The Role of Sponsorship in Career Advancement

As former Head of Global Executive Talent at Cisco, I frequently gave the same advice to our rising talent: Build a broad network of sponsors across the organization. The reason for this was simple: When leadership changes, your key supporters are at risk of leaving, and you can suddenly find yourself without the backing you once relied on. Aspiring leaders, you will benefit from ensuring your sponsorship is not concentrated in just a few individuals. You should accumulate a diverse range of advocates up, down, and sideways within the organization. This way, if one sponsor exits, you still have others to carry your career forward. The strength of your reputation within the company and the breadth of your followership will sustain you through transitions. The more people who are invested in your growth and success, the better positioned you will be to weather leadership changes or organizational shifts. Leaders should always think about their support system: cultivating relationships at all levels, across functions to ensure they have a wide range of sponsors invested in their growth. This network, more than any single individual, will be the true foundation of career longevity.

What does good sponsorship look like? In a previous post, I wrote that sponsors use their influence to create opportunities for you, elevate your visibility to senior leadership and influence organizational decisions to your benefit. But exactly does that look like and what differentiates effective versus perhaps less effective (or perhaps counterproductive) sponsorship? Effective sponsors are ‘super mentors’ who collaboratively shape your journey in a deliberate manner. Their insights into future possibilities allow them to guide you in a more efficient manner and prepare you for roles that are several positions into the future. They help you achieve a good balance between optionality and focus turning one path into several. Those same sponsors use their access with other leaders to make you visible. They can speak at length about your strengths, areas for development and how certain roles could help your growth but also the business. Rather than it just being about you, it becomes about what could benefit the team as well. Ideally, they incentivize other leaders to want to know you and perhaps also become mentor/sponsors. They influence their team/organization to give you developmental assignments and consider you for future roles. I liken this approach to opening a door to another room – what the individual does next is on them. However, they do not get you that job or advocate on your behalf when it doesn’t make sense for you or the team. Admittedly it is a bit of a tricky balance for sponsors and those being sponsored. They want what is best for you and for you to succeed. But it must be done in the right way. The worst thing that could happen is if you, your sponsor or worse yet the organization believes you achieved ‘success’ through advocacy alone. You deserve the right to be considered on your own merits. If you did not ‘earn’ that promotion or that new role, you are likely to be less well prepared and likely branded as achieving success through favoritism. Over time, you will be seen as that person who rose through the ranks due to factors outside of your abilities. Less effective sponsorship comes when the sponsor loses objectivity about their protégé, perhaps ignoring feedback from teammates or other leaders. Their advocacy becomes an exercise in organizational power, usually stiffening resistance from other leaders. Even worse if they insert themselves into the decision-making process or become the final decision maker. The process and the candidate become suspect as a result, and no one wins. Similarly, ineffective (or excessive) sponsorship comes when your candidacy is pushed in the face of superior candidates. Your sponsor will lose credibility and you lose their help and are likely to suffer from somewhat of a negative perception by other leaders. Ideally, great sponsors create opportunities for you to be considered but then step back to let others weigh in and decide. Your qualities should speak for themselves.

We talk a lot about mentorship and don’t get me wrong, it’s important. But too many of us are over-mentored and under-sponsored. Mentors give advice. Sponsors create access. Sponsorship looks like: 🗣️ Saying your name in the rooms you’re not in 🧾 Recommending you for the role & backing it up with your receipts 🚫 Shutting down narratives that don’t align with your values or impact 🤝🏽 Advocating as if your career depends on it because it does We don’t just need guidance. We need people who are willing to vouch for us, uplift us, and protect our reputations when we’re not in the room. Because no matter how brilliant, driven, or prepared you are, access still often depends on who’s willing to bet on you when you’re not around to defend yourself. So yes, get a mentor. But also ask: 📌 Who's putting your name in the room when opportunities come up? 📌 Who’s shutting down the whisper networks? 📌 Who’s protecting your legacy behind closed doors? That’s the kind of table I want to sit at and the kind of advocate I strive to be.

