Mentorship & Coaching

Women are overmentored and underchampioned. Every career advice panel, every women’s leadership summit, HR initiative lands on the same answer: find a mentor. Get guidance. Have someone to talk to about your career. We have plenty of people willing to give us advice. Sit us down and tell us to be more confident. Review our resumes. Suggest we think about how we’re coming across. Remind us it’s a marathon not a sprint. Reassure us that our time will come. Pat us on the head and send us back to wait our turn. What we don’t have are people in rooms we’re not in, saying our names when opportunities come up. People who will stake their reputation on us. People who will say “she’s ready.” People who will hand us the thing instead of coaching us endlessly on how to ask for it. Mentorship is someone talking to you. Sponsorship is someone betting on you. One of them changes careers. The other makes you feel supported while you watch mediocre men get promoted while you’re told ‘your attitude needs work’. Mentorship is a way of appearing to help women without redistributing any power. It costs nothing to give advice. You get to feel generous, get credit for caring, and never have to spend political capital. Meanwhile sponsorship costs something. Saying “I want her on this project”. Telling the CEO “she should be in this meeting”. Pushing back when someone says “she’s not quite ready yet”. Which is why so few people do it. Men get sponsored automatically. Men are presumed competent and promoted on potential while women are required to prove ourselves over and over and get promoted only on undeniable performance. A senior guy sees himself in the young guy, takes an interest, pulls him up. It’s just how things work. Meanwhile women get told to go find a mentor. Make it happen for yourself. The labour of our own advancement is always on us. “Find a mentor” assumes the problem is that we haven’t networked hard enough, haven’t asked the right questions, haven’t been proactive. That if we just read the right books and had the right conversations we’d finally crack the code. Meanwhile the actual decision-makers are busy sponsoring people who look like them. I’ve had mentors. Lovely people.. They told me what to read, how to navigate politics, when to push and when to wait. Very helpful. You know what actually moved my career? The few people who put me in rooms, made introductions that mattered, handed me opportunities. Who didn’t wait for me to be ready but decided I was ready and acted like it. So here’s my advice: stop looking for mentors. Stop asking senior women for coffee. Stop trying to absorb wisdom from people who have no intention of actually helping you get anywhere. Look for people with power and watch what they do with it. Are they talking to you or are they spending capital on you? Are they coaching you for the opportunity or creating it? Are they helping you get ready or are they deciding you are? Enough mentorship. Stick your neck out.

“Women and People of Color are over mentored and under sponsored.” I shared this during yesterday’s Gallup and WOHASU ® Women’s Wellbeing Panel because it’s a reality we must confront. 💡Research from the Center for Talent Innovation reveals the stark truth: • 71% of sponsors say they’re helping protégés advance, but only 30% of protégés agree. • The numbers are even more troubling for Black employees, with just 5% feeling sponsored in their workplaces. Sponsorship isn’t just about guidance—it’s about action. Sponsors advocate, open doors, and use their influence to elevate others. Here’s what sponsorship looks like in practice: • Advocating for high-visibility projects: Recommending someone for a leadership role or a game-changing initiative. • Speaking up in key rooms: Endorsing their abilities and readiness for promotions during executive discussions. • Leveraging personal networks: Making introductions that lead to pivotal career opportunities. I’m forever grateful to my former boss, Jim Clifton, for being not just a mentor but a true sponsor in my career. His advocacy transformed my opportunities and trajectory in ways I’ll never forget. Sponsorship isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a necessity for building equitable workplaces. Who are you sponsoring? How can we do better? Let’s continue this important conversation. #EquityInAction #Leadership #WomenInLeadership #SponsorshipMatters #Gallup #WOHASU

𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿... 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 Most of the advice out there tells you: “Update your resume. Network more. Get a professional level cert.” That’s not whats going to get their attention. Here’s what does: 👉🏾 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿. ❌ If you only "talk" about AWS services or AI models, you sound like 90% of resumes on the desk. ✅ If you can say, “𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬% 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀” or “𝗜 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 $𝟱𝟬𝗞 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘀,” you move into the top 10% of the pile. 👉🏾 𝗔𝗜 + 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀. ❌ Don’t tell them you know SageMaker or Azure OpenAI. ✅ Show them how you applied it to solve a real business problem, fraud detection, customer churn, forecasting, compliance. That’s what separates buzzword users from people who looks like the right hire. (Those buzzwords will get your a** in trouble) 👉🏾 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆. ❌ They don’t need someone who think they know everything. ✅  They need someone who can pick up a new tool, learn fast, and deliver under pressure. Document your projects. Share how you diagnosed issues. Talk about trade-offs you made. 👉🏾 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀. If you just got laid off through a restructure, You should want to bring stability back to your career, not just skills. Show up and be consistent in your learning and training. Show yourself that you can be trusted with outcomes, not just tasks. The market is tough, yes. But from my seat, the people who land first are the ones who stop selling skills, and start showing 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. That may get your hired a little bit faster. Build Trust.

