The Difference between Mentor and Sponsor and why it Matters!
It is relevant, timely and needed especially for the Women leaders wanting to advance forward in their career and business. Let’s break it down:
A mentor is a valuable resource and role model offering advice and counsel, provides perspective and constructive critic as support for you.
A sponsor takes it to the next level and is willing to advocate on your behalf with respect to advancement and strategic opportunities. Sponsorship means that someone at a higher enough level believes in you, has an influential trust and is willing to commit to helping you advance your role.
As you move through the leadership pipeline, it is critical to align yourself with a sponsor who not only is in a position of power to help influence your advancement but is willing to be your advocate where it matters.
Without a sponsorship, both men and women are likely to be overlooked for promotions regardless of competence or promotion. This is key-particularly in upper management and above where the competition for promotion is greater.
Recent research indicates that men are more naturally sponsored by senior executives and that high potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male counterparts and a clear indication on why they are not advancing (there are other issues here that will be covered in the Tip of the Week.)
While women are known for their ability to build and nurture relationships, they fail to cultivate and invest in relational capital at the executive levels. Here are a few tips to turn this around:
Hard work doesn’t get you promoted! It's Who You Know—Who Knows You— and What You Do for a Living is how to attract a sponsor.
Cultivate a rich and diverse network! That includes both men and women executives. Its building relationships with key decision makers that will ensure you get the training, development and connections that move you forward in your career.
Be prepared to be sponsored! You need to know what you want in terms of your career. Create a list of the things you enjoy most, the talents that are natural, the stretch goals that offer risk-taking and learning something new —and all aligned with the career goals you have short and long term.
Consider potential sponsors! They might be in your network already or need to be added. Sponsors should be connected at the senior level, influential in the ranks and an Ambassador for you.
I had a mentor that became my sponsor and although the role was modified it also provided a tremendous growth opportunity for me to expand my influence and impact in the organization at the executive level.
Proactively engage and develop these relationships! Once identified, build a strategic plan on how to cultivate and build the relationship. (Remember it doesn’t happen overnight). They need to get to know you, your career aspirations, and your unique value proposition. You need to provide them with the insight, knowledge and information needed to feel prepared to sponsor you. After all, they are putting their reputation on the line and the more we prepare them for what we want them to think, feel and act on the better win-win outcome.
Ask for what you want! Tory Johnson, CEO of Women For Hire, shared great insight on this topic: “[Women] still have this idea that if we just do a good job, someone’s going to tap us on the shoulder and reward us with a promotion. That so rarely happens! It’s up to you and you alone to put together a plan and then rally the right people to sponsor you.”
I have found that people especially executives are willing to help when you are clear, articulate and direct with what you need. No one can read your mind, see what you do and even imagine the “what if” possibilities. You have to tell, ask and support them with the information.
In June, Joanna Barsh from McKinsey & Co will share the latest findings from the joint research project with the Wall Street Journal and how to keep people in the pipeline…sponsorship is a critical component.
“TO BE SEEN IS TOO BE REMEMBERED”