"I have five mentors," the rising star told me. "But I'm still stuck at senior manager." I was helping her company figure out why top talent kept leaving. "What about sponsors?" I asked. "What's the difference?" "Mentors tell you how to navigate the game. Sponsors change the game for you." She looked confused. "Your mentors give great advice?" "Amazing advice. Coffee chats. Career planning. They help me see what I'm missing." "Ever get promoted based on their advice?" Silence. "Let me guess. They tell you to be patient. Build your skills. Wait for the right opportunity." "Exactly." "Meanwhile, who's getting promoted?" "People with half my experience. But their boss fights for them in talent reviews." "That's a sponsor." I pulled up her company's last promotion cycle. 87% of promotions had one thing in common: A senior leader who advocated in the room. Not a mentor who gave advice. A sponsor who took action. "My mentors genuinely care about me," she said. "I'm sure they do. But caring doesn't get you promoted. Power does." I talked to her mentors. "She's brilliant," one said. "I tell everyone how talented she is." "Do you advocate for her in succession planning?" "That's not my place. I'm not her manager." "When her name comes up for opportunities?" "I'm not usually in those discussions." There it was. Five mentors. Zero power. All advice. No advocacy. I went to the CHRO. "Your mentorship program is failing," I said. "We have 200 mentor-mentee pairs." "How many mentees got promoted last year?" She pulled the data. "Eight." "Out of 200?" "The program is about development, not promotion." "Development without advancement is just busy work." We dug deeper. The eight who got promoted? They all had sponsors, not just mentors. Someone who didn't just give advice. Someone who put their reputation on the line. Six months later, new program: Every high-potential gets a sponsor. Not someone who meets for coffee. Someone who owns their advancement. Sponsors had skin in the game: Their performance review included their sponsee's career progression. The result? Promotion rate for sponsored talent: 73%. Promotion rate for mentored-only talent: 11%. The rising star from earlier? Her sponsor got her promoted twice in 18 months. "What changed?" I asked her. "My mentor taught me how to fish. My sponsor made sure I got in the boat." Here's the truth about career advancement: Mentors open your mind. Sponsors open doors. Mentors share wisdom. Sponsors share power. Mentors tell you what you need to know. Sponsors make sure the right people know you. Your best employees aren't looking for another coffee chat. They're looking for someone who'll fight for them when they're not in the room. Because in most companies, talent alone doesn't get you promoted. Advocacy does. _____ Like my content? Give me a follow. Want to see more of it? Click the 🔔 on my profile. .

Lean In's report shows women are less likely to want promotion. 80% vs 86%. They call it an "ambition gap." Y'all, I love Lean In's work. Their data always helps me serve our clients at Perfeqta better. But this framing? We need to talk about it. Because the same report shows something powerful: When women get equal sponsorship and advocacy, this "gap" completely disappears. So it was never about ambition. It was about advocacy. I see this daily with the brilliant women we work with. They're not lacking drive. They're lacking cultures who champion them. Leaders who open doors. Systems that see their potential without requiring twice the proof. What gives me hope? Companies are starting to get it. The ones creating formal sponsorship programs. Making advocacy a measured leadership competency. Building systems where talent gets seen, not overlooked. And listen, when organizations fix the advocacy gap? Women don't just match men's ambition for advancement - they exceed it. Because we've always wanted it. We just needed someone to believe we deserved it. To every leader reading this: Your advocacy changes careers. That entry-level woman on your team? She needs you to see her potential and say it out loud. In rooms where decisions get made. What's one way your organization is closing the advocacy gap? I'd love to hear what's working. #WomenInLeadership #companyculture #inclusion #belonging #SponsorshipMatters

“Women and People of Color are over mentored and under sponsored.” I shared this during yesterday’s Gallup and WOHASU ® Women’s Wellbeing Panel because it’s a reality we must confront. 💡Research from the Center for Talent Innovation reveals the stark truth: • 71% of sponsors say they’re helping protégés advance, but only 30% of protégés agree. • The numbers are even more troubling for Black employees, with just 5% feeling sponsored in their workplaces. Sponsorship isn’t just about guidance—it’s about action. Sponsors advocate, open doors, and use their influence to elevate others. Here’s what sponsorship looks like in practice: • Advocating for high-visibility projects: Recommending someone for a leadership role or a game-changing initiative. • Speaking up in key rooms: Endorsing their abilities and readiness for promotions during executive discussions. • Leveraging personal networks: Making introductions that lead to pivotal career opportunities. I’m forever grateful to my former boss, Jim Clifton, for being not just a mentor but a true sponsor in my career. His advocacy transformed my opportunities and trajectory in ways I’ll never forget. Sponsorship isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a necessity for building equitable workplaces. Who are you sponsoring? How can we do better? Let’s continue this important conversation. #EquityInAction #Leadership #WomenInLeadership #SponsorshipMatters #Gallup #WOHASU

