How to become a 'sponsor' at work and help someone's career take off

If you really want to boost your career — and help other people rise — be a sponsor.

In today’s workplace that mashes up remote and hybrid and shrinking payrolls, it’s tricky to find a champion to help you stand out and have your back.

In “The Doors You Can Open: A New Way to Network, Build Trust, and Use Your Influence to Create a More Inclusive Workplace,” Rosalind Chow, a Carnegie Mellon University organizational behavior professor and researcher, explains the value of having someone in your organization who is willing to put their own reputation on the line to help you get noticed — and talks you up to those who don’t yet know how awesome you are.

Chow’s theory is that the path to leadership runs through helping people we respect get noticed and break barriers. It’s pushing someone else’s career ahead by advocating for raises, promotions, and participation in projects that have a direct impact on an employer’s bottom line.

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I asked Chow to share some insights on how sponsorship works and why it's a two-way street.

Here are edited excerpts of our conversation:

Kerry Hannon: What is sponsorship vs. mentorship? I’ve been a mentor and a mentee, but not sure I’ve ever been a sponsor.

Rosalind Chow: The key difference is with mentorship, mentors are essentially coaching mentees, giving feedback and encouragement. Sponsorship is not about asking a protégé to be any different than who they are, but to change how other people see that person.

Isn’t sponsoring just a step further than mentoring someone?

Sponsors can start as mentors, but they are not mentors on steroids. It's a different way of supporting people, and you need both.

What are the risks and the rewards of being a sponsor?

It's like making a stock investment. There is some risk, but high reward potential. Sponsors who bring an amazing protégé to other people's attention — someone who other people were totally unaware of — are going to get a reputational boost.

The risk of that is if you sponsor someone, and it turns out that they're not everything that you've hyped them up to be.

The difference between sponsorship and mentorship is when your mentee doesn't do well, mentors typically are not seen negatively because their mentee does poorly. Most people just assume that the mentee is the problem. But with sponsorship, if a protégé goes out and does a bad job, it's not only that they look bad, but the sponsor looks bad. You’re tying your reputation to somebody else. So when a protégé does well, it means you do well too. But if a protégé does poorly, then you also get taken down.

What does a sponsor do?

Sponsorship can take many different forms. In general, it’s impression management — you are managing other people's impressions of someone. You are shaping a narrative around someone else who may not be known to others in positions of power. Or even if they're already known to other people, you're augmenting that positive perception that other people have of this person.

The low-hanging fruit for sponsorship is just paying attention to what people are good at, or what they are interested in, or where they want to go. Then putting in a good word with the right people at the right time. The truth is saying nice things about other people is always the right thing to do anyway.

Do you tell someone that you want to be their sponsor?

It depends. There are two different lines of thinking. One is being very explicit with the person that you're sponsoring. If you do that, they realize that they're on the hook. For some people that's incredibly motivating and it makes them perform better. But for other people, if they find out about it, they interpret it as having a lot of slack, or latitude, to make mistakes or not have to put as much effort in.

And you don’t have to sponsor someone who reports to you. You can sponsor a colleague or peer.

What's the difference between power and status?

Power is typically control over resources. I have something that you need. Status is about respect and admiration. You can get respect and admiration in lots of different ways. What sponsors do is essentially raise the status of the people they know by connecting them and telling these positive stories about them to other people.

You write that it’s better to show than to tell when you are sponsoring someone — how so?

Showing is when you put the protégé in a situation where they basically get to shine and other people draw their own conclusions. I'm not just telling you that this person is good at something. I am going to let them present the project so that it becomes clear that they have this expertise. Telling is when I go into a performance review meeting, and I say: "This person is our expert in this." You're telling the other person what they're supposed to think, and it means, then, that the other person has to trust your judgment.

Showing is better.

Have a question about retirement? Personal finances? Anything career-related? Click here to drop Kerry Hannon a note.

What's your big takeaway for your readers?

Everyone can be a sponsor, and it is not predicated on being in a position of power — but, rather, your reputation and other people's trust in you. Helping somebody by spending time with them and giving them feedback is great. I am absolutely not saying that they shouldn't do that, but are there people who ought to know one another? Can you do more introducing? Can you say more about the good things that are happening in other people's lives?

Sharing other people's good news will help your career and someone else's. You hone your reputation as someone who feels secure in yourself and is in the know and paying attention to what’s going on with other people without feeling threatened by their talent.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky.

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