The Difference Between Mentorship and Sponsorship
The best topics to write about are the ones that get you firing from the hip!
Beyond Advice: What Women in Tech Really Need for Career Growth
Yesterday, I found myself in a familiar setting - another Women in Tech event focused on mentorship and career development. The panel was diverse in experience, featuring women ranging from early-career professionals to senior leaders. As I listened to the familiar advice about finding mentors and building support networks, something felt incomplete about the conversation.
While well-intentioned, the advice often follows a predictable script. Find a mentor. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Build your network. Seek guidance from those who've walked the path before you. There’s nothing wrong with this advice. In fact, it is very much correct. For many young ladies, this might be the first time someone is telling them to do this. So it is hugely relevant.
But as I reflected on my own career journey and the conversations happening around me, I realized we weren't addressing the fundamental challenges women face in the tech industry. The emphasis of mentorship, while valuable, was obscuring a more critical conversation.
The Mentorship Mirage
Here's what nobody tells you at these events: mentorship is abundant. Most successful women in tech I know are overwhelmed with advice, having multiple mentors, attending numerous networking events, and accumulating enough guidance to fill several career books.
Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry, mentioned this in a Forbes article: Women don’t lack mentors; they lack sponsors. In fact, women often do not know the difference in what a mentor and sponsor can do for you. Identifying this difference is a crucial first step.
Why does this happen? Deb Liu explains the affinity bias we all have, “People tend to sponsor people who look like them; who remind them of themselves 10 or 20 years ago.” Another way to look at it is, “It’s really hard to be what you haven’t seen.”
It is easier to take a chance on someone who shows similar traits to you. The prevalence of men in leadership positions can create a cycle where they disproportionately sponsor and mentor other men early in their careers. This perpetuates existing gender imbalances in leadership. For women to advance professionally at similar rates, access to influential sponsors and mentors is crucial.
As a young woman, I had no difficulty finding both men and women in senior levels willing to give advice. In fact, they had so much advice to give, these conversations often become one-way lectures as opposed to a mutual sharing. It’s a bit like having a workplace parent, there is no shortage of people who’ve walked your path wishing they did something different when they were your age. They hope to share their story with you so you don’t make the same mistakes.
What women lack isn't advice – it's advocacy. And this is where sponsorship comes in.
Mentorship vs. Sponsorship: Understanding the Critical Difference
Mentorship provides guidance, but sponsorship creates opportunities. This is a crucial distinction that's often overlooked. A mentor will advise you on how to navigate a challenging situation; a sponsor will actively work to put you in positions where you can showcase your capabilities. A mentor will suggest ways to increase your visibility; a sponsor will create visibility for you. This can translate into new responsibilities at work, a promotion, a strong first impression to another senior leader (often a man) that gives you a strong start with your best foot forward.
The Power of Executive Sponsorship: A Personal Journey
In 2022, during my first year as a Senior Product Manager at TomTom, I was selected as one of 20 women for TomTom's pilot sponsorship program. Initially, the concept of 'sponsorship' in professional development was foreign to me. But as I came to understand it, it was like discovering a missing piece of the puzzle – suddenly illuminating why I hadn't been advancing in my career despite my capabilities.
Over the next 12 months, having a dotted line to another VP outside of my unit was transformative in understanding what had been holding me back from the next step in my career growth.
My journey with the sponsorship program began when VPs in my unit (Laurens and Yu Guo) identified me as a high-performing woman who could benefit from targeted mentorship to accelerate my career trajectory. This initial recognition was crucial - they saw potential that I hadn't yet fully recognized in myself.
I was paired with a VP of Engineering (Rok Erjavec) from a different unit. The match was intentional—designed to avoid conflicts of interest and provide a safe space where sponsors wouldn’t directly control my career progression.
Looking back, I realize I would have never initiated this connection on my own. The perceived hierarchical gap felt too wide, and I had doubts about whether someone at his level would find value in engaging with my work, given that we weren’t working on products that had strict dependencies to begin with.
