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Meet Addison Bouck
Meet Addison Bouck 1707 2560 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Addison (Addie) Bouck has joined SageRiver this summer as an intern. A true Renaissance woman, Addie is studying history, philosophy and management consulting at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. She also enjoys art, volunteering, sports and sailing—and recently returned from a semester in Italy, where she spent some of her time learning about traditional printmaking methods. We sat down with Addie this month to talk about what she’s learned at SageRiver thus far and what drew her to an internship with the firm.

SageRiver (SR): What prompted you to pursue an internship with SageRiver?

Addie Bouck (AB): I’ve always been interested in consulting. The project-based structure and the problem-solving focus really pulled me into the industry. SageRiver’s size—coupled with its clear focus on strategy—gives me a perfect opportunity to explore the industry while getting hands-on experience. I was also excited to work with this amazing team within a company culture that I find inspiring and enjoyable. The SageRiver culture is one I will look for in future jobs.

SR: What will you be focusing on this summer?

AB: As I mentioned, I was really excited about the variety of work that I get to do at SageRiver. Thus far, I have been focusing on marketing strategy and graphic design, researching emerging industry trends (e.g., artificial intelligence and collective impact), supporting client projects and interviewing other industry members to expand my understanding of the range and scope of consulting practices. I’m looking forward to putting together a final presentation summarizing my work from the summer, as well as compiling and synthesizing the research I’ve completed into a final deliverable.

SR: How does this internship relate to what you’re studying in college?

AB: I’m a history major with minors in management consulting and philosophy. Originally, I added consulting to my degree as a sort of “practical application” of the skills I’m gaining in my liberal arts core studies. However, the more I learn about consulting, and the business world in general, the more direct correlations I’m able to find between these fields. For example, storytelling is a fundamental part of historiography, as well as understanding the developments and rationality of many philosophical trends. It is also foundational to developing an actionable strategy for an organization that speaks to the organizational values and mission, while also taking into account its culture and day-to-day operations. I’m really enjoying discovering these similarities, and I’m looking forward to uncovering other connections as I learn more about the industry.

SR: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

AB: I spent a month backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska two summers ago with the National Outdoor Leadership School. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.

I also spent this past May in Barga, Italy, a small town just north of Lucca. with the wonderful artist Swietlan Nicholas (Nick) Kraczyna (pictured at left). He was my drawing professor during my semester abroad in Florence and is staging an exhibition commemorating the 50 summers he has spent creating art in Barga. He is a printmaker known for his multiplate color etchings, and he needed help producing the etchings for his show. I was lucky enough to learn from him and work in his print shop. It was a dream.

SR: What is your biggest learning at SageRiver so far?

AB: I have come to understand that team dynamics and company culture are even more important than I initially thought. Getting to work with the SageRiver team has been educational, interesting, insightful and straight up fun. I can’t wait to apply all that I have learned, not only to my future career but also to how I orient myself in future teams and communities.

SageRiver Adds New Consultant
SageRiver Adds New Consultant 2024 2560 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Mitchell (Mitch) Heinzeroth joined SageRiver last year as a consultant. With years of executive-level retail experience, he knows how to bridge the gap between strategy and operations. He also knows what it feels like to hang upside down on a rope more than 700 feet in the air. We sat down with Mitch this month to talk about what he learned at Target Corp.’s top-performing store, his passion for leading teams and his excitement about joining SageRiver.

SageRiver (SR): Tell me about the role you have at SageRiver. What is your focus?

Answer: I joined SageRiver last year, and my first engagement was with the Family Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC) in Summit County. They retained SageRiver to provide strategic planning services to help them address rising food and housing costs for residents. Stakeholder engagement was an important part of the project because FIRC wanted to develop transformative strategies and partnerships to solve complex, systemic challenges. I interviewed and conducted numerous focus groups with a range of stakeholders, and we synthesized and reported those findings as the foundation for our strategic planning work. SageRiver has always been at the forefront of new thinking and methodologies, and, with my unique background, I bring additional diversity to the team. My hope is to contribute fresh insights and approaches to delivering top-notch work to our clients.

SR: You bring retail leadership experience to SageRiver. Over your six years with the Target Corp., what were your standout experiences or achievements?

A: I was very lucky to work at the No. 1 store in the country for five of the six years I was with Target. It was a massive operation that employed anywhere from 300 to 450 team members at a time, depending on the season. There are accomplishments I am proud of but never expected, such as becoming a district subject matter expert in reverse logistics. My fulfillment role also gave me the opportunity to build a business that grew from just under $3 million to almost $13 million in three years.
Most of all, however, I learned about building teams and developing people. It’s something that gives me joy. Retail operations employ people from all walks of life and every educational and experience level. It’s a fast-paced business, and you need to connect with people quickly, understand what motivates them and create a team environment that encourages everyone to push for success. It’s challenging but fun.

Working for Target also helped me become a better problem-solver. Nothing works as quickly as retail. The challenges you’re presented with every day need immediate remedy. I learned to look at problems from a bird’s-eye view so I could see immediate solutions, but also pursue longer-term fixes within systems over time.

SR: You worked for Target Corp. during the pandemic. How did you lead your team through that experience?

It was difficult. As a large corporation and retailer, Target had responsibility for millions of employees and guests. The government considered us an essential business, so we stayed open throughout the pandemic. The corporation provided policies and procedures that we then implemented in our stores, but we also had to understand the fears and individual circumstances of our team members and guests. Especially at the beginning, most employees and guests were afraid of the unknown—of what it meant to get sick—and didn’t want to step within 10 feet of someone else, but they still needed an income, work, or the essentials to live during lockdown. As an executive team lead, my role was to make adjustments to the extent I could, consider their individual feelings and concerns but still run the business. I tried to always stay positive for the team and keep us moving forward.

SR: What excites or interests you most about your new role at SageRiver?

A: It’s exciting to be asked to strategize the future with an organization. Many of SageRiver’s clients are nonprofit or government organizations, and they make a huge difference in their communities. I’m VERY excited to be part of enlarging their impact even further. The leaders we’re engaging are invested in the process of change and in looking deeply at systems and opportunities for transformation. We’re building change with them, and that’s exciting.

SR: What is your philosophy of customer or client service?

A: In retail, I learned that treating everyone with genuine respect, honesty and a welcoming attitude is critical. Kindness also goes a long way. Those lessons apply to consulting as well, but I’d add that engaging people in envisioning and working toward a better future is also key. That’s what SageRiver is known for—and it’s how we help organizations transform and grow. We’re hired to help make an impact—and it needs to be an impact our clients embrace and own.

SR: What do you enjoy outside of work?

A: I’ve got a wonderful fiancé and two dogs, and any time I can spend with them and my family and friends is time well spent. I’m also a Broncos fan, which has been rough over the past few years. I also love riding my Peloton, and I ran the Colfax Half Marathon this spring. I’ve taken up golf as well, and I compete in fantasy football.

SR: What’s something about you that people might not know?

A: I bungee-jumped off one of the top 10 “legal” bungee jumps in the world (Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma, South Africa). I’m also an avid Garmin watch user. In my lifetime of wearing it, I have 32 million steps—or 16,337 miles—tracked on Garmin.

A Consulting Project on Finding Joy and Purpose in Retirement
A Consulting Project on Finding Joy and Purpose in Retirement 1700 994 SageRiver Consulting LLC

CU Denver students conducted high-level research for Jackson National Life in a strategy lab course

Each semester a group of CU Denver Business School MBA students are given the rare opportunity to collaborate with a company from Colorado for course credit. Through the business strategy lab, students consult with a company on a strategic issue they’re facing and learn how to conduct research, synthesize their research into strategic recommendations, work with executives while gaining both strategy and consulting experience.

The Business Strategy Lab course is taught by Susan Heinzeroth, she’s a CU Denver Business School alumna and owner of SageRiver Consulting, a strategy consulting firm.

This semester a group of MBA students were given two challenge statements and conducted research that was presented to one of America’s largest annuity companies, Jackson National Life.

What is the business strategy lab?

Business strategy lab is a course that helps students gain hands-on experience with strategy, consulting, and client relationship management. Teams design and execute projects based on the strategic challenges they are given from the client. Students work to problem-solve, conduct research, analyze information, and create a deliverable to present at their final client reception.

Heinzeroth has been teaching the business strategy lab course for five years. As an active professional who does consulting and strategical work at her own firm, she provides her students with skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their consulting project.

Every semester, Heinzeroth invites experts to talk and advise students on strategic thinking and how to conduct research. For example, this semester a senior manager from Accenture, a management consulting company, came in to share his expertise and knowledge on strategical thinking and the consulting process to prepare students for their upcoming research project.

Jumping into the research of joy

Jackson National Life’s mission was to identify when pre-retirees were both financially ready to retire and to understand how to help them step into retirement with a purpose. The company gave the MBA students two specific challenges:

  1. Identify how retirees find their purpose
  2. Research what makes retirees joyful and happy

Students collected research in various ways including surveys and one-on-one interviews. One event they hosted called Purpose Pathways allowed students to interview pre-retirement participants on their perspectives about on purpose and joy.

As the students conducted the interviews, they offered activities such as Jenga, the operation game, and hopscotch. Meanwhile, they would also pull participants aside to ask them about joy and purpose. The goal of this event was to find out whether pre-retirees should start finding their purpose and joy earlier in life.

One activity involved jumping into a children’s pool with rain boots. Participants were asked if they remembered the last time they’ve done anything childlike. Several admitted they couldn’t remember. The ‘act your age’ stigma is one stigma many adults fall into, and that isn’t always a good thing. It can hold people back from experiencing the simple joys of life, things like splashing through puddles on a rainy day.

A successful collaboration

“The knowledge and experience gained is really beneficial. It’s amazing to see the collaboration between Jackson National, the students, and our professor,” shared Austin Garza, a Professional MBA student specializing in business strategy.

“The knowledge and experience gained is really beneficial. It’s amazing to see the collaboration between Jackson National, the students, and our professor” – Austin Garza

At the end of the semester, the students gathered their research into a final presentation for the company. The presentation included actionable recommendations that Jackson National Life could integrate and utilize.

This isn’t the first time Jackson National has given a project to CU Denver students. The company has implemented several recommendations from past presentations, so they know the valuable insight student consultants can bring.

Education is more than memorization

Today’s jobs require strategic thinking, creative problem-solving skills, emotional intelligence, and effective communication. Heinzeroth and her course encourage hands-on learning experiences focused in all of those areas. She believes education should not be about memorizing and regurgitating; instead it’s about “bringing what you’re learning to life.”

Originally Heinzeroth taught at CU Boulder before she came to the CU Denver Business School. Her motivation behind teaching is to provide students real world ‘labs’ for stretching and testing their skills. Her philosophy is to flip the thought of ‘learning in order to work’ to ‘working in order to learn.’

“Experiential learning goes above and beyond the traditional education process. It becomes an expertise that students can take into the work place” – Susan Heinzeroth

“Experiential learning goes above and beyond the traditional education process. It becomes an expertise that students can take into the work place,” Heinzeroth said.

Heinzeroth looks forward to continue teaching the strategy lab course, engaging wholeheartedly with the next-generation-leaders-and-thinkers and doing what she loves the most.

She shared, “Strategy is my love. It’s my purpose and brings me joy.”

View on CU Business News

CU Denver Today: DBJ Honors CU Denver Business School Alumnae in 2018 Outstanding Women in Business Awards
CU Denver Today: DBJ Honors CU Denver Business School Alumnae in 2018 Outstanding Women in Business Awards 588 331 SageRiver Consulting LLC

MBA graduates Kelly Brough and Susan Heinzeroth recognized for impact in local business community

Two exemplary University of Colorado Denver Business School alumnae earned spots in The Denver Business Journal’s 20th edition of its annual “Outstanding Women in Business” awards, recognizing women for their innovation, entrepreneurship, professional accomplishments, and community leadership.

Kelly Brough: Winner, Education, Government and Nonprofits category

Kelly Brough, Professional MBA ’89, President and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, took home top honors in the Education, Government and Nonprofits category.

For the past 21 years, Heinzeroth has directed SageRiver Consulting, which offers innovative strategic consulting services to clients ranging from national nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies to government agencies. She founded her Denver-based firm after growing a medium-sized national consulting firm with five other partners. Heinzeroth gravitated to consulting early, joining Coopers & Lybrand, one of the “Big 6” firms of its day, soon after completing her CU Denver MBA. Today, in addition to leading her firm, she mentors and educates emerging leaders as a faculty member in the management division of the University of Colorado at Denver’s Business School and she is also on the faculty of the Institute for Career Advancement Needs.

