Rita Rossi

Report

Ocean Exploration and Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems

Mentoring and Sponsoring

This book is a compilation of very personal approaches to mentoring and sponsoring, breaking the stereotypes of seniority, age or experience. The authors have provided a platform to understand that mentoring and especially sponsoring are in fact a win-win relation, in which both sides, mentors and mentees; and sponsors and sponsored individuals learn from each other, enhancing their career paths. How they managed to create a growth space for themselves and their teams through mentoring and sponsoring, is a story of professional leadership. They shared a privileged outlook to understand the root causes of barriers, as well as to envision plausible solutions for difficult career crossroads, in which mentorship or sponsoring was key to steer step changes. The authors propose not only their vision, but a remarkable collection of unfiltered interviews with young and renown professionals in many sectors, from photography to music, research, sports, energy, and more, completing a vision of what is key for both sides of the equation pertinent to mentoring and sponsoring: the givers and the receivers. They explain what is needed to gain the most out of the mentoring and sponsoring loops, with their own career stories. Success is supported by many factors, in which the most important are the technical competency and performance aligned with resilience. However, in the long path of a career, mentors and particularly sponsors play a foundational and frequently a changing-life role, improving our perspective or triggering reflections and actions that benefitted our journeys at work and in life. This book provides insights on what works for an effective mentoring and sponsoring process. It is useful for all professionals, especially those starting their career journeys.