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A mentor answers your questions. A sponsor says your name when you're not in the room.

Most people understand what a mentor is—someone who provides guidance, shares their experience, and helps you navigate challenges. But sponsorship? That's where things get fuzzy.

The difference isn't just semantic. It's strategic. And understanding it could be the key to unlocking your next career move.

In this episode, I break down the crucial distinction between mentorship and sponsorship, why sponsors are career game-changers, and four practical steps to identify and cultivate sponsor relationships. We also explore how to position yourself as someone worth sponsoring and the reciprocal nature of these powerful professional relationships.

If you've ever wondered why some people seem to get ahead faster than others, sponsorship is often the missing piece. This episode gives you exactly what you need to build those relationships that don't just give you advice—they give you opportunities.

Listen and catch the full episode here or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also watch it and replay it on my YouTube channel, JanelAndersonPhD.

LINKS RELATED TO THIS EPISODE:

Episode 61: Why You Need a Mentor

Episode 260: I Got Passed Over for Promotion, What Do I Do Now?

Episode 262: How Do I Get More Visible at Work Without Bragging?

What's the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? And why does it matter for my career? I hear this a lot. One of the best ways that you can get ahead in your career is by having a sponsor. Now, sponsors are often executives or senior leaders in your organization who have leverage and influence across the company. And they use that leverage and that influence to advocate for the people that they're sponsoring. They might recommend them for a promotion, a raise, maybe a change in title, or even a position entirely outside of the organization. Now, it's different from a mentor who is more of a sounding board. You know, someone that you can ask the dumb questions to do without feeling dumb. Now, sponsorship is mentorship's more elusive cousin. You can ask someone outright to be your mentor, but you don't really ask someone to be your sponsor in the same way. So today, we're breaking down the mystery of sponsorship, and we're going to outline how to get one. So let's dive in. Now, a few weeks ago, in episode 260, and I'll link that episode up in the show notes for this episode, this is episode 263, you can find the show notes for this episode at janelanderson.com forward slash 263, and we'll link up episode 260 in the show notes. So in that episode, we were talking about what to do if you get passed over for a promotion and one of the strategies that I happen to mention was to, in positioning yourself for a future advancement, was to find a sponsor. And I said at the time, I should really do a whole episode on this, because sponsorship is genuinely different from mentorship, and most people either don't know the difference or they think they have both when they really only have a mentor. So today, we are going to clear that up, and more importantly, we are going to talk about how to get a sponsor, because that is the mystery part of it, that is where people get stuck. Okay, so here is the thing about sponsorship. It has this weird circular quality to it that can feel maddening when you're early in your career. So by the time someone is actively sponsoring you, you often already have enough visibility and momentum in your career that you could have gotten on without them. And when you're early on, when you most need that advocate, nobody seems to be stepping forward. So what gives? Well, it's a little bit like the speaking world, the business that I inhabit. So in the speaking business, there are speakers, pure hosts, who can represent you and get you greater visibility in the speaking world.

janelanderson.com 2 For example, get you on bigger and bigger stages, that sort of thing. And representation starts to show up right around the time you've already built enough traction that you don't really need a bureau in the same way. But the bureaus don't want to spend much time on you until you have a reputation for being booked by the same kind of clients that work with them. It's the same circular issue. They don't want you until you don't need them. And in your world, the people who sponsor you often find you once you're already doing something worth talking about. But that's no strategy. So the honest framing of today's episode is this, sponsorship isn't something that you have to wait on. It's something that you need to position yourself for, position yourself to receive. And the way you do that is by doing work that makes you sponsor worthy. And then being strategic and intentional about building relationships that could carry that work forward. So let's start with a couple of definitions here because they absolutely matter. A mentor answers your questions. That is their chief job. If you are in a mentor relationship, you come with questions, they have answers, but a bing, but a boo. A sponsor, on the other hand, says your name when you're not in the room. Now, if you're going places in your career, you really do need both, both. But most people only have one. And the one that they're typically missing is the one that can actually move careers forward. And that is sponsorship. Now sponsorship isn't luck and it isn't politics. And it certainly isn't writing someone else's co-tales, although it can look like that to the outside to someone who doesn't know that you have a relationship with that sponsor and all the work that went into it to build not only first your credibility, but then the relationship. Now indeed, it is a relationship. And it is one that you build with intention, starting with the work that you put in front of the right people. Now, if you heard last week's episode about visibility, you know where this is going. We need to be creating work that is, first of all, visibility worthy. And then we need to be putting it in front of the right people. Now, again, let's create that clear distinction between a mentor and a sponsor. A mentor is someone you go to, they give you guidance, they give you perspective. It is a safe place to ask all those questions that you can't ask your direct manager for fear of looking like you don't know what you're doing. Your mentor is going to help you learn and grow, and they are absolutely and incredibly very valuable to your career. But a mentor's advocacy for you happens in the conversations that they're having with you, not necessarily the ones that are happening when you're not in the room.

janelanderson.com 3 Now, a sponsor on the other hand is someone who goes to bat for you. They are going to use their own political capital, their own social capital, and their own reputation to advocate for you and for your advancement or for whatever it is that you want. They're going to say your name in rooms that you are not in. They're going to flag you for opportunities, they're going to connect you with people. And critically, they're going to do this not because they're forced to, they're going to do this because they absolutely believe in your work and they have skin in the game of your success because they have that relationship with you. Now, the chief difference here is that a mentor invests their time in you and a sponsor invests their reputation in you. Let me say that again, in case you were multitasking, come back to this, a mentor invests time in you, a sponsor invests their own reputation in you. All right, so let's dive into the nitty gritty of this. How do you get a sponsor? Well, I'm going to give you four tactical things to do to get to having a sponsor. Number one, be sponsor worthy. Sponsors amplify people who are already producing, so you have to be doing great, amazing work in your organization. Again, your reputation should probably precede you when creating that sponsor relationship. So before you go finding a sponsor, do the honest self assessment. Is the quality of your work, the reliability of your follow through and your professional reputation already at a level that somebody would be confident putting their own name behind? Now, this isn't meant to be discouraging. This is meant for you to be discerning. It's clarifying. You cannot skip this step. If your work is not sponsorship worthy, get your work to that level before you go looking for the right person. So that is step number one, those are table stakes. Now step two, narrow down the field. You don't need the most powerful organizational sponsor. You need one or two specific people that have proximity to the decisions that are that absolutely matter for your next career move or for whatever it is that you want. So you want to get strategic about who that really is. This is not a spray and prey method. It's usually somebody who is probably about two levels above you with visibility into where you want to go. So this should not be the CEO or anybody in the C suite. I want you to think smaller and more precise. So if you're a supervisor or team lead who reports to a manager, we're talking probably not the director that they report to, maybe the director, but probably more like one additional level above that, like the VP that the director reports to. And it doesn't have to be directly in your line of reporting. In fact, sometimes it can feel very threatening to the other people who are in your direct line of reporting. And it's not meant for you to leapfrog any managerial steps. This is still like you go from being a supervisor to a manager or a manager to a director and so on. It is again, if there is any

janelanderson.com 4 suspiciousness around it, just be straightforward in talking with people about like your building relationships across the organization to get more visibility so that the right people know you when the right roles come along. I probably wouldn't say I'm out shopping for a sponsor, okay? But again, it doesn't have to be directly in your line of reporting. It can be in an adjacent functional area. Now, if you're in software development, it's probably not going to be somebody who's in finance or somebody who's on the marketing team, unless you want your career to go in that direction. Okay. Now, step three, create the relationship first. So sponsorship is absolutely a relationship. It is not a transaction. It works best when there is genuine mutual benefit so there should be something in it for the sponsor as well. So look for the intersection between your ambitions and the other person's priorities. Ideally, again, like I said, they're going to get something out of it. They're going to learn something from you. If your work makes them look good, that's a bonus, a big bonus. Then they have their own reasons for championing you. If they're, again, if they're learning something from you or if their work makes you look good. So find those overlaps and invest there, invest there to create relationships. Now, don't forget that sponsors need material to work with. So they need to know about your work. They need to know about what you produce and how you're making a difference in the organization. So keep the people that you're hoping to impress, informed by your wins. Now, briefly and humbly, one sentence, a one sentence update after a project finishes can really make the difference. Now, if you haven't listened to episode 261, I'm sorry, if you haven't listened to episode 262, you're going to want to go listen to that. One, 261 as well, 261 is about being known, 262, anyway, both of them, we'll link them both up in the show notes. You should listen to both of them. But a one sentence update after a project lands, which I talked about in episode 262 can really make a difference. You're not bragging, you're just giving them information, you're keeping them in the loop. So make it effortless for them to say your name with substance behind it because they already know where you're up to. All right, now, here comes the trigger part, step four. This is when you're going to directly ask, but without pressure. Now, this is where most people stop. Most people never get to this step. They wait and they hope and they cross their fingers and then they feel disappointed. But a quiet, respectful ask goes a long, long way.

janelanderson.com 5 Now, the ask needs to be tangible enough that they understand it and that they can assess whether a particular situation is a good fit for you or not. So something like this, I'm working towards X. Now, X could be, you know, to be a director someday. And I know first I have to be a supervisor and then a manager, okay? So it needs to be grounded in reality, but something that you're working towards. If you ever see opportunities where I'd be a good fit and you'd feel comfortable putting my name forward, I'd really appreciate being on your radar or having you help me get on the radar of that opportunity. That's it. It's not a big moment. It's not a plain speech. It's not a formal pitch. It's just a clear and honest ask. From you, someone who's doing serious work, to them, someone who can get you on the radar of the next opportunity for you. And I wouldn't necessarily use the word sponsor, like I said before. That sounds rather formal and not relationship-based. If you've helped them and you've created a relationship with them, they're likely to reciprocate. It might not occur to them to reciprocate, which is why you need to make that ask. Now, it might be for an introduction to someone. It might be to get into a room that you're not typically in or get on a high profile project. That sort of thing. So make that ask, get comfortable with making that ask and it's going to be so much easier to make that ask if you already feel like you have a strong relationship with that person. Okay, so there are your four tactical steps to take. This could take a while, my friends. This is not something that is all going to unfold in, you know, this week or certainly this quarter. Play the long game. Getting a sponsor could take six months. Could take longer. It might take less time, too, but let's just be realistic. Set your sights on, let's say, six months. But here is your call to action for this week, because again, this sponsorship game starts with a single step. So here is your action step for this week. Identify just one person, just one who has proximity to where you want your career to go. Someone above you, someone who sees your work, someone who's opinion carries more weight in the rooms that matter. And this week, find one natural way to make sure that your best, most recent work is on their radar and is visible to them. Now in this step, you don't have to ask them for anything yet. Now, unless you want to invite them to coffee so that you can start working on that relationship, you just need to start with visibility. The relationship is going to follow the work. Again, you can inch the relationship along by asking them for coffee, or even just saying hello to them in the hall if you don't know who they are, okay? So that is your first step for this week. Identify one person, just one who has that proximity, and then get your work on their radar.

janelanderson.com 6 This might be an episode that you want to bookmark and come back to because once you have that relationship in place, you're going to be like, wait, what was the next step? Okay, so go get that relationship in place and then come back to this episode and keep building on it until you feel confident enough in the relationship to ask them for the thing that you want to ask them for, putting you on the radar of that next thing that's going to move your career forward. All right, my friends, have a great week and I will be right back here, same place, same channel, with more working conversations to help move your career forward. All right, take care, my friends, and be well.