FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO AFTER YOUR BOSS OR SPONSOR LEAVES THE COMPANY

Having a board of advisors is the most critical step a small business or startup can take to improve its chances of surviving. Likewise, the most crucial step you can make in building your career is getting a sponsor(s).

Catalyst Magazine published groundbreaking research that sponsorship is the key to narrowing the gender pay gap, concluding that "sponsorship Is key to advancing high performers."

Given the importance of mentors and sponsors to one's career, what should you do if this key figure decides to leave your company? Listed below are five steps that I recommend you take if your sponsor and/or mentor leaves your company.

1. BUILD MULTIPLE MENTORSHIP RELATIONSHIPS. Don't just have one sponsor (or one mentor). Strive to build two or even three mentor relationships. Focus on getting mentors who have industry experience and who may also share some of the same skill sets that you are trying to develop.

2. ENCOURAGE EACH SPONSOR TO MEET. Do not manage your mentors in a silo (i.e., no knowledge of the other). Encourage your sponsors and mentors to meet and share ideas on your career direction. Corporations have boards of directors who collaborate to maximize the value of the enterprise. You should take the same approach with your mentors. Host quarterly Zoom (web conference) calls with your mentors and send out an "annual report" email that summarizes your successes and upcoming focus areas.

3. MAINTAIN A RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EXECUTIVE RECRUITER. Executive recruiters can help you find another job, and they can also tell you when other people (especially people within your own company) are looking for a job. You know the old saying, "Rats flee a sinking ship." If your sponsor is exiting the company, it may be an indication of more significant turmoil to come to your company. An executive recruiter can act as an early warning system so you won't get caught left behind on a ship that is taking on water.

4. UPDATE YOUR RESUME. MAKE SURE NEW JOB SKILLS RELEVANT TO THE MARKET ARE HIGHLY VISIBLE. Before your sponsor/mentor leaves the company, have a conversation, and try to get an understanding of the new opportunity that he or she is chasing. After you have that understanding, spend time mapping the relevant skills needed to perform that job. Use that map, and update your resume with as many of those skills as you have mastered.

5. ATTEND THE VERY NEXT INDUSTRY CONFERENCE AND NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. If you are not up to speed on all of the leading trends and technologies driving your industry, you should attend the very next industry conference (even if you have to pay for out of your pocket.

Conferences are the perfect location to refresh your thinking on industry trends and to make connections with executives at companies that are leading your industry. Before the pandemic, I attended a conference in San Francisco, and many of these leading companies were conducting job interviews right on the spot with people who had skill sets that they needed. It is good to know what your worth and it's always good to conduct self-assessments to see where your skill-set range among talented executives.

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Mark Peterson is an entrepreneur, lecturer, freelance writer, author of Guerrillapreneur: Small Business Strategies for Davids Wanting To Defeat Goliaths and host of the podcast Guerrillapreneur: The Art of Waging Small Business Warfare. Peterson is also the Managing Executive of Ceyero Consulting Follow him @guerillapreneur or @ceyeroconsltg.