Sponsorship: The Key Ingredient to Advancement
Mentorship programs have been in the corporate arena for years. You know the drill. A more experienced employee offers advice and support to a fledgling heading up the career ladder. The mentor acts as a sounding board for the junior staff member and offers recommendations on a periodic basis. Mentors are key to building connections across the organization and getting a third-party perspective. That being said, mentorship alone will not suffice if you have your eyes set on the most senior ranks of the organization. This is where sponsorship comes in. How does sponsorship differ from mentorship and why is it important to career growth?
Think of sponsorship as mentorship 2.0. Instead of merely offering advice or introductions, a sponsor actively “pounds the pavement” for the person they are sponsoring. Sponsors take some responsibility for the other’s career advancement. They seek growth opportunities, put their name in the hat for promotions, and talk them up to others in elevated positions across the organization. As you can imagine, the sponsor is putting their reputation on the line each time they advocate for the person they are sponsoring. And for most professionals, these sorts of relationships don’t just happen overnight. They develop over time after trust is earned. While not always synonymous, mentorship can develop into a sponsorship relationship.
If you are thinking “But I don’t need a sponsor. I work hard and that alone is enough,” think again. Relationships are important to career progression; leaders need to be familiar with you, your work, and your career intentions to help you. Unfortunately, lack of meaningful sponsor relationships has been shown to affect the opportunities women, primarily women of color, are given in the workplace. Women are 54% less likely to have a sponsor than their male counterparts and thus fewer advocates to speak on their behalf. Women hold only 31% of senior management roles, per Grant Thorton’s “Women in Business 2021” report, and women need to actively seek sponsors to move the needle on representation. With these numbers so off balance, women shouldn’t just seek sponsorship from other female leaders; they need to develop relationships with men at the top as well.
The act of creating relationships strong enough to result in sponsorship takes effort. It is understanding that some people aren’t comfortable talking about themselves or reaching out to leaders they do not know very well. It can be helpful to think of this as a project versus a public relations campaign. Step one of the project plan is to make yourself available to senior leaders and report back regularly. A focus on the results of your work can help these interactions feel more like a brainstorm and less like a brag session. Over time, these conversations can evolve from “work talk” to a meaningful sponsorship relationship and more career advancement opportunities for you. And when you get promoted, you will remember to look for openings to pull up the next person behind you.
