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FORTUNE Most Powerful Women share secrets to success — “someone else” (Part 2)

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Cathy Benko, (right), Vice Chairman and Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte, LLP and Brigitte Dzogbenuku, (left), Fortune/State Dept. Mentee and Gen. Mgr., Aviation Social Centre in Accra, Ghana.

Mentoring vs: Sponsorship: The big divide

As we mentioned in Part 1, most of the uber-accomplished women we interviewed at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit saw  the support of someone senior as critical. They also underscore the difference between the watchful eye of a mentor and someone who “advocates” and actually “creates an opportunity” – called a sponsor.

This difference is explained in a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review, entitled, “Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women” which suggests that mentoring isn’t enough. The authors argue that career advancement is more likely to come from active sponsorship than more passive mentoring.

HBR: “Our interviews and surveys alike suggest that high-potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male peers—and that they are not advancing in their organizations. Furthermore, without sponsorship, women not only are less likely than men to be appointed to top roles but may also be more reluctant to go for them.”

Question: Who made the difference in your career, and what did you learn? We asked dozens of the summit’s extraordinary women for their answers, as Deloittte, for the third consecutive year, assigned artists to graphically chronicle these newsworthy nuggets for publication. (See illustrations below.)

Jane Blalock, CEO, JBC Golf:

From this sports pioneer — Golf’s 1969 “Rookie of the Year” — the answer to the question above comes fast: legendary coach Bob Toski, her first golf teacher, served as her MVM–most valuable mentor. But Jane agrees with the HBR study, saying — if she didn’t have Toski’s support as a true sponsor –she would not have accomplished what she has:

1) Amassing 27 LPGA titles, two world championships, and two Triple Crowns.

2) Setting the record for most consecutive cuts made (299) in the sport.

3) Being the first player in the LPGA to win more than $100,000 in four consecutive seasons.

Jane told me Toski introduced her to people she needed to meet, and set her up with the best equipment—something she never could have afforded on her own. “Sometimes,” she says, “a sponsor helps fund you” while providing other key kinds of support. Toski’s role was pivotal in Jane’s 18-year professional golf career.

Blalock’s first MacGregor Tourneys: a 5 wood, driver, and wedge

In addition to guiding her to record-breaking wins, he provided her with her first set of pro caliber golf clubs for her maiden professional tournament in 1969. To this day, she keeps the clubs right alongside other meaningful golf memorabilia from her numerous victories. (See photo on right.)

Through Bob, she learned the value of passion, perseverance, and performance under pressure. (See illustration of Jane’s conversation with us at Deloitte’s “Inspiration Café—above.) She even began applying her lessons in golf to her work at Merrill Lynch in 1985.

Now, through her LPGA Golf Clinics for women, she “pays it forward” by “leveling the playing field” for women in business. The clinics were created to achieve a dual purpose: to help professional women become more at ease with golf as a sport — and as a business tool — and to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

JBC Golf is the only woman-owned golf-event management and marketing firm in the country.

Illustration by Alicia Bramlett

Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller, former political consultant to President George W. Bush.

Karen names the former chairman of the Texas Republican Party–- Fred Meyer — as her key mentor/sponsor. It was a phone call from Meyer in 1991 that changed Hughes’s life. Meyer was looking for someone to be the “voice of the party” in Austin, and offered the job of Executive Director to Karen. (When Meyer decided not to run for reelection as chairman, Hughes moved to George W. Bush’s gubernatorial campaign.)

She said Meyer “taught her by example” — how to treat people with courtesy, openness, and respect.  She also learned along the way, that she had to accept the position of “role model.”

Her experience allowed her to apply a new model for media coverage with then Governor Bush. As Director of Communications, Karen initiated a plan to “open the doors” to reporters so they could see a side of Governor Bush they hadn’t seen before. She said he was painted as “inexperienced” prior to that, and she was convinced he could showcase his authenticity with more press access. She invited writers and news crews on the road, and watched the game change “from defensive to offensive.”

Karen served as Counselor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002, as a consultant to the successful Bush-Cheney re-election campaign in 2004, and as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy from 2005 – 2007. Her best advice to young business people? “Do what you’re passionate about.”

Illustration by Alicia Bramlett

Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman and Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte LLP

Cathy told us her mentors and sponsors have been “a portfolio of people.” It started with her CEO suggesting she write a book. Then she asked her renowned former Harvard Business School Professor, Warren McFarlan to team up with her on the project, and he said, “yes” – adding — he’d “never bet against her.”

Well, Cathy now gets to “give back” what she’s learned in what is now her third book –“The Corporate Lattice: Achieving High Performance in a Changing World of Work.” Her advice to young business people?  Noting that 60 percent of new jobs will require skills that only 20 percent of workers possess—she says, “Stay relevant. Adapting is key.”

