In 2021, a significant shift took place in the workforce as millions of Americans resigned from their jobs, an event marked as the "great resignation." This era also saw the "great talent migration" with an increase in remote work and subsequently the "great boomerang" as employees returned to traditional settings after realizing remote work wasn’t always greener. Another key trend deserving attention is the "great breakup," where women began leaving leadership roles at a higher rate than men for the first time in U.S. history, driven by lack of opportunities, support, and sponsorship.

The "great breakup" highlights the discrepancy in career development between genders, despite widespread mentoring programs. Women have more mentors but significantly fewer sponsors compared to men. A sponsor, unlike a mentor, possesses the ability to influence and advocate for career advancement. The speaker shares personal experiences of the crucial impact sponsors have on career progression, emphasizing the importance of sponsorship for enhancing confidence, credibility, and opportunities for women.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. voluntarily [ˌvɑːlənˈtɛrɪli] - (adverb) - Done by one's own choice without any pressure. - Synonyms: (freely, willingly, optionally)

This would be the year that 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in search for new opportunities.

2. opine [oʊˈpaɪn] - (verb) - To express an opinion or viewpoint. - Synonyms: (remark, comment, suggest)

Three men on the panel began to opine, ironically, and the men said, well, quite honestly, we're surprised that women are leaving at faster rates because of all the opportunities.

3. mentorship [ˈmɛnˌtɔrʃɪp] - (noun) - Guidance provided by a mentor, especially in an educational or professional context. - Synonyms: (guidance, coaching, counseling)

However, mentorship does not necessarily translate into promotions

4. trajectory [trəˈdʒɛktəri] - (noun) - The path or progression of a process or activity. - Synonyms: (course, direction, path)

Unlike a mentor, a sponsor has the ability to directly impact the trajectory of one's career.

5. advocate [ˈædvəˌkeɪt] - (verb) - To publicly recommend or support a cause or policy. - Synonyms: (support, endorse, champion)

A sponsor actively advocates for the advancement of the person they're sponsoring.

6. credibility [ˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - The quality of being trusted and believed in. - Synonyms: (trustworthiness, reliability, integrity)

Women with sponsors are more likely to have a higher level of confidence and perceived to have a higher level of credibility.

7. bureaucracy [bjʊˈrɑːkrəsi] - (noun) - Complex procedures and operations in an organization that may delay action. - Synonyms: (administration, hierarchy, red tape)

A sponsor uses their influence to create opportunities, often navigating through bureaucracy.

8. sponsorship [ˈspɑn·sərˌʃɪp] - (noun) - Support of an activity or person, financially or through advocacy and influence. - Synonyms: (backing, patronage, endorsement)

Lack of opportunities, lack of support, and lack of sponsorship

9. influence [ˈɪnfluəns] - (noun) - The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something. - Synonyms: (impact, sway, control)

A sponsor removes barriers. A sponsor uses their influence to create opportunities.

10. perceived [pərˈsiːvd] - (adjective) - Regarded in a specified way by the community or a set of individuals. - Synonyms: (understood, recognized, regarded)

Women with sponsors are more likely to have a higher level of confidence and perceived to have a higher level of credibility.

The Great Breakup - The real reason women are leaving their jobs - Jil Jordan Greene - TEDxMemphis

The year was 2021, one year after the pandemic. The way that we would live and work would never be the same. This would be the year that 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in search for new opportunities. This workforce trend would go down in our country, known as the great resignation. But there would be others. There would be the great talent migration. People now wanted to work from home. Remote jobs would double between 2019 and 2021.

Then there would be the great boomerang. Those same remote roles began to decline. Companies were calling those employees back to the office. And those workers who quit their jobs found themselves back with their current employers when they found out the grass was not greener. So we had the great resignation, the great talent migration, the great boomerang.

But there's one workforce trend that made its way into the headlines that quite hasn't got the attention I think it deserves. So I want to talk about it, and it's called the great breakup. Now, what is the great breakup? This is the trend that speaks to the number of women leaving their leadership roles, quitting their companies at a faster pace and higher rate than men for the first time in the history of our country.

Now, this was first identified a couple years ago in McKinsey's women at work study. It's the largest study on women in corporate America in the country. According to the study, it says that women, every woman promoted to a director role. Two women now are leaving. The question is, why? Why are women leaving their leadership roles they worked so hard for at a higher and faster rate than men?

The study says there are three reasons. Lack of opportunities, lack of support, and lack of sponsorship. Ironically, I was at a conference a while ago, and this was one of the topics for one of the panels, women leaving their leadership roles at a faster rate than men. And so the moderator turns to the panelists and says, well, why do you think this is happening?

Three men on the panel began to opine, ironically, and the men said, well, quite honestly, we're surprised that women are leaving at faster rates because of all the opportunities. I mean, there's more mentoring available now than ever before. They even began to talk about all the women in their workforce that were thriving because of the mentoring programs that were now available.

