As an executive in the government sector, Carlyn Waters was committed to serving the public and never thought she’d work in academia. However, the support of a key sponsor propelled her career forward in a number of ways she couldn’t have predicted.
Waters was working in the Australian public service as a Director of Heritage in the Department of the Environment and Energy when she was sponsored to move into another role that opened her career prospects.
It was a corporate services role as an interim Assistant Secretary responsible for Security, Property and Ministerial Services with the former Department of the Environment and Energy. Later, Waters went on to secure a promotion to be an Assistant Secretary for the Director of National Parks.
Waters said the experience of having a more senior colleague advocate for both the opportunity and her promotion was game-changing.
“My sponsor was my secret champion. He was my direct boss at the time. He and another more senior male manager worked really hard to provide this opportunity for me,” Waters told Women’s Agenda recently.
“I already had very deep business experience and I knew how to be a policy officer and a manager within the Australian public service, but all of a sudden I got these new experiences to do with strategic enabling services, contracts and procurement, and infrastructure,” Waters shares.
“Because of that, I won a scholarship to do an MBA [Masters of Business Administration]. After completing the MBA, the Australian National University ended up creating a role for me providing me another way to serve the Australian public.
“That sponsorship has changed the trajectory of my career. I never thought I’d be working in academia”.
As an Aboriginal woman, Waters said completing her MBA was a reminder of how far organisations have to go in their efforts to boost diversity.
“I did my Bachelor’s business degree in Queensland 30 years ago, and there were only two of us Indigenous kids then,” Waters shares. “And then to come back 30 years later to do a post-grad qualification and be the only Indigenous person, I just felt like we still have not progressed enough.”
How sponsorship can transform careers and elevate talent
The impact of sponsorship on Waters’ career trajectory cannot be understated. It led to a promotion and a range of new opportunities, including further study and new roles.
Research has consistently revealed the benefits of sponsorship for employees and organisations more broadly. It can play a key role in elevating female talent and other underrepresented groups and help reduce the structural barriers that often hold women back at work.
In a curated sponsorship program, like the ones run by Cultivate Sponsorship, established leaders take on the role of sponsor to connect with and invest in the careers of emerging leaders. Often, sponsors are able to give their sponsee access to new contacts and opportunities while supporting their skills development and advocating for them.
Cultivate Sponsorship’s flagship program is designed to elevate emerging female leaders and boost knowledge of gender equality amongst company leaders. Meanwhile, in the Warra program, emerging First Nations leaders in an organisation are partnered with senior leaders, with the aim of enhancing the growth, retention, leadership of First Nations people to senior leaders, as well as increasing the cross-cultural capability within the organisation.
And while not every sponsorship relationship will directly result in a promotion like it did for Waters, sponsorship has the potential to level the playing field for women, give women a clearer sense of their career path, and change how established leaders think about diversity in their ranks.
Indeed, 78 per cent of women participants in Cultivate’s program said the program de-mystified what senior leaders do in their organisation and they felt more likely to put their hand up for the job. And a massive 89 per cent of women participants said that the program gave them more confidence to go for a more senior role.
Meanwhile, 80 per cent of sponsors said the program gave them a clear vision of the gender equality legacy they wanted to leave in their organisation.
This article was written in partnership with Cultivate Sponsorship. You can find out more about their programs here.