Mentorship and sponsorship: ensuring diverse talent can succeed

*The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the author(s); they do not necessarily reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which they are associated.

 

Chambers Associate: What do you feel is the difference between mentorship and sponsorship?  How have mentorship and sponsorship been important to your progression as an attorney?  

Jenny Plagman, labor & employment partner: Mentorship is focused more on advice and feedback and guidance, how to make your mentee a better lawyer, and how to develop their own opportunities and career.  Sponsorship is more focused on actively helping an associate make connections, network, and give them work.  Both have been critical in my progression from first year associate to partner, as my mentors have guided me through the profession and taught me the “dos and don’ts.”  My sponsors have given me opportunities to show the skills that my mentor helped develop.

Emma Dolgos, associate: Mentorship is focused on guidance and development.  A mentor helps you build your professional skills and navigate career challenges by sharing his or her advice and insights based on his or her own experiences.  A mentor provides encouragement and constructive feedback to help you realize on your potential and career goals.

Meanwhile, sponsorship focuses on advocacy and career advancement opportunities.  A sponsor will leverage his or her reputation and influence at your firm to promote you and your career to other firm influencers, clients and potential clients.  He or she will advocate for you in rooms where decisions are made, eventually opening the door to that room for you.

Josh Pittman, associate: Mentorship shapes the lawyer you become; sponsorship secures the opportunities to demonstrate it. They merit distinct attention in career planning.  Mentorship within Jones Day and the Columbus legal community offered valuable insight into the type of career I want.  Sponsorship within Jones Day served as the catalyst to realize my goals.  It gave me a pathway.  I owe a tremendous gratitude to my mentors and sponsors for advancing my career – they helped me define my vision and execute it.

Miguel Eaton, employee benefits & executive compensation practice leader: They are related but distinct.  For me, as someone in a smaller practice group at the firm, my sponsor was the person for whom I mostly worked.  He was the Practice Leader and the one who would put me up (i.e., sponsored me) for partnership.  My mentor, on the other hand, was a partner not in my practice group who could serve as a resource to help me navigate other aspects of firm life (e.g., what practice group to join, which partners I should work with, etc.).

 

Mentorship

CA: Mentorship initiatives have been around for quite some time: how have they evolved to become more effective? 

Jenny P: Over the years I’ve noticed more of an emphasis on mentorship initiatives, with a focus on people in your practice area. It’s been less focused on partnering someone of the same race/gender, which has been refreshing and feels like you are at times able to make better connections that are based on more than your identity.

ED: I think that younger generations, who have had more structure in earlier stages of their development, are focusing more on structured mentorship programs than before.  Jones Day has always recognized the importance of mentorship and has increasingly  devoted more time and attention to mentorship pairing processes for those programs, which are typically designed to be one-on-one.  We have also created several mentorship options for junior associates – associate coordinators, partner coordinators, practice group touchpoints, and affinity group touchpoints, to name a few.  Designating groups of people willing to mentor takes some of the pressure off the junior associates to find a mentor on their own.

Josh P: At Jones Day, mentorship is a core professional duty, not a sideline.  Firm leadership prioritizes it, and the message resonates across the ranks.  My most useful mentorship relationships have been organic.  Through trial and error, and lots of coffee or lunch meetings, I found the colleagues inside and outside of my office that can help me navigate difficult practice decisions.  Leadership’s focus on mentorship makes it easier to forge those connections.

ME: I don’t know that they have evolved to be more effective. The basics remain the same - the mentee has to put in a lot of effort. Mentors tend to be more senior and busy, so they are unlikely to regularly check in with mentees. But they are usually happy to have the mentee check in and ask advice. I think on some level, mentors don’t want to feel overbearing or feel like they are giving unsolicited advice. But if the mentee asks for advice on one topic and seem receptive, mentors are likely to give advice on other topics while they have you. 

 

CA: What factors do you consider important when seeking out a mentor?