Mentorship has always mattered in the workplace, but today it is absolutely essential. Throughout my career, I have seen how the right guidance from someone who has “been there before” can change not only your trajectory but your confidence, your opportunities, and your sense of belonging. But we often overlook the other half of the equation: sponsorship. Mentors advise you. Sponsors advocate for you. A mentor helps you navigate challenges. A sponsor says your name in rooms you are not yet in. Both are critical for building strong, equitable workplaces, especially for underrepresented talent who too often lack access to informal networks. The relationships that have shaped my professional journey have been built on trust, honesty, and a shared belief in potential. And now, I am committed to paying that forward: offering guidance where I can and championing emerging leaders who deserve visibility and opportunity. Because when we invest in people, we invest in the future of our organizations. Mentorship opens the door. Sponsorship helps someone walk through it. Let’s continue to create environments where everyone has someone in their corner. #MentorshipMatters #Sponsorship #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth #WorkplaceEquity #ProfessionalDevelopment #LiftAsYouClimb #BlackProfessionals #CareerAdvancement #LeadershipInAction

Your sponsor just left. The one who advocated for you in rooms you weren't in. The one who pulled you onto high-visibility projects. The one whose name next to yours meant something. Gone. And suddenly you realize how much of your career was built on a single relationship. I've watched this play out dozens of times in 25+ years in financial services. A leader loses their sponsor to a reorg, a departure, a retirement, and they're left scrambling. Not because they weren't talented. Because they were under-networked. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵. One sponsor is a single point of failure. If your entire visibility, protection, and advocacy runs through one person, you've built a career on borrowed infrastructure. And borrowed infrastructure gets called back without warning. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. You need advocates across functions, levels, and power centers. Not just one champion, but a coalition of people who know your work and will speak for you. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁. If the only senior people who know you are the ones your sponsor introduced you to, you're exposed. Find ways to contribute to cross-functional initiatives, volunteer for enterprise-wide projects, build your own relationships with decision-makers. 𝗕𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘆𝗲𝘁. The best time to build relationships is when you don't need anything. Share insights. Make introductions. Offer value with no ask attached. Those are the relationships that hold when the ground shifts. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁. Stop asking: "Who's sponsoring me?" Start asking: "How many people in this organization would go to bat for me if my sponsor disappeared tomorrow?" If the answer is one or two, that's your wake-up call. Your sponsor leaving doesn't have to be a career crisis. It can be the push you needed to stop relying on one relationship and start building the broader network that will carry you through every reorg, every leadership change, and every unexpected exit. 💭 Have you ever lost a sponsor and had to rebuild? What did you learn? ------------ ♻️ Share with someone whose career depends too heavily on one relationship 🔔 Follow Courtney Intersimone for real talk on leadership and career mastery

💬 Mentors talk to you, but sponsors talk about you. I was ten years into my career when I first understood this. I had plenty of mentors. Senior leaders who offered advice over coffee. They helped me navigate workplace politics. Suggested books that shaped my thinking. But something was missing. Despite doing everything “right,” my career wasn’t advancing. Then John, an executive two levels above me, did something different. In a leadership meeting I wasn’t invited to, he put my name forward. He didn’t just advise me, he advocated for me. That’s when I realised the fundamental difference. Mentors guide you, but sponsors propel you. And here’s the thing: mentorship is valuable, but it’s not enough. Especially for women in the workplace. We need sponsors who will speak up for us. Who will open doors we can’t reach on our own. Because the truth is, opportunities often come from conversations we’re not part of. And for the men in leadership roles, this is your call to action. Sponsor the women in your company. Bridge the gender gap in leadership and board roles. Because when you advocate for someone, you’re not just changing their career. You’re changing the culture. Imagine a workplace where everyone has a sponsor. Where talent is recognised, not just seen. Where potential is nurtured, not just noted. That’s the kind of world we can create. And it starts with understanding the power of sponsorship. Because mentors talk to you, but sponsors talk about you. And that’s the difference that changes everything. 👉 Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/gfHj6M4W