Mentors offer insight and encouragement, but if you really want to level up, you need strategic advocacy—and that means finding a sponsor.
“Sponsorship is that X factor…” says career strategist Kimberly Brown, founder of Brown Leadership®. “Sponsorship [is]… who can pick you up from where you are and put you where you rightfully belong because they have influence and power… [Sponsors] advocate for you in a room you’re generally not privy to be in.”
Visibility is your responsibility
Many employees don’t pursue sponsorship because they believe their managers have their backs, but there’s little point in being what Brown terms a ‘stealth mode employee’: well-known for being reliable, efficient and skilled, but you don’t get any credit or exposure. Building strategic relationships allows you to start advocating for yourself and, in turn, encourage a sponsor to advocate for you.
“Most of the professionals I work with are in… the ‘magic middle’… that honestly does all the work and gets none of the glory,” Brown says. She helps her clients ensure their visibility strategies are sound. “Is [your work] actually visible, or is it happening in this smaller, contained area where only one or two people know your magic?… How do we understand where the power is and where the influence is in your organization?”
If your manager is not the source of that influence, you may need to work around them. “Don’t allow your manager to be the be all and end all for your career,” Brown says. She also encourages looking into professional associations, to spread your circle of influence beyond the workplace and into your industry. “We need to make sure that people know who you are outside of your company.”
Brown believes that being over-mentored but under-sponsored is an issue that disproportionately faces women, particularly women of color, where representation at higher levels of leadership dwindles. “There’s not a lot of women who are in those super high roles… and I believe a lot of that is due to [a lack of] sponsorship.”
A common misconception is that sponsorship requires the same time and energy as mentorship. “It’s kind of heavy to ask… ‘Will you be my sponsor?’… People may say no, or they say they may not have the bandwidth… because there’s this weight and expectation of how much time you’re asking [for].”
While mentorship may involve monthly meetings, sponsors are likely higher-up and busier, Brown says, so touching base twice a year or annually is sufficient. “[Ensure] they’re up to date on what you’re doing [and] your goals,” she adds, so that sponsors can help mobilize your work and make others aware of your achievements.
Then, when an opportunity presents itself, it’s time to make the ask—a specific request for an action from your sponsor. “I’m currently up for this role. Would you be willing to send so-and-so an email just talking about my experience, talking about getting to know me, and that I’d be a great fit for this role?”
Brown suggests providing any necessary information your sponsor may need, like key elements of your experience, to help streamline the process. Your sponsor will likely add to your outline, but it speeds up their timeline. “That’s why we love ChatGPT, because [it] will give us the starting ground, and then you customize it, so be ChatGPT for your sponsor to make it easy for them to advocate for you.”
Brown says that once those relationships are in place, sponsors may well reach out to you. “[They’ll say] you need to apply for this if you haven’t already and I’m gonna tell them that you’d be a great addition to that team.”
Build a connection first
If you’re nervous about starting a connection with a sponsor, Brown suggests putting in the relationship capital over time, sometimes years, before making the ask. “[That way], even though you may be nervous… it’s not going to seem like you are reaching,” she says.
While it may feel like imposing yourself, sponsors are often excited to help. “When I was a senior leader… if I saw someone young in the organization who was doing something really great, I would reach out with, ‘Hey, how can I help you?… Do you need an introduction?’” Brown says. “Senior professionals… get a lot of joy out of helping the next generation.”
She has also been on the receiving end of sponsorship, where she reached out to an influential figure in her field on LinkedIn and stayed in touch for several years, checking in and attending conferences where they were speaking. “I did that for a few years and then a role opened up… and she reached out to me, prepped me for the interviews… I ended up moving over.”
Sometimes the hesitation to seek out sponsorship stems from the myth that sponsors expect something in return. “You ‘giving back’ is doing great work. You ‘giving back’ is hook, line and sinking every opportunity that person rallies for you. The only way you give back is by making that person proud,” Brown says.
Photo by marvent/Shutterstock.