ED: At a base level, a mentor should have meaningful experience and expertise in a specific area in which you are seeking improvement (e.g., practice area knowledge, industry or regulatory specific knowledge, firm leadership, etc.).  However, in my opinion, it is the intangible factors that you should prioritize.  You should look for someone who genuinely values mentorship as a central part of his or her practice, who takes an obvious interest in your professional development and who will prioritize making himself or herself available to develop the mentorship relationship.  Jones Day has no shortage of people who take on that role because they and the firm value mentorship. Also seek out someone whose values you respect and hope to emulate.  Common value systems are a gateway to developing trust and open communication with your mentor, and learning to hone those values is just as important as learning how to draft a credit agreement or file a motion.  The most helpful way to let a mentor know that his or her time fostering your potential development will be time well spent is to make it obvious that you are yourself making a significant investment.

Josh P: In my view, the most important factor in choosing a mentor is feeling comfortable speaking frankly.  Mentorship often involves guidance on decisions and choices, and mentees should not fear making the “wrong” decision.  Instead, they should feel at ease learning from their mentor how to manage workload, select opportunities, and serve the broader legal community.

ME: You should seek out a mentor who is successful and holds a position to which you potentially aspire.  It is also important to consider how your mentor is viewed within the organization because you will be associated with how he or she is viewed.  Ask around.  People will usually talk about other folks’ reputations.   

 

CA: What are some of the traits you would use to describe an effective mentor – specifically an effective mentor for an attorney who belongs to an underrepresented group or groups? 

Jenny P: An effective mentor has to be able to listen and have the ability to perceive a situation from another person’s point of view. This is especially critical when mentoring an attorney who belongs to an underrepresented group, as that experience has to be considered when giving advice. 

ED: Honesty. A good mentor will provide honest and direct feedback and advice, regardless of whether it will be difficult for you to hear or accept in the first instance.  If a mentor takes the time candidly to walk through specific areas of improvement, it shows that he or she is invested in helping you grow and succeed professionally.

Accessibility. A mentor is only effective if he or she is around to provide mentorship.  The best mentors are those who can put aside their own projects and give undivided attention to working through your questions. 

Adaptability. We all receive feedback and learn differently.  Effective mentors adapt their mentorship style to best fit the individual, and they will not default to “we all went through it in this way.”  As you progress at a firm, your goals and questions change, and your mentorship relationships should grow in the same direction.

Josh P: An effective mentor for an underrepresented attorney is someone who can reinforce that the junior attorney landed here because they belong here.  It is someone who can listen to these experiences and provide guidance based on their own experience.

ME: An effective mentor understands and is willing to convey guidance on how to navigate the organization.  This is important for all new attorneys, including those from underrepresented groups.

 

CA: What advice would you give to those from underrepresented groups on finding informal mentors early on in their career? 

Jenny P: Get out and meet people. Get to know the people at your firm and figure out who you have things in common with or who you vibe with. Don’t necessarily look for someone that looks like you, but you can and should turn to those people for advice in figuring out office personalities and who would best suit your needs.

ED: Do not put pressure on yourself to find one, “super” mentor.  Every person has a different way that he or she approaches work, client development and mentorship, and I have found it beneficial to my career development to draw upon multiple styles and viewpoints.  Also, no two situations you encounter will be exactly the same – sometimes you may need the partner with over twenty years of experience in your practice area; other times the person with the best advice is the associate in your group who is only one to two years your senior; still other times the person with the most perspective is outside of your practice group entirely.  Cast a wide net in your mentorship search, and you’ll find that you have a network to draw upon when you have a question.

Josh P: Ask questions early and often.  Law is a practiced craft: you learn by doing and through guidance.  You will need to show your mentors and supervising attorneys that you did the work to try to find the answer on your own, but you must also take the next step of asking for guidance or asking for feedback on your work product.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to grow in this profession without the support of attorneys around you.  Use them. 

