Significant Career Lesson From a Sales Onboarding Trainer Manager at Salesforce
Ryan's most significant career lesson is the importance of "executive sponsorship," meaning having superiors who like, vouch for, and provide opportunities to their subordinates. This support, exemplified by a promotion and office-opening opportunity at Yelp, outweighs minor salary differences and is crucial for career advancement.
Executive Sponsorship, Career Advancement, Sales Management, Leadership Development, Networking
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Ryan Avolese
Sales Onboarding Trainer - Manager
Salesforce
University of Colorado
n/a
Business Management & Admin
Technology
Sales and Client Management
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Executive sponsorship is crucial for career advancement. Having executives who support and vouch for you increases promotion and new role opportunities.
2. Building strong relationships with superiors is more important than a small pay increase. Executive sponsorship can lead to greater career growth than a slightly higher salary.
3. Seek out companies where executives will support your growth. If you lack this support at your current company, consider a change to advance your career.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
Narrowing it down to one is always hard, but I think personally the biggest factor is having executive sponsorship at the company. You should be at a company where people above you like you, will vouch for you, and want to give you opportunities. This is how you will get promoted and take on new roles.
For example, when I was at Yelp, I was given the opportunity to move to Washington, DC and open a new office there. They took top-performing sales managers from all current offices and gave them the chance to move to DC for a year to build out a new office. While there, I built new relationships and was promoted into a sales training role.
That wouldn't have happened if I stayed in San Francisco, nor would it have happened if the executives there hadn't vouched for me and given me the opportunity to move to Washington, DC. I've seen people feel stuck or have trouble with promotions because the people above them won't vouch for them; they haven't built that relationship.
If you're at a company where executives above you don't seem to like you, won't vouch for you, or aren't giving you opportunities to grow, I would consider finding a company where you do have that executive sponsorship.
On the flip side, being somewhere with executive sponsorship is more important than pay. If there's only a small difference in salary, you want to stay somewhere with executive sponsorship rather than move to a place where you might make more on paper but don't have those relationships or people who will vouch for you.