Do You Have a Sponsor?

04/14/2013

Do You Have a Sponsor?

As Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook tells it, what accounts for her spectacular leap to leadership is her unfettered embrace of career opportunity. By “leaning in,” she maintains in her new book, she has been able to join the male-dominated ranks of corporate executives.

But it’s simply not enough for a woman to put her self-doubt aside, grab hold of ambition and aim for the top, as Ms. Sandberg advises. A woman needs someone to lean in with her. That’s according to recent research by the Center for Talent Innovation, an organization I founded that focuses on advancing women and minorities.

To get ahead, women need to acquire a sponsor — a powerfully positioned champion — to help them escape the “marzipan layer,” that sticky middle slice of management where so many driven and talented women languish.

A two-year study, which sampled some 12,000 men and women in white-collar occupations across the United States and Britain, shows how sponsorship — unlike mentorship, its weaker cousin — makes a measurable difference in career progress.

Mentorship, let’s be clear, is a relatively loose relationship. Mentors act as a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, offering advice as needed and support and guidance as requested; they expect very little in return. Sponsors, in contrast, are much more vested in their protégés, offering guidance and critical feedback because they believe in them.

Sponsors advocate on their protégés’ behalf, connecting them to important players and assignments. In doing so, they make themselves look good. And precisely because sponsors go out on a limb, they expect stellar performance and loyalty.

It’s not easy to find a sponsor. You need to earn this kind of investment. “Sponsorship only works when it’s a two-way street,” says Patricia Fili-Krushel, chairwoman of the news group at NBCUniversal. “It can’t be just ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — I need help, I need advice.’ ” You must demonstrate that you’ll deliver outstanding performance — “you’ve got to consistently make your boss look good,” she says.

“Trust is at the heart of this relationship,” says Kerrie Peraino, global head of talent at American Express. “When I put my faith in up-and-coming talent and become their sponsor, I need to know I can totally depend on them — because they are, after all, walking around with my brand on.”

It’s in this area of trust that women and minorities often fail to get the help they need. When it comes to figuring out whom to sponsor, senior leaders — typically white men — most readily turn to the people they feel most comfortable with. Most often, that means other white men. Employers need to work to counteract this natural tendency.

Source: The New York Times, April 14, 2013, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an economist, is the founding president and C.E.O. of the Center for Talent Innovation in Manhattan and the author of “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor,” forthcoming from Harvard Business Review Press.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career