Now, I will say they were partially right. There are more mentoring initiatives in this country available for women. As a matter of fact, 85% of all us companies have some sort of informal or formal mentoring program. However, mentorship does not necessarily translate into promotions. Now, I love mentorship. I am a mentor. I have been a product of mentoring.

As a matter of fact, I recall early in my career, I'm sitting at my desk and this powerful woman walks by as she did every morning. But this particular morning, she stopped and said, well, good morning, Jill. You look cute today. And I said, I feel cute today. And this time she paused and she said something and asked me a question that would make me think.

And she said, well, do you want to look cute or do you want to look like a leader? Now, of course, you can do both. But what I realized in that moment, she was saying something so much bigger to me. And so she saw I didn't quite know how to respond, and she chuckled and said, let me take you to lunch and we'll talk about it later.

That lunch changed my life. She would go on to become an informal coach. Today, I now know she was my mentor. So she would tell me how to show up with my dress. She would coach me on how to participate in meetings. She would tell me how to communicate with my leadership. She would give me advice on my career. She was my mentor.

Mentors play a pivotal role in your personal and professional development. But it doesn't necessarily mean it translates into additional opportunities or promotions. Now, there's this amazing leader, this leadership expert. Her name is Sylvia Ann Hewlett, and she wrote a book called Forget a Mentor and Find a Sponsor.

Now, I just talked about how important a mentor is, but Sylvia says, no, no, no. Forget a mentor and find a sponsor. According to her book, she states that women have three times as many mentors as men, but men have double the amount of sponsors as women. So what is a sponsor? We've talked about mentors. They coach, they guide, they give feedback, they give advice.

But a sponsor. A sponsor has power and influence. A sponsor removes barriers. A sponsor uses their influence to create opportunities. A sponsor actively advocates for the advancement of the person they're sponsoring. Unlike a mentor, a sponsor has the ability to directly impact the trajectory of one's career. That's the power of a sponsor.

Now, as I look back over my career, I realized I actually had a sponsor I was invited to. We'll call development day at a company that I was involved with. I had heard about these days. I had heard about people going. I didn't quite know how to get there. I didn't know who was invited, but I heard if you got to go, it was pretty special.

Well, one day I got the call. I was so excited the night before. I made sure that my suit was ready. I practiced my handshake. I practiced my greeting, the introduction of myself. I practiced my pitch. I was ready. I got there. There was a kickoff breakfast. We got to hear from the president of the company. He began to talk about where the company was going, how we could play a role in that.

During the day, there were these mock interviews that I got a chance to participate in, and I could talk about my three to five year plan. At the end, I had a one on one with a senior leader who gave me feedback that I could take and work on myself. This day changed everything for me. I had someone advocating that I would be there in the room. This was on my behalf, and I didn't even know it.

This day led to me being assigned to special projects, stretch assignments, and eventually a promotion. Women with sponsors are more likely to get promoted. Women with sponsors are more likely to have a higher level of confidence and perceived to have a higher level of credibility.

Did you know, according to an indeed 2024 report, that half the working women in this country have never, ever, ever asked for a raise? And when surveyed, 30% said was because of lack of confidence. Women with sponsors have more confidence. They also are perceived to have more credibility. Now, this is a very important point because one of the barriers women often face in the workforce is lack of credibility.

It's also called the gender credibility gap. This is where women are often perceived to be less credible, less reliable, and less knowledgeable on a topic, even when there's a male present who has no expertise at all. But a woman with a sponsor can leverage the credibility of her sponsor while she's building or earning her own. That is the power of a sponsor.

Now, we just talked about how women have less. Women are 54% less likely to have a sponsor than a man. That's why there's the great breakup. Women are voting with their feet. They're walking out the door. I know somebody just said, well, Jill, what about all the progress that we've made in this country for women? Hasn't anything gone well? Absolutely. We have made great strides in this country for women at work.

We can't deny that. But the fact is, we still have work to do. The fact is, there's still only one in four leaders in the C suite is a woman. The fact is, there's still only one in 20 leaders in the C suite that's a woman of color. The fact is, when 100 men are promoted to manager, only 87 will be women. We have work to do.

Now, we won't solve everything today, but what we can do is we can close the sponsorship gap, we can help more women get sponsors in the workplace. So now, what does that mean for you today? Every leader in the room, I'm gonna challenge you today to sponsor one person. I'm gonna challenge you to find somebody that you can use your influence to create opportunities for, that you can actively advocate on their behalf.

And if you're a woman in the room who needs a sponsor, I'm going to tell you to be sponsor. Ready? I'm going to tell you to show up well, perform well, be visible, identify someone who you want as a sponsor and ask someone to facilitate that relationship. Help us shake up the great breakup and get more sponsors for women today. Thank you.

Business, Leadership, Motivation, Workplace Equality, Sponsorship, Gender Equity, Tedx Talks