Can I Offer You Some Feedback? - Episode #40
Show Notes:
This week Sara talks about Mentorship vs Sponsorship. Two ideas with similar end goals that often get used interchangeably. A mentoring relationship provides support and advice to help an individual grow over time. While a sponsorship relationship functions by someone in a position of power actively providing growth. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode!
Below we are offering a transcript of the podcast for accessibility and reference.
Episode #40: Business Bites: Mentorship Vs. Sponsorship
Welcome to Business Bites. My name is Sara. This is the podcast for busy professionals who want the quick hits of business terminology, historical context, and strategies for integration. This week, we're going to be talking about mentorship versus sponsorship.
I'm bringing up these two terms for us to think about because I think sometimes they get used interchangeably. And I'd like to discuss the differences between each of these ideas. When we're talking about mentorship, this is about an individual who you might be meeting with as the mentor or as the mentee, thinking about that relationship with another person as a part of developing them. Maybe mentoring them into the organization to move into a position similar to yours. Perhaps you're having structured meetings or perhaps you're meeting with them less than frequently.
A mentoring relationship can be very beneficial, not only for the individual who is the mentor providing that guidance, providing that insight but also for the mentee to be able to get to see from another perspective how someone is doing the work, what are some of the best practices that they've been operating under? Again, there's an opportunity for both sides when we're thinking about mentorship.
A mentorship underlying relies on both parties to be honest, to provide that transparency. What are we committing as far as our development? How are we going to build an environment with each other where we can get honest and direct feedback? Again, this is a relationship between two individuals where we're soliciting and asking for candid feedback about our behavior. And again, can be beneficial in a number of different ways.
I'm picking on mentoring in this way because this is part of a developmental relationship, helping an individual grow their skills over time in an industry or around a specific skill set. Sponsorship is something different. Sponsorship is having an individual in an organization who has decision-making capability or sits at decision-making tables. This is different than mentorship because you may have a mentor either inside or outside of your organization or outside of your organization. They might not be directly involved in conversations around who should we give this new initiative to? Who should we give this new project to? Who are the people that we want to move up in our organization? Sponsors are those that are in those meetings and having those conversations.
When we're focusing on sponsorship, you as a high performer will probably need both, not only a mentor but also a sponsor. Again, this is the person who is in the room, in the conversation, and will advocate and champion for you when new opportunities are present. If you think about the quote from Hamilton, the musical, thinking about being in the room where it happens, your mentor is not necessarily in the room. Your sponsor is. They're the ones who are positioning you and talking about your work product, your attitude, and your ability to step into this role.
Now, this is a common misconception that I hear from folks saying, "well, if I'm a high performer, I'll just get identified. People will see that I'm doing good work. People will see that I'm able and ready for the next step". Your excellence helps you stay in the conversation at that table. However, you need someone there who will advocate for you, who will bring your name up, and who will suggest you for those opportunities. Now, in order to do that, your sponsor needs to know, where are you looking to grow? How are you looking to move forward? How are you looking to advance in the organization?
So again, I can appreciate how for some people thinking about mentorship and thinking about sponsorship may seem like the same thing. And you could have the same person in both roles, but the roles are distinct and they are very different when we're thinking about your organizational mobility and how that person can help you not only grow in your specific skill set, but also put you in front of opportunities for the future.
This has been Sara with Business Bites. You can reach me at podcast@mod.network. We would love to hear from you on what other terminology that you'd like bite-sized. As always, give us a quick rating on your platform of choice and share this podcast with a friend. We'll see you next time.
Further Reading: