 17-18

11) World Domination Summit, Portland, Oregon, July 5-7

12) Toastmasters International Convention, Connectional Intelligence session, Cleveland, August 7-8

Come see me speak or say hello! I'd love to chat about your innovation and leadership challenges and see how I can be of service.

The post Connect with me. It’s conference season. appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Improving connectional intelligence can help existing and aspiring leaders build the movement and scale around their ideas. What are some of the challenges you face when convincing others about your ideas? 

The post MONDAY INSPIRATION: John C. Maxwell appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

1.Feeling Guilty: You know when your are feeling guilty? Its awful right? You have a sense that you can't connect and that you need to do more. You have this bad feeling about a relationship or a commitment and cant do anything about it. Instead: Reframe guilt. It is just a signal that you need to reinvest in how you are managing your role relationships, as a employee, wife, daughter, friend, colleague, or whatever may be. Instead of just 'feeling guilty', remember that you are in the process of renegotiating loyalties and defining the type of leader you want to be. Guilt can feel like a signal of disloyalty, when in fact it is a process of renegotiating loyalty.

2. People Pleasing. It is natural to want to fit in with what others say or want. However, people pleasing is a selfish act because it is all about making ourselves "feel better." Instead remember that people pleasing is fed by the ego and it wastes our time and energy from doing really important work in the world. The world needs your best, not your people pleasing. 

3. Choosing to be liked instead of respected. Choosing to be liked is easy, choosing to be respected can change everything. While sometimes respect and like ability are correlated, they aren't always. When you step into your power, while some people will stop 'liking you' when you value yourself differently, the same amount of people will come up and thank you for being bold, or doing something that others don’t like but you believe in. Being respected is a more empowering feeling than anything else, we all deserve it, we just need to create it for ourselves. 

4. Excessive Complaining: Yes, you know what I'm talking about. We all have times where we are upset and want to complain, vent, or just be angry. And it's healthy and normal, until it gets excessive. Complaining only keeps us in a negative cycle or pattern so we need to move resentment or frustration into a place of acceptance to do work that matters.  

5. Listening to advice from everyone. How many of you have friends and family that are FULL of advice…that makes NO sense? Your parents will tell you to stay in the same job forever or your friend tells you you're not cut out for something. Well, advice is only as relative as it is to the person. We have to choose what advice we listen to so we don't hold back from doing what we really want in the world and unleash our potential. 

Are there other ways you let go of behaviors holding you back? 

If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it's free) plus exclusive access to a private collection of leadership and career tools.

The post 5 Ways of Letting Go of Behaviors Holding You Back appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Do you rely on your head or your heart to build relationships?

The post MONDAY INSPIRATION: Eleanor Roosevelt appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here are 10 tips to become the most successful person you know.

1. When facing any change, understand what is at stake. Change gets made when we see what on the table matters and make real tradeoffs. We evaluate the tradeoffs rather than making rushed decisions.

2. Focus on deepening your insight, rather than gathering information. You can watch a lot of reality TV or read 3 thoughtful books –you choose. Deepening insight in a one hour phone call can be much more impactful than 10 hours of internet research. Figure out how to get the insight you really need. 

3. Know Your Rhythm. Know what "rhythms" work best for you. Are you a morning or night person? When do you do your best work? Find ways to use your energy more effectively. 

4. Be Politically Saavy. Recognize, understand and leverage the centers of influence and power within your environment.  Always see big picture and integrate this knowledge into your decision-making.

5. Find Champions that will change your life. Build and maintain a rich network of mutually valued relationships that provide opportunities for mentorship, sponsorship and community as you advance.

6. Think of strategy as a hypothesis rather than a prediction. Think of strategy as a verb, not a noun. We never start with a plan and end with the same plan. When we dive in, we often discover new ways of thinking.  Strategy is about about adapting and learning from real experiences.

7. Don't wait for a "perfect answer." Start with what you know and work your way to a solution.

8. Build an Game Plan in 3 month increments. Every few months, get committed to achieving new clearly defined outcomes and acting with purpose in order to produce results that are meaningful and measurable.

9. Find Sanctuaries that you use to decompress. Find places of rest to rejuvenate. For me it's the dance floor, home, and reading a book. What are yours? 

10. Share your story. By telling others how you came to be who you are, you create space to connect with listeners, increase your visibility and move people to act. Never hold back from sharing your story with anyone you seek to build a relationship with.

I truly hope these 10 success tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your success and impact in life is what we need most. Please protect it and make it happen.

Any other tips made you successful? Please share below!

If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it's free) plus exclusive access to a private collection of leadership and career tools.

The post 10 Tips to Become the Most Successful Person You Know appeared first on Erica Dhawan.

Bottom line: your attitude can make a big difference. Case in point: Dan Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local, who recently wrote about his experience of giving himself a promotion on the 2nd day of selling Crunch 'n Munch. I highly recommend reading the article here on LinkedIn.

The post MONDAY INSPIRATION: Warren Buffet appeared first on Erica Dhawan.