Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer at Facebook. Condoleezza Rice, first black female National Security Adviser to the US President; and later, US Secretary of State. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, two-term Chair of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
They were all “sponsored.”
A July 9 article in Financial Times of London highlighted the merits of sponsorship over the more common mentoring that most organisations and individuals advocate.
Take the Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. She acknowledged the importance of sponsors to her career. The first was Larry Summers, who she served as research assistant, and then followed him to the World Bank.
She would later become his Chief of Staff as.US Treasury Secretary, at the age of just 29.
Little wonder that today she is No 2 at Facebook. And somebody somewhere who knew her and believed in her abilities must have played some role in her career.
This was certainly the case with Dr Condoleezza Rice.
In her book, Extraordinary, Ordinary People, she mentions key people who spotted her talent and stuck out their neck for her. From her university days to public service.
At almost every critical junction of her illustrious career, there was always someone who knew her ability and whispered to another: Watch this lady. And these people were mostly white, male Americans. So the issue of cronyism or favouritism didn’t arise.
From national security guru, General Brent Scowcroft who recruited her into the National Security Council, to George Shultz who invited her to become Director of Chevron Corporation.
Even the much revered David Packard co-founder of HP showed up in her office one afternoon and told her, “Hewlett-Packard is a good company. You’re a good person. I want you to become a director of H.P.”
And of course there was America most famous Black Soldier, Colin Powell, himself already on the way up the ladder, as Deputy National Security Adviser, who “sent important messages throughout Washington that I was someone to keep an eye on.”
So, what is Sponsorship? According to the Financial Times, “A sponsor is someone who advocates a person’s promotion.”
But the article cautions that “To attract a sponsor, you need to be a star.”
There are stars in Nigeria, but they need sponsors to help them into critical roles where they can deliver, just as Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru did at FIRS, setting up the structures to grow Federal Government revenue from about N1 Trillion to well over N4 Trillion.
Sponsorship is not about cronyism. It is about proven ability. Competence.
Warm regards.
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Martin Udogie: is on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
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