WEBVTT

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It was the spring of 1988

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when I had the aha moment.

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I was at my first roundtable,

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and for those of you who don't know,

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the roundtable was a very
commonly used phrase on Wall Street

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to describe the year-end
evaluative process

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for analysts, associates, vice presidents,
all the way up to managing directors.

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That was the process where they
were discussed behind closed doors

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around a table, i.e. the round table,

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and everyone was put into a category --

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the top bucket, the middle bucket,
the lower bucket --

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and then that was translated
into a bonus range

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that would be assigned
to each professional.

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This was my first time there,
and as I observed,

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I saw that there was one person
that was responsible

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for recording the outcome
of a conversation.

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There were other people in the room
that had the responsibility

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of presenting the cases
of all the candidates.

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And there were other invited guests
who were supposed to comment

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as a candidate's position was presented.

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It was interesting to me
that those other people

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were folks who were more senior
than the folks that were being discussed

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and they theoretically had had
some interaction with those candidates.

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Now, I was really excited to be
at this roundtable for the first time,

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because I knew that my own process
would go through this same way,

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and that my bonus would be
decided in the same way,

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so I wanted to know how it worked,

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but more importantly,

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I wanted to understand
how this concept of a meritocracy

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that every company that I talked to
walking out of business school

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was selling.

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Every time I talked to a company,

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they would say, "Our culture,
our process, is a meritocracy.

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The way you get ahead in this organization
is that you're smart,

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you put your head down
and you work really hard,

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and you'll go right to the top.

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So here was my opportunity to see
exactly how that worked.

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So as the process began,

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I heard the recorder
call the first person's name.

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"Joe Smith."

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The person responsible
for presenting Joe's case did just that.

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Three quarters of the way through,
someone interrupted and said,

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"This is a great candidate, outstanding,

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has great analytical
and quantitative skills.

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This is a superstar."

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The recorder then said,

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"Sounds like Joe
should go in the top bucket."

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Second person, Mary Smith.

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Halfway through that presentation,
someone said, "Solid candidate.

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Nothing really special,
but a good pair of hands."

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The recorder said,

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"Sounds like Mary
should go in the middle bucket."

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And then someone said, "Arnold Smith."

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Before the person
could present Arnold's case,

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somebody said, "Disaster. Disaster.
This kid doesn't have a clue.

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Can't do a model."

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And before the case was presented,

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the recorder said,

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"Sounds like Arnold
should go in the bottom bucket."

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It was at that moment
that I clutched my pearls --

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(Laughter)

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and said, "Who is going to speak for me?"

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Who is going to speak for me?

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It was that moment that I realized
that this idea of a meritocracy

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that every organizations sells
is really just a myth.

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You cannot have a 100 percent
meritocratic environment

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when there is a human element
involved in the evaluative equation,

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because by definition,

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that makes it subjective.

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I knew at that moment that somebody
would have to be behind closed doors

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arguing on my behalf,

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presenting content in such a way

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that other decision makers
around that table

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would answer in my best favor.

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That was a really interesting lesson,

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and then I said to myself,
"Well, who is that person?

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What do you call this person?"

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And as I thought about
the popular business terms at the time,

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I said, wow, this person
can't be a mentor,

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because a mentor's job
is to give you tailored advice,

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tailored specifically to you
and to your career aspirations.

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They're the ones who give you
the good, the bad and the ugly

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in a no-holds-barred way.

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OK. Person can't be
a champion or an advocate,

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because you don't necessarily
have to spend any currency

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to be someone's champion.

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You don't necessarily
get invited to the room

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behind closed doors if you're an advocate.

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It was almost two years later

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when I realized what
this person should be called.

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I was speaking
at the University of Michigan

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to the MBA candidates,

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talking about the lessons
that I had learned

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after my three short years on Wall Street,

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and then it came to me.

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I said, "Oh, this person
that is carrying your interest,

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or as I like to say,
carrying your paper into the room,

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this person who is spending

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their valuable political
and social capital on you,

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this person who is going
to pound the table on your behalf,

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this is a sponsor.

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This is a sponsor."

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And then I said to myself,

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"Well, how do you get a sponsor?

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And frankly, why do you need one?"

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Well, you need a sponsor, frankly,

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because as you can see,

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there's not one evaluative process
that I can think of,

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whether it's in academia,
health care, financial services,

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not one that does not have
a human element.

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So that means it has
that measure of subjectivity.

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There is a measure of subjectivity
in who is presenting your case.

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There is a measure of subjectivity

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in what they say

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and how they interpret
any objective data that you might have.

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There is a measure of subjectivity
in how they say what they're going to say

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to influence the outcome.

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So therefore, you need to make sure
that that person who is speaking,

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that sponsor,

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has your best interests at heart

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and has the power to get it,
whatever it is for you,

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to get it done behind closed doors.

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Now, I'm asked all the time,

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"How do you get one?"