Heinzeroth shared, “Whatever our individual visions, I believe each of us, in our businesses and lives, can lead change and shape the world around us for the better.”

View Original Article

Denver Business Journal: 2018 Outstanding Women in Business Awards
Denver Business Journal: 2018 Outstanding Women in Business Awards 750 562 SageRiver Consulting LLC

The 2018 class of Outstanding Women in Business marks Denver Business Journal’s 20th celebration of women making an impact in the professional community. With that in mind, we celebrate “20 Years of Firsts,” focusing on firsts of all kinds — from first-place finishes to first business incorporations to honorees who were the first in their family to earn a college degree — all in the spirit of honoring the pioneers and innovators who have graced these pages for 20 years.

In this section we profile the winners and finalists for 2017, and look back on our first issue, incorporating thoughts from some of our first winners on how far we’ve come — and how far we have to go when it comes to women in the workplace.

Keep reading for all of the winner and finalist profiles

The winners of each category joined DBJ photographer Kathleen Lavine for photo shoots. You can hear the winners in their own words in embedded sound within each feature linked below. Extended Q&As with the winners and finalists can be seen by clicking “Get Started” above, or clicking the tiles below the body of this story.

Small businesses are considered those with 20 or fewer employees; large companies are those with more than 20.

Nominations were taken online at the DBJ website.

Winners from previous years weren’t eligible to win again in the same category.

For the ATHENA Award, past winners in individual categories were eligible.

Nominees in each category were judged on innovation, entrepreneurship, professional accomplishments and community leadership from the information provided on the nomination form.

Twelve judges, all previous winners of various DBJ honors, dedicated an enormous amount of time to reviewing and scoring the 297 nominations.

Read Susan’s Profile

SageRiver Welcomes Research Consultant
SageRiver Welcomes Research Consultant 622 415 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Alexandra (Ally) Williams joined SageRiver this summer as a research consultant. Her passion for mining data, evaluating industry trends and best practices and synthesizing findings into actionable insights make her a great fit for SageRiver’s clients. We sat down with Ally this month to talk about her professional journey and what a great day looks like, both on and off the job.

SageRiver (SR): Why did you decide to join the SageRiver team?

Ally Williams (AW): I met with Susan this summer to learn more about SageRiver. I majored in psychology in college with an emphasis in research, and I’ve been looking for a way to apply those skills in a business setting. When Susan and I talked, it just clicked. The opportunity to do strategic work for different companies and clients appealed to me. It’s right up my alley. I love doing background research, sifting through data and digging into companies and finding out what’s working and what isn’t. I was inspired to jump into the opportunity and get more into the business world.

SR: What is your role at SageRiver?

AW: My title is research consultant, and I help Susan in all facets of our client work. She’s been a great mentor who shares the overall strategy so I understand how my work connects to the bigger picture. I focus primarily on research, which includes conducting background research for proposals and environmental scans and assessing business strategies, trends and best practices. For example, I’ve been researching different aspects of e-commerce strategies and reviewing studies and statistics to determine what companies are doing well and what isn’t working. That assessment will be used to help a SageRiver client develop an effective e-commerce approach. I also manage the new SageRiver Facebook page.

SR: Describe your work experiences prior to joining SageRiver.

AW: As I mentioned, I have a degree in psychology with an emphasis in research. I didn’t intend to build a career in clinical psychology, but I worked for the Mental Health Center of Denver in an administrative role. I took phone calls, set appointments and interacted with clients at the front desk. It was a good experience because it gave me insight into the actual practice of psychology.

My other work experience has been in fashion retail, at a retail boutique in the Denver Pavilions called Francesca’s and at a designer resale boutique in Denver named Styletribe Underground. That second experience was especially fun because we started a mobile fashion bus during my time there. The bus included clothing racks as well as a dressing room in the back. We had very high-end customers who expected quality customer service. I had primary responsibility for that part of the business, and I enjoyed it.

Working in retail is an experience everyone should have. It teaches you how to talk to anyone, listen well and adapt to each person you serve.  I’ve learned to be patient, get outside my comfort zone and go with the flow. Each customer is unique.

