Maryjo Charbonnier, CHRO of Kyndryl on Finding Great Sponsors and Mentors in Your Career

How much time and energy do you invest in finding great mentors and sponsors? Most people just consider these as an afterthought, but finding the right mentors and sponsors can be incredibly helpful in getting to the next level in your career and business. Yet, many choose to go it alone.This is a missed opportunity to accelerate your success, so enter my interview today with CHRO of Kyndrl, Maryjo Charbonnier.Kyndryl is a recent spin-off of IBM, and is a company of 90,000 employees around the world, serving 75 of the Fortune 100. They design, build, manage and modernize the mission-critical technology systems the world depends on every day which includes hosting and network services, infrastructure modernization, and services management.Maryjo came to Kyndryl from Wolters Kluwer, where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer. She also served as Chief Human Resource Officer at Broadridge Financial Solutions, a global Fintech company, for seven years. Earlier, she was an HR executive at PepsiCo in a business unit with $30 billion in revenue and more than 120,000 employees.A native of the Detroit area, Maryjo is a graduate of Catholic University in Washington, DC, and earned her MBA at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She was named "CHRO of the Year" in the Netherlands for 2019.Maryjo's LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjocharbonnier/ Kyndryl https://www.kyndryl.com/What You'll Discover in this Episode:What it’s like leading a newly launched 90,000 employee company.The biggest challenge leading in a business spin.The key action required to lead in a big company.How to make sure you communicate clearly as a leader.Why you need to instill “restlessness” in your employees.Handling the pressure to perform.How she became Chief Human Resource of the Year in the Netherlands.What she learned about leadership in her first job, roofing houses in Detroit.The difference between mentorship and sponsorship, and why you need them both.BIG strategy for job promotion.How to establish a personal relationship with your team.How to discuss work-life balance with your boss.Two traits to instill in every employee - confidence and clarity.Quotes:“A sponsor is someone who fights for you to get the job.”“Work-life balance is one size fits one solution.”“Seek the heat.”Resources:Seek the Heat, John CotterThe Must Win Battles, Peter Killing-------------------Connect with Ben: