Mentors vs Sponsors-What is the Difference?

By: Mary L Bennett, CEC, CIA, MBA
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There is a lot of buzz about the need for sponsorship relationships as opposed to mentor relationships.  What is the difference?  Why do women tend to have mentors and not sponsors?  How does this account for the lack of women in leadership roles?  Until we are inside the leadership team we often are unaware of how prevalent the sponsorship system is and how much it influences career progression and success.

The most significant differences between mentors and sponsors are:
1- the level of active involvement in the career of the protege
2-the level of influence the sponsor must have
3-the risk the sponsor takes upon themselves

Sponsors are in a specific position of influence within the organization.  Sponsors are also close enough to the protégés career trajectory and personal goals to accurately assess in detail where the protege should be focusing their efforts in the near future to accomplish professional (and sometimes) life goals.   In addition, the sponsor is in position to influence the opportunities the protege has access to and is willing to actively "sponsor" this individual by placing their own reputation and political capital on the line in support of the protege.  If we recommend someone for an assignment, promotion, raise, committee, opportunity of any kind, we put a portion of our reputation on the line.  These actions significantly impact the level and timing of key career opportunities.  Historically women have been attempting to access these opportunities on their own, while research shows that men more often have sponsors paving the way.  

The sponsor also plays the role of education, awareness raising and skill building which may be common to some mentor relationships.  One of the most challenging things about career progression is understanding exactly what you should be doing when , how to procure these assignments for yourself and how to ensure the right people know you are doing the right things.  These steps cannot be accomplished independently in most organizations.  Hence the need for a sponsor.  The sponsor role is much more comprehensive than a traditional mentor role.   Sponsorship is one of the most significant areas of inequity in the career navigation of women vs men.  This is due to affinity bias which is largely unconscious yet leads senior male leaders to sponsor emerging male leaders.  Sponsorship relationships are often left to chance.   This ambiguity creates the inequity and is easily remedied through formal sponsorship leadership development programming.