 SR: What does a great day at work look like to you?

AW: An exciting day involves qualitative or quantitative research, meeting with clients and interacting with Susan’s graduate students. I attend her Business Strategy class at the University of Colorado at Denver Business School to support a project they’re completing for Similasan Corp. We’re doing a deep dive into mobile commerce, e-commerce, spending via those channels and overall trends in consumer behavior. I’m learning so much, and I love it.

SR: Why does research interest you so much?

AW: I do both quantitative and qualitative research, but quantitative research appeals to me most. It’s always come naturally to me. I understand statistical language and methodologies, and find it exciting to dive into the data and determine what they mean. I love finding new insights and avenues to explore.

SR: You studied art history in Florence as well. How has that shaped the way you view work and the world in general?

AW: That was a terrific experience. Florence is beautiful. I studied art history and Florentine architecture. I think that experience broadened my view of the world. Seeing different countries and cultures and traveling on my own also taught me to be more independent and confident in my ability to adapt, learn new systems and solve problems.

 SR: What’s a favorite way to spend free time?

AW: I’m a very outgoing person, and I love playing tennis and hanging out with friends and family. I just enjoy being in the company of others.

I’ve also been very involved with my sorority, Delta Delta Delta, in hosting events to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Collectively, we’ve raised so much money that we’ve had a wing of the hospital named after our sorority.

And I also enjoy reading. I’ve enjoyed all the works of Gillian Flynn, which are dark but have intricate plots that pull you quickly from beginning to end.

 

CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course
CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course 1200 500 SageRiver Consulting LLC

CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course

Students in the MBA program have the option to take a Strategy Lab course, led by a seasoned strategy consultant and ’88 MBA alumna, Susan Heinzeroth. The course revolves around one consulting project for a client-company.  It emphasizes dual-track learning of both strategic planning, and consulting as a profession.  This semester, students are working on an e-commerce strategy for Similasan, a new company client for the course. Similasan is a Swiss company with a 35-year history of manufacturing homeopathic products.  Their hope, as a result of this Strategy Lab course, is to capture a larger market share here in the United States.

Facetime with the CEO and other C-level executives

Through their work, students are granted direct access to Similasan’s CEO, Urs Lehmann. This unique opportunity to interact directly with the top level is rarely offered in MBA programs across the country.

Urs Lehman, CEO of Similasan and former World Ski Champion, understands the importance of academia, leading to the collaboration with the CU Denver Business School. He visited Similasan’s US headquarters in late September and will meet directly with students to address questions and provide insight into the company.

In previous Strategy Lab projects, executives at Jackson National, a financial services firm, worked closely with students and have since included elements of that work directly into their overall marketing strategy, enhancing their focus on the end-consumer experience and changing the narrative around retirement to “Retire on Purpose.”

Snagging a new international company as a client

This semester, students will be devising a strategy to grow Similasan’s market share, build their e-commerce, and increase their US brand recognition. Similasan has been very successful in bringing up the US market and now sees the growth potential, especially as digital-grocery becomes more evolved.

“We took three teams, gave them three separate areas of e-commerce business strategy to focus on, and allowed them to interact directly with Similasan.” -Susan Heinzeroth

Students worked on consumer profile analysis, general market research, case studies, and potential influencers and partnerships for future e-commerce strategy formulation.

The unconventional class structure provides a seminar style, discussion, and research-oriented approach, and has students excited. What also makes it unique is it is meant to provide interaction between students and senior business executives. Both the companies involved and students benefit from their time together.

Alumna turned lecturer provides expertise and insight

Similasan came to the Business School through the instructor of the course, Susan Heinzeroth. Founder of SageRiver Consulting, Heinzeroth has built a successful strategy consulting practice focused on helping organizations achieve strategic growth and transformation.

But that’s not the only hat she wears.

Heinzeroth is also a CU Denver Business School alumna and dedicated lecturer. Along with her 30+ years of business experience, she also pulls from her MBA degree to advise students in the course. She’s been instructing students in the CU system since 2002, teaching at Leeds School of Business and now at the CU Denver Business School.

Heinzeroth teaches for a meaning because of the life-meaning it offers and the influence it has on the next generation of organizational leaders.  She seeks to ready those in her Strategy Lab course with new and transformative skills for their “real world” business lives. She built the Strategy Lab course so students could directly interact with the business community. Students find it to be a just-in-time learning process, enriched with contemporary issues that goes beyond what any internship offers. From past years, this course has translated into students gaining new employment, switching careers, and shifting focus into their desired industries.  Not to mention, the new connections they collect by working with their client.

ColoradoBiz Magazine: Leaders Grow and Thrive When They Build Community
ColoradoBiz Magazine: Leaders Grow and Thrive When They Build Community 1200 800 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Build a community of mentors, sponsors and coaches to reach your full professional potential

As a woman in the male-dominated world of tech startups, Lizelle van Vuuren encountered a familiar challenge. Elbow-deep in the work of developing her business, she wanted to learn from others who had walked along the same path.

Looking around, she told Inc. magazine, she wondered where all the women were.

So van Vuuren did what any entrepreneur would: She created something new to address the need. She began by convening a group of female entrepreneurs to share experiences and learn. Although her focus remained on technology, she didn’t close the door to women from other sectors. The group eventually became Women Who Startup, which will host its annual summit this month during Denver Startup Week. From its humble beginnings, the group has transformed into a global community dedicated to transforming the face of entrepreneurship.

The story is instructive because van Vuuren instinctively understood that leaders develop better when apart of a community, even if they’re starting a business independently. Indeed, history illustrates pioneers need supportive networks of coaches, mentors and sponsors to reach their full potential.

Here’s what each group offers – and what you can do to make the most of these critical relationships.

COACHES:

“Let’s Go Over the Game Films”

Just like an athlete, hopeful business leaders need coaches to assess their strengths, evaluate existing challenges, offer skill-building opportunities and provide feedback and accountability. If you work in an organization, your manager may function as your coach. As you advance into senior leadership or start your own venture, you may work with an outside coach to gather stakeholder feedback and develop a customized growth plan.

By its nature, the coaching relationship is focused on you and your needs. It’s generally time-limited and built around individual goals, objectives and performance measurements. It’s important to feel comfortable with your coach, but your focus will be on developing new skills, not on an ongoing, mutually supportive relationship.

Your role as a “business athlete” is to be an accountable learner. Show up mentally for every session. Follow through on new skills and be open to feedback. If you do, you’ll become a sought-after player in no time.

MENTORS:

“Are You My Mother?”

We all remember Hans Christian Andersen’s famous tale, “The Ugly Duckling.” Lost and confused, a young bird anxiously approaches other animals in search of his mother – the all-wise guide who will illuminate his place in the world.

Too often, young professionals approach senior colleagues in a similar way. They envision mentoring as a one-way flow of advice and encouragement, rather than as a two-way relationship based on mutual interests, respect and support. Not surprisingly, these mentoring relationships often die a quick death, if they’re forged at all.

This problem can be averted if you re-envision mentoring to welcome guides when and how they appear. Rather than pursue a senior leader you barely know, look for mentors all around you based on genuine mutual connections. Mentors can be respected peers, junior colleagues with different backgrounds and perspectives or senior leaders with whom you share values and interests.

Regardless, your role in a mentoring relationship is to give as much as you get and genuinely care about the other person. Mentoring isn’t about achieving a goal; it’s about building a two-way relationship that offers perspective, support and encouragement.

SPONSORS:

“Go Out and Make Me Proud!”

One of the least discussed but most important members of your growth network is your sponsor. Generally a leader within your organization or industry, a sponsor will advocate for you, help raise your profile and open doors to advance your career. Sponsors have professional, financial or political capital, and they’re willing to spend it on your behalf.

If the idea of recruiting a sponsor sounds crass, I’d like to gently suggest you get over it. As a Harvard Business Review report titled “The Sponsor Effect: Breaking Through the Last Glass Ceiling” showed, sponsors play a critical role in allowing women to reach the professional summit. (Men benefit from sponsors as well, and they’re more likely to seek them than women.)

Finding a sponsor can be challenging. The best approach is to network regularly within your industry and organization, know what you want and need and step forward to ask for support when the opportunity presents itself.

What is your role in the sponsor relationship? To justify your sponsor’s faith in you. Do everything within your power to make the most of the opportunity that person has provided. In short, make them proud.

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