Laid off. Let go. Restructured. The title might change, but the impact is the same. For executives and senior leaders, the emotional toll and strategic complexity of a career interruption is unlike anything you’ve faced before. You don’t just need a résumé update—you need a roadmap. I wrote this Forbes article for leaders who know they’re not just looking for their next job—they’re rethinking what’s next. 🔹 How do you make sense of the disruption? 🔹 How do you clarify your unique value? 🔹 How do you prepare for the questions you know are coming? 📘 This is not a list of generic tips. It’s a 12-strategy survival guide for navigating executive-level transitions with intention. You’ll learn how to: ✅ Build a credible Unique Value Proposition (UVP) ✅ Document accomplishments before access is cut off ✅ Use thought leadership to open hidden doors ✅ Nail your “Tell Me About Yourself” answer with confidence ✅ Develop a future-proof job search and networking plan Whether you’re mid-search, anticipating changes, or coaching others through disruption—this guide will help you take your next steps with strategy and self-awareness. 📖 Read the full article on Forbes: “Layoff Survival Guide: 12 Career Transition Strategies for Executives” 🔗https://lnkd.in/gVvFBqti If it resonates, share it with a colleague. And if you’ve experienced a career transition—what helped you most? #QualifiedIsntEnough #CareerVelocity #jobs

If you’ve been affected by recent layoffs, here’s my genuine advice to you: Take a few days before you start looking for new opportunities. Giving yourself time to process and decompress is essential to make sure you are not making decisions from an emotional state that isn’t reflective of who you are. Once you've given yourself some time, here are a few things I recommend to help you land your next job: 1. Networking Move your focus toward networking. Online applications are often overwhelmed by bots and automated screening systems, and there's no guarantee that your application will be seen. Warm introductions and personal connections are far more effective. Make a list of everyone in your network, and reach out with a genuine, low-pressure message explaining that you were recently laid off and are exploring opportunities in a specific role or industry. You can leverage not just your own network, but others' networks too. Ask people you meet who else you should connect with to expand your reach and uncover new opportunities. 2. Focus on quality and not quantity When applying for jobs, focus on quality rather than quantity. Sending dozens of applications every day often leads to burnout and poor results. Instead, treat each application as a targeted project. Carefully read the job description and identify the exact skills, qualifications, and keywords being emphasized. Use those same terms throughout your résumé and application materials so they align with applicant tracking systems. 3. Talk about your achievements, not just responsibilities. Focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. Instead of saying, "I managed a team," highlight measurable outcomes such as revenue growth, cost reductions, efficiency improvements, or budget ownership. Specific results are far more impactful than general duties. 4. Own your narrative Finally, take ownership of your narrative. You will likely be asked why you were laid off, so prepare a concise, professional explanation in advance. Keep it factual and unemotional. Most importantly, remember that being laid off is an event, not an identity. It doesn't define your value, your capabilities, or what you have to offer. Many talented professionals have experienced layoffs and gone on to build successful careers because they approached the next chapter with patience, resilience, and a clear plan. Take the time you need, focus on what you can control, and trust the process. 

The room decides without you. Only 23% of employees have a sponsor at work. That means 77% are trying to advance on performance alone, hoping someone notices their results and promotes them accordingly. But here's what I see happen: talented women collect mentors, implement feedback, refine their leadership presence. Promotions still go elsewhere. Skills aren't the issue. Access is. A mentor helps you prepare for opportunities. A sponsor creates them and puts your name forward when you're not in the room. Women with sponsors are 167% more likely to land high-profile assignments. The kind with bigger budgets, C-suite visibility, strategic impact. The projects that demonstrate executive readiness. Without someone fighting for you in closed-door discussions? Those assignments go to someone else. Yet formal sponsorship programs for women dropped from 31% in 2017 to just 16% in 2024. Companies are cutting these initiatives exactly when women need them most to break into senior leadership. The numbers: Women make up 51% of individual contributors but only 30% of C-suite roles. The drop happens in the middle, where sponsorship matters most. Real sponsorship looks like this: → Someone with power amplifying your achievements to decision-makers → Recommending you for visible projects → Connecting you to influential leaders → Defending you against biased evaluations It requires them to spend their credibility on you. That's why it feels scarce. When I built Ellect, I kept seeing the same pattern across industries and continents... women receiving advice while men received advocacy. Mentorship was abundant. Doors stayed closed. Ellect exists to change that. We create direct pathways to leadership and board opportunities because advice alone can't close the gap. Doors open from the inside, you need someone to unlock them. So ask yourself: who is fighting for you in rooms where you're not present? If you're a leader with influence, who are you actively sponsoring? Are you recommending women for stretch assignments, using your credibility to open doors? The gender gap in leadership requires people with power to use it differently. https://lnkd.in/gUxH-qkT

At a certain point in your career, your biggest asset isn't your skills. It's who's talking about you when you're not in the room. That's sponsorship. And most women are losing out on it without even realising it. I know this because in one of our Lean In Circle discussions, everyone could name a mentor - instantly without hesitation, but when asked to name a sponsor, the room went quiet.  A mentor tells you what to work on. A sponsor works on your behalf. A mentor builds your skills. A sponsor builds your visibility in rooms you haven't been invited to. Mentorship is structured, measurable and programmable. Sponsorship is informal, invisible, and often the single most decisive factor in who actually gets to the next level. Women are being mentored generously but sponsored rarely. What sponsorship looks like - not one moment of advocacy, but a pattern of it. Someone who inserts your name into a conversation you weren't part of. Who corrects the record when your idea gets attributed to someone else? Who says - she's ready before you've said it about yourself. Who puts their own reputation behind yours, not because they were asked to, but because they chose to. Sponsors only do this for people they truly believe in. Which means when it happens, it's one of the most powerful signals a career can receive. So why do women lose out? Both sides have a role. On our side: we put our heads down, do good work, and trust it'll be noticed. It won't - not automatically, not consistently, and rarely in rooms that matter the most. We also only put our hands up when we're 100% ready. But sponsors don't advocate for your performance. They advocate for your potential. Those are very different things, and that distinction is quietly costing women opportunities they've already earned. On the other side: sponsorship flows to people with the most face time, not the most promise. It travels through informal networks, spaces women have historically had less access to.  And the moment a woman is being considered, assumptions quietly enter the room around her responsibilities at home, family plans, and travel constraints. None of it gets said. But it shapes who gets the advocacy. This is not a pipeline problem. It is not a confidence problem. It is a sponsorship problem. And no mentorship programme, however well designed, closes a gap that requires something fundamentally different - someone willing to use their influence on your behalf. Two questions before you scroll past.  If you're a senior leader - whose name did you say in the last room she wasn’t in? Was it the person who looked most familiar? If you're a woman, who knows about your work beyond the people who see it every day? And are you waiting to be discovered, or creating the conditions to be known? The gap between where you are and where you want to be is often not a skill gap. It's a sponsorship gap. And unlike most gaps, this one can be closed by a conversation. The question is who starts it.

Most organizations have a mentorship program. Very few have a sponsorship strategy. And there is a difference. A mentor gives you advice. A sponsor uses their influence, their access, and their positional authority to open doors and advocate for you when you’re not in the room. According to McKinsey & Company and Lean In’s 2025 Women in the Workplace report, women are less likely than men to have a sponsor at every level of the corporate pipeline, and employees with sponsors are promoted at nearly twice the rate of those without. Yet only 16% of companies offer formal sponsorship programs for women, down from 24% in 2022. For women of color, that number drops to just 8%. At Career Thrivers we believe women are not over-mentored because they need more guidance. They are over-mentored because it’s easier than the structural work of sponsorship. ‼️ And here’s the other side of that equation that we don’t talk about enough. Women have a role to play too. Not in working harder or proving more; you’ve already done that. But in refusing to shrink from being recognized. In building the visibility and leadership brand that makes it impossible to be overlooked. In speaking up about your value, your vision, and your impact instead of waiting to be spoken about. The leaders who get sponsored are not always the most qualified. They are the most visible. Start speaking up before you’re spoken about. Organizations must build the infrastructure. And women must stop waiting for permission to be seen. Both things are true. Both things are necessary. What’s your organization doing to move from mentorship to sponsorship? How are you owning your leadership brand to increase your visibility and impact within your industry?

Laid Off in Tech? Make the Next 30 Days a Comeback Plan—Not a Panic Spiral Layoffs are a tough reminder of a simple truth in cloud: there are no “safe” jobs, only priorities that are currently funded. If you’ve been laid off—or you can feel the ground shifting—the goal isn’t to sprint into random applications and collect certifications like talismans. The goal is to regain control, quickly, with a plan you can execute. Start by stabilizing your runway. A layoff is a business event, not a personal verdict, and you make better decisions when you can see the numbers and the timeline. Get clarity on your cash runway and burn rate, your benefits and severance windows, and what those dates actually mean for your decision-making. Once you’ve removed the fog, you can stop reacting and start choosing. Next, stop “job hunting” and start value positioning. The market doesn’t pay for buzzwords; it pays for outcomes. If you want to stand out, communicate impact in terms leaders understand: cost removed, risk reduced, reliability improved, and delivery speed increased. A profile that reads like a skills inventory blends in. A profile that reads like an operator who ships measurable results gets calls. Then choose one lane and go deep. Panic-skill-spamming is just anxiety with a receipt. Focus on work that survives budget pressure and executive scrutiny: FinOps and cloud cost optimization, security/governance/compliance, platform engineering and reliability, modernization tied to real ROI, and production-grade data engineering. Depth beats scatter, especially when companies are making hard trade-offs. Finally, treat your search like operational excellence. Build a 30–60–90 day plan, ship a few tangible artifacts that demonstrate how you think and what you deliver, do targeted outreach instead of broad spraying applications, and sharpen your interview stories around metrics, constraints, and trade-offs. The fastest path back isn’t “more effort.” It’s better positioning and disciplined execution. If you’re in this right now, you’re not alone—and you’re not powerless. Which lane are you doubling down on over the next 30 days? Subscribe to my channel here: https://lnkd.in/g7hJvmXv #cloudcomputing #aws #finops #platformengineering #sre #cloudsecurity #governance #digitaltransformation #techcareers #careeradvice #layoffs #leadership

People who are laid off exist. Frankly, they get ignored by events, vendors, companies, etc., because they are not going to provide any immediate return on investment. All of this contributes to the embarrassment and shame for those people who are laid off. They are not alone. When I created CruiseCon, I created it for everyone, including those who can't attend, because they may not have a job. These are the people who need the help, support, and guidance the most, but again, people don't address them. To that end, I reached out to 🐐Steve Shelton 🐐 at Green Shoe Consulting to provide some guidance for those laid off, may be laid off, or anyone who just wants to support them. We will have Steve on a future CruiseCon in a Careers track to cover this in person. The video summary is: Ira interviewed Steve, an expert on career issues and burnout, to discuss how cybersecurity professionals can cope with layoffs and the emotional impact of involuntary job loss. Steve emphasized strategies for regaining control and building resilience, including focusing on personal values, seeking community support, and maintaining a daily routine. They also discussed overcoming embarrassment and shame associated with job loss, suggesting support groups and reframing negative thoughts. Details Addressing Layoffs in Cybersecurity Ira interviewed Steve, an expert on career issues and burnout, to discuss how cybersecurity professionals can cope with layoffs, a prevalent issue in the industry. Steve noted that Green Shoe Consulting is conducting the industry's first evidence-based research on stress and burnout specific to CISOs, with findings to be published in August. They highlighted the emotional impact of involuntary job loss, emphasizing the need for a mourning and grieving period. Strategies for Regaining Control and Building Resilience Steve advised focusing on controllable aspects of life, starting with understanding personal values as a foundation for identity. They also stressed the importance of community support to combat loneliness and maintain mental resilience, encouraging networking and leaning into one's social circle. Creating a daily routine and engaging in hobbies were also recommended for personal well-being, along with considering career coaching and envisioning the ideal future role and environment rather than just taking the next available job. Overcoming Embarrassment and Shame Ira raised the challenge of embarrassment associated with job loss, and Steve expanded on this, noting that shame can diminish confidence and inhibit action. Steve suggested having a support group for venting feelings and emphasized the importance of accepting the situation while reframing negative thoughts. They concluded that negative feelings like embarrassment or shame do not always reflect how others perceive the situation, and encouraged individuals to consider how they would help others in similar circumstances. To get related content, please follow CruiseCon.