ME: Show up to social and training events.  That signals that you are invested in the firm beyond just working there, which will in turn make it more likely that senior attorneys will want to invest their time in you.  Meeting attorneys in those settings also gives the younger attorney a different view of the senior attorney’s personality and will make it easier to see who might be a good fit to be your mentor.  

 

CA: What information, skills or advice have you sought to get out of your mentor relationships, and have you been successful in doing so?  How have you approached your mentor relationships to get the most out of them? 

Jenny P: How to handle the various personalities at the top of my group, and how to move through the firm in the way that will position me in the best light, give me the best opportunities, and develop my skills as a lawyer.  Sometimes, it just comes down to how to deal with a difficult personality or get the attention of someone who can advance my career. I think I’ve been pretty successful, as I have multiple mentors who I am close with and can turn to for advice even now that I’m partner.  I’ve approached my mentorships openly and honestly with my heart on my sleeve.  I’ve been candid about my concerns, my struggles, and areas of weakness.

ED: The questions that I ask my mentors run the gamut.  I have asked for explanations of complex concepts in credit agreements, advice on how to address a mistake that I made on a transaction, tips on how I should provide feedback and mentorship to junior associates and suggestions on how to manage certain deadlines and other work stressors, simply to name a few examples.  I have been fortunate to receive thoughtful feedback on all fronts.  Not all advice has been actionable, but all advice has shaped how I approach the next challenge.  To get this type of advice, I make sure to keep in touch regularly with each of my mentors, oftentimes simply to connect on work and life generally.  When I do have a question, I take the time to organize my thoughts before reaching out to show that I value the time that they’re putting in to assist me.

Josh P: My mentor taught me to manage my workload proactively and communicate my availability to case teams.  Colleagues cannot know your capacity unless you tell them. Flag competing demands early so deadlines can be adjusted and work reallocated, preserving quality on each assignment.  Your colleagues want you to succeed, but they can only help you if you speak up. 

ME: I consulted my mentor when deciding which practice group to join.  I thought his advice would be narrow and relate to things like pros and cons of the substantive areas of the two practice groups I was considering.  But his answer went much deeper and brought up things I had never considered, such as the leadership succession plan for each group, the internal challenges of getting work in one group versus another, etc.  I had no idea those issues existed or how they could impact my growth.  But everything he said about succession and internal challenges were 100% correct, as I saw over the next 5 years.

 

CA: In what ways did you find mentorship to be a particularly useful model to promote early career progression?       

ED: My own mentor relationships have been incredibly valuable in my career development.  Their guidance and constructive feedback accelerated my technical skills and substantive knowledge of my practice area; bolstered my confidence in my abilities as a lawyer and as a teacher; provided me with tools on how to manage work stress; and helped me approach complex situations with a solution-oriented mindset.  They hold me accountable to my potential and goals, and they have fundamentally shaped how I approach mentorship for others.

Josh P: From the outset of law school, I sought mentorship.  I am forever indebted to Columbus attorneys who guided me through mock interviews, met to discuss career paths, and invested in my development.  Programs such as the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) help cultivate these relationships early in one’s career.

ME: Per the prior answer, it helped me find a practice group that was a great fit.

 

CA: What results has the firm seen from mentorship efforts? 

Jenny P: It has seen more engaged associates and associates who care about their work product and their career progression. When you have someone taking the time to teach you how to operate and what to consider, you are more thoughtful and invested in the work.

ED: We have a significant number of people who remain at Jones Day for their entire careers, and I think our mentorship efforts play a large role in that statistic.  Speaking for myself, the patient, consistent and encouraging guidance that I have received from my mentors has made me feel connected to a community versus just a company.  I know that they are invested in my growth, and it motivates me to continue to provide quality work and hopefully return the favor to juniors who are coming up behind me.

Josh P: Jones Day’s collegial culture is reinforced by informal, cross-office mentorship.  Initiatives like the New Lawyers Academy offer Jones Day attorneys an opportunity to forge mentorship relationships early in their career by meeting partners and associates from other offices.  The firm’s cross-office work allows deepens these relationships.