FORTUNE Most Powerful Women share secrets to success — “someone else” (Part 1)

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Learn it, then share it:

Last week’s 12th annual MPW Summit drew over 500 women leaders from business, government, sports, philanthropy, education, fashion, broadcasting, and the arts. Hosted by Fortune’s most powerful chair– Pattie Sellers, editor-at-large–the summit’s theme : “Building a Legacy.”

On stage, we heard from Warren Buffett, Indra Nooyi, Ursula Burns, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: on politics, the changing global economy, and impact of  social media.  Then offstage, at Deloitte’s “Inspiration Café,” we chatted with dozens of trailblazing women—all with extraordinary stories to tell–which we chronicled with a team of gifted artists.

Each year , I have the privilege of asking the world’s top women CEOs and corporate newsmakers to share what they’ve learned, and what they value most. Often, it’s an appreciation for someone else—a mentor, a sponsor, an advocate. A few enlightening responses below:

Illustration by Kelvy Bird

Tory Burch: Chairman, Tory Burch

She’s accomplished so much in such a short time, it scares me. A trendsetting fashion designer and mother of three, Tory launched her business operation in her Upper East side apartment in 2004 and quickly grew it into dozens of free-standing boutiques. As it turns out—Tory’s mentor is her older brother, now co-president of the company. His advice to her? “Always look for the good in a person.” Her advice to young businesspeople? “Have tenacity and a point-of view.”

Laurie Ann Goldman: CEO, Spanx, Inc.

Laurie Ann says she’s always learning lessons, but she senses much of her success is due to DNA. She describes her mother as “an ADD artist” and her Dad “a logical mathematician.” Laurie believes she is “80% Dad, and 80% Mom.” She has learned to use her intuition and her intellect. “The combination is important,” she says. At present, Laurie is mentoring 100 young people in her company.

Tara Fela-Durotoye: Mentee and Managing Director, House of Tara, International.

Tara was the only Nigerian participant selected in this year’s FORTUNE/State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership Program. She told us she was “offended” when she first heard her assigned mentor was an oil company. Then she realized “business principles are business principles.” She saw that Exxon fosters “a strong culture of safety,” and she could apply that kind of commitment to her own beauty products company. She then established her own core values and corporate identity—and created a well-defined “superior customer service.”

Susan Walvius: Co-founder and CEO of SHEEX, Inc. and former Women’s Head Basketball Coach, University of South Carolina

Susan and co-founder Michelle Marciniak both praise their team of supportive mentors and sponsors (Phoebe Wood, celexa recently retired Vice Chairman and CFO of Brown-Forman Corp., Cindy Dipientrantonio ,COO, Jones Apparel Group, and the aforementioned Sellers) but it appears their true business model has organically emerged from the arena they are both familiar with: competitive sports. Susan points out the metaphorical connections between coaching and business– practically straight  from her play book:

1)   Focus on the fundamentals.

2)   Enjoy the wins, evaluate the losses– but always work on improvement.

3)    Be willing to take risks.

4)   Know the difference between playing with pain and genuine injury.

Theresa Alfaro Daytner: CEO/President, Daytner Construction Group

Theresa was named one of Fortune Magazine’s 10 most powerful women entrepreneurs this year. Her company oversees multimillion-dollar building projects in Maryland, Virginia and Washington. She told us her mentor was her father—who “instilled a lack of fear” in her – which, she says, enables her to “think outside the box.”

Tyra Banks (right) tells Lonnie Lardner her mother always "saw the big picture."

Tyra Banks, Chairwoman and CEO, Bankable Enterprises

Tyra attributes her success to her mother, Carolyn–a former medical photographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Her Mom always encouraged her to “think about the end — at the beginning.” And when times got tough—Mom said “I didn’t raise a quitter.” The self-described “mogul in the making” says she is learning how to handle pressure of the new  “spend more, make less economy.” This year, she chose not to cut staff, and cut the bottled water bill instead.

Sharon Allen: Chairman of the Board, Deloitte, LLP

Sharon told us she would not have her current position if it hadn’t been for her sponsor—her former CEO. “A sponsor,” she explains, “is someone who is in a position to be your advocate, and create an opportunity for you.” Bill Parrett had been a mentor initially, then a sponsor. “I would never had been elected chairman otherwise.”


Illustration by Alicia Bramlett

Some solid advice from Sharon (after 38 years with the company) that got my attention: “Make sure you show your stuff. Make it clear what your talents are and what you do for the company.”  She revealed that she learned that lesson the hard way years ago. She was due for a promotion—but someone else got the job. When she went to her boss, she asked why, and told him what she had accomplished. The boss said–“I didn’t know you did all that.”  That was her teachable moment. When we asked — “how you promote yourself without being a braggart?” — she said “work it into conversations–the organization needs to know what you’re doing.”