Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible. Yomi Adegoke
very white-male-dominated arena, I always think, no matter what I do they’re going to remember me, because there’s only one black female in the room and it’s me. So when I’m in meetings I try to be as positive as possible, I try to make an impact, I want my voice to be heard and I want them to remember me for something positive.’
Vanessa Kingori MBE, Publishing Director of British Vogue, explains why we should embrace visibility rather than fight it.
‘If I’m in a situation where I’m sat around a room, there’s no point pretending that I’m less visible; I have to be aware of that and then I have to make good of it. But I think it’s such an advantage, because if you think about it, there are many business books written about trying to be noticed, trying to get cut through, trying to get your bosses’ attention, trying to whatever. We celebrate that in our work and our output, right? So it’s like, “I want to be noticed.” We have that in our physicality, rightly or wrongly, there’s no point fighting it. It just is what it is, but use it as an advantage. There are lots of people who look the same, who will not get the opportunity you have to have that cut through, so you use that platform.
‘Be prepared for that meeting, go there with a few things you’re already ready to say, that will challenge opinions and make people think “That’s a smart cookie.” So it’s all about the prep and being present in that room and not shrinking. You can’t try to do something that just physically isn’t possible. You can’t be less black and less female, right? So just make it count. Don’t fight something that is a given, I think it’s a massive advantage.’
But how do we go about making it count? Performance ratings are key; they are an opportunity to illustrate to your manager what you’ve achieved that year. Ratings affect promotions and pay rises, so it is important that your manager takes note of you and is exposed to the work you have done throughout the year. But how do we come across as driven and ambitious without rubbing people up the wrong way?
Multi-award-winning senior lawyer and diversity leader in the UK, Funke Abimbola MBE, explains how she became part of the talent pool and made sure she was identified as high potential at her law firm.
‘I went about ensuring that my work was visible, not in a showing-off way, and you have to be very clear not to be seen as being out for yourself, either. So, I did it through my team, showcasing what we are doing as a team, individually and collectively, and that can only happen if someone is an effective leader. So, the way I showcase the visibility is: we’ve got all sorts of internal communication channels here that want stories about what different teams are doing, we’ve got a magazine, we’ve got a Google community, we’ve got a weekly email that goes out, we’ve got all sorts of channels for communication. So, as a team, we drip-feed positive stories about all aspects of what we’re doing – the announcements don’t always come out from me; individual team members will sometimes put out announcements about others, so quite often others put out announcements about me winning awards and I do the same for them, to try to avoid anyone thinking that you’re just doing it to promote yourself as an individual. In many ways, the stories can get out there. It is about showcasing what you’re doing and the impact, communicating that and really driving that narrative, so that there are so many examples of what you’ve done, that when it comes to the end of year, you’ve got a long list of examples of what you’ve done. The evidence is always overwhelming; really, it’s like, here it all is, and this was the impact.’
However, there may be some instances when you’re doing all of the above, already working twice as hard and trying to take advantage of that visibility, but it isn’t reflected in your progressing to the next level in your career. This can be really frustrating, and it may then be that it is time to look elsewhere. Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE agrees, ‘If those people don’t recognise it, it’s one of those things. That door may be closed; another will be open elsewhere, and you have to knock on those doors, and you might think it’s because you’re black, you might think it’s because you’re young, you might think it’s because you’re a woman, but none of that matters; there’s a door that’ll be open for you somewhere else because you are those things, but you have to go and find that door; don’t be knocking on a door that’s not going to value you.’
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Mentoring and sponsoring
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On my first day of Year 7, every girl in my year was assigned a ‘Big Sister’, a girl from one of the older years whose role it was to guide you through your first year at secondary school. I found it reassuring that there was someone who would watch my back, look out for me and tell me how to get by. She showed me that I wasn’t alone, and also what a ‘good student’ looked like in person.
We cannot underestimate the positive impact that having a mentor and sponsor can bring to your career. Studies have shown that ethnic minorities who advance the furthest in their careers all share one asset: a strong network of mentors and sponsors who nurture their professional development.16 However, there is currently a lack of mentors or sponsors for black women in the workplace, and this often can be a problem when it comes to our development.
I always thought that mentors and sponsors were the same thing, and I would use the words interchangeably, but they aren’t, and knowing the difference and taking advantage of it could really make an impact on your career progression. Funke Abimbola explains how it works:
‘I call this the triumvirate: sponsorship, mentoring and coaching are the three things that are essential to career progression, and they’re all very different. Mentoring is guidance and advice. Sponsoring is someone actively looking for opportunities for you and putting you forward for them. Coaching is actually teaching you the skills: how to influence; how to communicate; how to get by; this is how you should run the meeting and so on. All three have been absolutely essential for my career progression.’
Black women who want to advance in their chosen fields can benefit hugely from the added visibility and support that a sponsor brings to their careers. This is because within every company there are a few people who are part of the decision-making process, who steer the more plummy projects. These are the people who have the access to talk you up behind closed doors and also to defend you against detractors. This matters, in particular, because it is on the more high-profile projects and assignments that you will have your chance to prove yourself to your peers and to this cohort of decision-makers.
If you can find a sponsor who is impressed by you and wants to support you, your chances of promotion and pay rise increase tenfold, as Sandra Kerr OBE explains: ‘These processes are often that of advocacy, where senior leaders recommend known individuals for consideration – a form of active sponsorship, whether it is formalised or not. If these conversations do not include either BAME leaders or senior leaders who are being exposed to BAME talent, the diversity of the pipeline is unlikely to change.’17
CEO of Stemettes, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon understands first-hand the benefits of sponsorship: in 2017 she received an MBE, and having a sponsor who advocated on her behalf was essential. Interestingly, to this day she still doesn’t know who sponsored her application, but the person in question really understood Anne-Marie’s personal brand as a STEM leader.
‘I didn’t apply for the MBE; you don’t nominate yourself for an MBE. Someone else has to do a whole load of work, on your behalf, without you knowing, puts their name on the line, or puts their neck on the line, and says this person needs to get an honour, “Because what they’re doing is a lot.” That’s how honours work. That person didn’t mentor me to have an MBE. That person sponsored it.’
How do you get a sponsor? Karen Blackett says it has to come organically: ‘I find it weird when people at events, who I’ve never met before, ask me to be their mentor, because you’ve got to have some sort of chemistry with the individual and know a bit about them to be able to help. So I think getting a sponsor needs someone you have to have a relationship with first, and I think if black women are finding it difficult to get a sponsor, it’s because they haven’t worked out their own personal brand to have somebody be able