ME: Mentorship helps retention and good will when attorneys move on.

 

Sponsorship

CA: What factors have you found to be the most important in finding a good sponsor? 

Jenny P: Someone who is willing to devote the time to making sure they can get you good opportunities, and someone who has opportunities to give or connections to help you find those opportunities.

ED: A sponsor often starts out as a mentor, so you should look for similar qualities in your sponsor search as your mentor search.  A sponsor should also be widely respected by your colleagues, clients and opposing counsel, and they should be engaged in various firm activities outside of their own specific practice.  They should be strategy-oriented and understand the direction the firm is headed.

Josh P: In many ways, sponsors tend to find you.  Sponsors often emerge when senior lawyers recognize your potential and see a path to deploy and develop it in key workstreams.  Junior attorneys play a role in this – they must make their strengths visible to potential sponsors.  A sponsor can advocate for you when you are not there, but they need to know what you have to offer.

ME: A significant factor is finding a sponsor with whom you have something in common.  One of the things that convinced me to join the practice group I did was that the partner I was working for said he had to leave early every day that week because his wife was travelling for work, and he had to pick up the kids.  My wife is also a professional, and we were expecting our first child, so I knew the shoe would be on the other foot in the near future.

 

CA: At what point in your career did you look for a sponsor (or are you thinking about looking for a sponsor)?  If you already have a sponsor, do you have tips for diverse attorneys on how to secure a sponsor?  If you don’t already have a sponsor, what is your plan or process for securing a sponsor? 

Jenny P: It wasn’t something I had considered when I was young; it just fell into my lap. I was lucky enough to have multiple people who wanted to see me succeed and were able to provide me with opportunities to do so.  To secure a sponsor, you have to be open to meet new people and also be willing to do the hard work and whatever is asked of you. People are more likely to want to sponsor you if they think you are all-in, care about your work, and want to succeed. And the only way to make it known that is how you operate is to meet people, be open, and do good work.

ED: Sponsorships can be a bit of a harder of a relationship to envision at the start of your career, but there are two things that you can do early on to make that process easier as you progress at a firm.  First, focus on building your substantive legal knowledge and take pride and accountability in your work product.  Substantive knowledge will be the foundation of your practice, and demonstrating diligence in your work product is what builds trust with senior associates and partners to think of you for important work opportunities.  Next, invest time at your firm outside of just submitting work product, whether it be through recruiting initiatives, affinity groups or social events.  These events are all platforms for you to show your interpersonal skills, leadership potential and commitment to being a team player.  Ultimately, a sponsor is staking their reputation on your potential, so it is important to give them strong evidence that you can do the job at a high level and make a positive impact on the firm’s culture.

Josh P: Diverse attorneys can attract sponsors by making their interests and skills visible—authentically and consistently.  Mentorship and sponsorship are duties of an effective attorney, even if they do not appear in job descriptions.  Junior lawyers should proactively add value, particularly by making senior lawyers’ work more efficient, while clearly articulating their goals and strengths.  Use everyday interactions—coffee or lunch, practice-group and client meetings, and firm events—to do so.  Sponsors want to identify and advance talent; make it easy for them by making yourself known.

ME: I looked early on, although I viewed it more as “I want to find good people to work for” and not necessarily as a “sponsor.”  For diverse attorneys, I don’t think the factors are unique.  You want to find someone you have can learn from, and with whom you fit personality wise. 

 

CA: What are some of the traits you would use to describe an effective sponsor – specifically an effective sponsor for a diverse attorney as they look to climb the ranks to partnership? 

Jenny P: An effective sponsor has the diligence to stay on you and continue to keep you in mind for projects or opportunities. Ideally, the sponsor also has connections with various people in and out of your group so they can connect you with other attorneys of the same underrepresented group, but also connect you with other attorneys to diversify your portfolio.      

