“The future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed.”—William Gibson As I mentioned in my last blog post , I attended a Cadence round table with Lip-Bu Tan, our CEO, early last June, and have started to get a sense of what makes our leader tick. In that post, I talked about the importance of trusting the leadership of not only a single organization but also about how it’s important to trust the leadership of an entire [market, landscape, movement], as we are making decisions that can make the difference between a “Star Trek” or “Mad Max”-style future. I was pleased to report that I have developed a great deal of respect and trust in Lip-Bu and his leadership. I also alluded to some things that were discussed in this round table that I wanted to gently push back about and add my two cents. I Need Some Advice… In the round table, a young woman, possibly an intern, asked an interesting question: What advice would you have for yourself when you were just starting out in your career? His response was three-fold: Find good mentors to share your frustrations and pain. He said that he did this early on, and still values his mentors’ friendship and guidance. Do your homework to learn the system, and learn it well. In other words, know what you’re talking about; do not rely on your inherent charm or charisma to bear the burden of technical scrutiny. Be patient for the right opportunity to present itself; if you have done your homework, the right opportunity will appear. (If you build it, they will come.) This is very sound advice. Lip-Bu’s answers weren’t surprising or unusual; I think that this following this advice has served him very well. Find someone to teach you, do your homework, and when you’re ready, jump in. How could I argue with any of this? Well, it’s good advice for a man starting out in his professional career in the 1970s or 80s. The landscape is different now for women in this complex field. Note : I am going to make some gross generalizations here about men and women, and please know that there are vast exceptions to these statements. Even I don’t necessarily fall into the generalizations I am making here; I could just as easily be talking about, say, Sneetches with stars on their bellies versus Sneetches without . In this case, though, men are the Starbelly Sneeches (the privileged) and women are the Plainbelly Sneeches (the minority). Mentors vs. Advocates Most of us (men and women) need mentors. Most of us want to learn from good teachers and models. Heck, even puppies need help to learn how to navigate a staircase . We all have had to learn from others in the field to show us how things work in the “real world” business setting: appropriate ways to dress in our office, how to effectively push back when disagreeing with someone, how to juggle multiple tasks, how to fill out the dreaded TPS Reports —we don’t learn it all in some special class in college. (At least, I didn’t. Unless I overslept on that day of picking classes). From my observations, though, women tend to seek mentors (either informally or formally in mentorship programs) who can listen effectively, empathize, and offer advice. We look for support and advice about how to handle difficult situations. We, women, look for mentors who can also be friends. They are incredibly valuable in this role, and this relationship can last the lifetime of our careers—or even the lifetime of a lifetime! The problem is that a mentor alone might be able only to go so far. I can talk to another writer in a completely different field than I, wailing about whatever drama is plaguing me today and she can pat me on the back and say, there, there, don’t sell yourself short, why don’t you try [whatever]… and even if the advice is good, nothing changes very fast. The problem is succinctly posed by Sava Berhané in her article Why Women Need Career Sponsors More Than Mentors : …there’s a key ingredient for moving up the ladder that [mentors alone] lack: capital. In other words, a direct ability to give you opportunities, not just advice about how to maximize them when they come along. So if I have an executive career advocate who is faced with a challenge of their own in an executive meeting, that advocate could say, “You know who would do a great job in facing this problem? Meera. Wow, her blog is fascinating and hilarious and brings confetti and rainbows to all who read it. Honestly, I had a toothache before I read it, and afterward, it was gone! Seriously, she’s better than antibiotics and Novocain. The day after I read it, I won the lottery based on her advice. All of the traffic noise during my commute combined to make a symphony after I read her crystalline words. You should TOTALLY think about having her handle this problem.” (Or whatever.) And then when I succeed in that position, both my advocate and I look good—so it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. While benevolence in mentorship is great, it may be more effective and executives might be more likely to play that role if it were a symbiotic relationship. The Harvard Business Review has researched this extensively. In their special report on the subject , Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Melinda Marshall, and Laura Sherbin explain the dynamics of sponsorship 1 (emphasis mine): We conducted three national surveys of nearly 4,000 professionals in large corporations, held focus groups with more than 60 vice presidents and senior vice presidents, and interviewed nearly 20 Fortune 500 executives. The best sponsors, we found, go beyond mentoring. They offer not just guidance but also advocacy, not just vision but also the tactical means of realizing it. They place bets on outstanding junior colleagues and call in favors for them. The most successful protégés, for their part, recognize that sponsorship must be earned with performance and loyalty—not just once but continually. It’s a two-way street. Your advocate advocates for you, and you make your advocate glad they did. Finding Your Career Guru It seems that advocates won’t just fall in your lap as you gaze into the echelons of executivism. The glowing nature of your work and personality alone won’t serve as a beacon and bring advocates to you like a moth to a flame. Who knew? The article I referenced above talks about how to make it happen. It acknowledges that this can be a challenge for women: Women seem particularly reluctant to be so proactive. “They don’t want to have to toot their own horn,” explains Subha Barry, a senior vice president at Freddie Mac. Somehow, it seems easier for men to find advocates to go to bat for them. Maybe it’s because it’s easier to do than to feel . I get it. It’s easier to swing a bat at a ball coming at you at 75 miles per hour than to talk about how it feels to have a ball bonk you on the head. Maybe it’s all the sports metaphors. * * * * * So Lip-Bu, is the advice that you would have given yourself when you began your career the same advice you would give to a young woman just starting in the EDA world today? In your defense, you answered the question about what worked for you . How have things changed since you began your career? —Meera Stay tuned for my thoughts about homework and patience… 1 I encourage you to read the Harvard Business Review article. In it are more examples of how advocacy works in the real world; also how to maintain the advocate/protégé relationship. And it doesn’t apply only to women!![]()
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