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Well, frankly, nirvana is when
someone sees you in an environment

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and decides, "I'm going
to make it happen for you.

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I'm going to make sure
that you are successful."

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But for many of us in this room,
we know it doesn't really happen that way.

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So let me introduce
this concept of currency

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and talk to you about how it impacts
your ability to get a sponsor.

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There are two types of currency
in any environment:

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performance currency
and relationship currency.

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And performance currency
is the currency that is generated

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by your delivering that
which was asked of you

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and a little bit extra.

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Every time you deliver upon an assignment
above people's expectations,

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you generate performance currency.

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It works exactly like the stock market.

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Any time a company says to the street

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that they will deliver 25 cents a share

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and that company delivers
40 cents a share,

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that stock goes up, and so will yours.

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Performance currency
is valuable for three reasons.

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Number one, it will get you noticed.

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It will create a reputation for you.

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Number two, it will also
get you paid and promoted

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very early on in your career

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and very early on in any environment.

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And number three,
it may attract a sponsor.

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Why? Because strong performance currency

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raises your level of visibility
in the environment, as I said earlier,

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such that a sponsor
may be attracted to you.

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Why? Because everybody loves a star.

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But if you find yourself in a situation

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where you don't have a sponsor,

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here's the good news.

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Remember that you can exercise
your power and ask for one.

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But here's where the other currency
is now most important.

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That is the relationship currency,

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and relationship currency
is the currency that is generated

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by the investments that you make
in the people in your environment,

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the investments that you make
in the people in your environment.

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You cannot ask someone
to use their hard-earned

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personal influential
currency on your behalf

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if you've never had
any interaction with them.

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It is not going to happen.

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So it is important that you invest
the time to connect, to engage

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and to get to know the people
that are in your environment,

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and more importantly to give them
the opportunity to know you.

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Because once they know you,

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there's a higher probability
that when you approach them

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to ask them to be your sponsor,

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they will in fact answer
in the affirmative.

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Now, if you're with me and you agree
that you have to have a sponsor,

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let's talk about how
you identify a sponsor.

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Well, if you're looking for a sponsor,

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they need to have
three primary characteristics.

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Number one, they need to have
a seat at the decision-making table,

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they need to have exposure to your work

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in order to have credibility
behind closed doors,

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and they need to have some juice,

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or let me say it differently,
they'd better have some power.

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It's really important
that they have those three things.

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And then once you have
identified the person,

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how do you ask for one?

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The script goes like this.

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"Jim, I'm really interested
in getting promoted this year.

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I've had an amazing year

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and I cannot show this organization
anything else to prove my worthiness

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or my readiness for this promotion,

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but I am aware that somebody
has to be behind closed doors

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arguing on my behalf
and pounding the table.

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You know me, you know my work
and you are aware of the client feedback,

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and I hope that you will feel comfortable
arguing on my behalf."

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If Jim knows you

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and you have any kind of a relationship,

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there's a very high probability
that he will answer yes,

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and if he says yes,

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he will endeavor to get it done for you.

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But there's also a shot
that Jim might say no,

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and if he says no, in my opinion,

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there's only three reasons
that he would tell you no.

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The first is he doesn't think
that he has enough exposure to your work

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to have real credibility
behind closed doors

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to be impactful and effective
on your behalf.

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The second reason he may tell you no

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is that you think
he has the juice to get it done,

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but he knows that he does not
have the power to do it

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and he is not going to admit that
in that conversation with you.

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(Laughter)

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And the third reason
that he would tell you no,

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he doesn't like you.

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He doesn't like you.

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(Laughter)

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And that's something that could happen.

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But even that will be
valuable information for you

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that will help to inform
your next conversation with a sponsor

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that might make it
a little bit more impactful.

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I cannot tell you how important
it is to have a sponsor.

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It is the critical relationship
in your career.

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A mentor, frankly, is a nice to have,

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but you can survive a long time
in your career without a mentor,

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but you are not going to ascend
in any organization without a sponsor.

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It is so critical that you
should ask yourself regularly,

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"Who's carrying my paper into the room?

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Who is carrying my paper into the room?"

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And if you can't answer
who is carrying your paper into the room,

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then I will tell you to divert
some of your hardworking energies

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into investing in a sponsor relationship,

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because it will be critical
to your success.

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And as I close, let me give a word

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to the would-be sponsors
that are in the room.

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If you have been invited into the room,

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know that you have a seat at that table,

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and if you have a seat at the table,

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you have a responsibility to speak.

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Don't waste your power worrying
about what people are going to say

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and whether or not they think
you might be supporting someone

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just because they look like you.

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If somebody is worthy of your currency,

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spend it.

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One thing I have learned
after several decades on Wall Street

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is the way to grow your power
is to give it away,

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and your voice is at the heart.

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(Applause)

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And your voice
is at the heart of your power.

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Use it.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)