ED: An effective sponsor recognizes your current skill level, but he or she also has a forward-looking view of where your career could go, or should go, at the firm or beyond.  Your sponsor will work with you and with others at the firm to create opportunities and experiences for you to help achieve that vision, whether it be staffing on pivotal matters, nominating you for certain internal committees, introducing you to other firm leaders and/or including you in business development events.  Much like a mentor, a successful sponsor candidly addresses any questions you may have about how to reach the next phase of your career.

Josh P: An effective sponsor can place more junior attorneys into positions that accentuate their skills and satisfy their interests.  They can mobilize staffing and relationships to ensure success.  Sponsors take a genuine interest in each attorney’s goals and actively execute pathways to the careers they seek.

ME: An effective sponsor has to be someone who is respected in the organization.  If they are not, their sponsorship will be ineffective.

 

CA: Once at the partnership level, do sponsors exist to help diverse attorneys on business development efforts? 

ED: I cannot speak from a partnership perspective, but I can attest that Jones Day takes the view that business development efforts should include attorneys of all levels.  Partners include junior associates in client presentations, encourage associates to lead client interactions on deals/cases and invite associates to charity events, firm sponsored events and other social gatherings with clients.  I have also felt supported in my efforts to organize (together with fellow associates in our corporate group) business development events more tailored for clients at our peer level, separate from partnership efforts.  Jones Day realizes that inclusion of associates helps build sustainable client relationships as we progress in parallel to our client counterparts.

ME: I think diverse attorneys who make partner should view business development through the lens of creating internal clients among their partners as opposed to a  sponsorship relationship.  The internal client lens forces the attorney to view his or her partners as peers; the sponsorship lens implies a senior / junior relationship.  The peer view comes with a level of confidence and competence that is conducive to developing business from internal and external clients. 

 

CA: How can sponsors use their skills and participate in other DE&I initiatives at the firm, like affinity groups and wellbeing efforts? 

Jenny P: Sponsors can partner with various affinity groups to develop client events that provide diverse associates with the opportunity to have more client-facing engagements.

ED: Sponsors are often influential people at a firm, and initiatives gain credibility if these folks make efforts to regularly attend and advocate for affinity and/or mental health driven events.  Sponsors are also uniquely positioned to kickstart new initiatives spearheaded by junior associates; they can connect you with the proper channels to pitch ideas and help you obtain firm resources to realize on such idea.

Josh P: Sponsor participation in firm and office activities models the type of engagement that will serve all attorneys well.  While the form of support evolves, the mission is constant: advancing attorneys’ careers through sustained support from firm colleagues.   

ME: Sponsors have a lot of knowledge about how to succeed at the firm, and thus are great assets to affinity groups and other efforts.  

 

The Future

CA: How do you think mentorship and sponsorship relationships/initiatives will evolve in the future to better ensure the retention and promotion of diverse attorneys? 

Jenny P: I hope they continue on the path of taking into account diversity while not focusing solely on diversity.  Diversity of viewpoint and experience is also key, and in this day and age I think it’s critical that mentors and sponsors not all be part of your diverse group so you can experience a range of advice and viewpoints.    

ED: Ultimately, I have not seen many programs or initiatives that beat out organic, informal mentorships.  I see these relationships continuing to thrive as those who found value as mentees transition into mentors.

Josh P: Effective mentorship and sponsorship depend on attracting diverse students to the profession.  Talent and drive are equally distributed; access and opportunity are not.  Early exposure to lawyers can spark interest in high school and college, leading to LSAT preparation and law school applications.  To sustain diversity of thought, the profession must invest in the pipeline of capable students.  As that pipeline expands, diverse junior lawyers will more readily find mentors and sponsors in law firm practice.

ME: Technology will likely play a bigger role in finding initial matches of sponsors and mentors, but at the end of the day, these relationships take effort, mostly initiated by the junior attorney.  I don’t see that changing.