What happened next challenged all my preconceptions. Not only did he take genuine interest in my work, but he recognized its strategic value to the company. He became an active advocate, championing my contributions among the Product Managers on his team. His endorsement opened doors I hadn’t known existed.
His sponsorship went beyond just advocacy. He invited me to contribute to several high-profile projects under his leadership. Crucially, he set the stage for my involvement in a way that positioned me as a valuable contributor rather than an outsider. For example, bringing me in for brainstorming meetings with Designers and Product Managers in his team. His careful framing meant that PM peers welcomed my perspectives rather than viewing me as an interloper.
But perhaps the most valuable aspect of this experience wasn't the immediate opportunities - it was learning how to create them for myself. This wasn't about temporary handouts; it was about developing lasting capabilities. Over the next 12 months of the program, while focusing on my product work, I shadowed my sponsor and asked him to model solutions to difficult people and organizational challenges I was facing. Through his thought process demonstrations, I practiced how to think and behave differently (this sounds incredibly robotic, but you'd be surprised at how transformative it can be to unlock new thought patterns and make them second nature). I worked on my networking mindset and started practicing behaviors to deal with conflict scenarios, and actions to get comfortable with self-advocacy.
I look back at when I first joined a high tech company at 21-22 years old. Fresh out of university, doe-eyed and completely unaware of how important it was to get known outside your unit and build influence with senior leaders within the organization. I was hardworking, made a lot of mistakes, eventually learned how to deliver results, but thought I'd missed out on promotions because I was too young to be taken seriously. I even attributed my lack of growth to more classic reasons, like imposter syndrome, second-guessing my abilities, and reinforcing negative beliefs.
No, I just wasn’t understanding how visibility and influence worked. I wasn’t seeing what some of my other more strategic male peers were doing right. I didn’t know I could advocate for myself like how they would ‘grab a coffee’, ‘grab a beer’, ‘have a smoke’ with a VP (yes, a man) to talk about my work, ask for opportunities, and build a relationship so they’d want to take a chance on me. I wasn’t playing the game right.
The funny thing about the sponsorship program was, I was already on the path to promotion within 6 months of joining the company. I was performing the best I’d ever done, had I not joined the sponsorship program, I would have still gotten promoted anyway. However, the sponsorship program taught me the skills that would carry me for the rest of my life. At the end of the 12-month program, all the women and sponsors gathered to celebrate the conclusion of the pilot program. The results were clear: nearly everyone agreed the program had been transformative in their career development. Personal wins aside, we saw a positive shift in the culture of the organization. Given its success, TomTom launched a second iteration of the program in 2024.
The difference was transformative. While mentors had given me valuable advice throughout my career, this sponsorship relationship opened doors that advice alone could never unlock. My sponsor didn't just tell me how to get a seat at the table - they pulled up a chair for me. And now I pull it up for myself. Somewhere down the line when I’ve climbed the ladder again, I’ll be sure to advocate for someone else.
Avoiding The Wrong Incentives
Some critics argue that sponsorship programs simply "give fish" rather than teach fishing skills. But my journey proved otherwise. Through my sponsor's guidance, I learned how to navigate senior stakeholder relationships, advocate for my work, and build strategic connections - skills I now use daily. This wasn't about getting a temporary boost; it was about developing capabilities that would serve me throughout my career.
Sponsorship programs should avoid becoming a performance metric or box-ticking exercise. Some organizations over-engineer these initiatives, turning them into performance metrics rather than genuine development opportunities.
A Harvard Business Review article points to a deeper challenge: dozens of organizations have experimented with sponsorship schemes only to return to less controversial (and less effective) mentoring programs. "While you can ask senior executives to provide advice and support to high-potential women, you cannot mandate that they spend their personal capital advocating for people they don't know well or may not be bullish about."
What stood out at TomTom was different - leaders volunteered their time because they genuinely believed in developing talent. To preserve the authenticity of these initiatives, organizations should avoid using programs like these as a substitute for determining real employee performance. It's important to set the right expectations with both sponsors and the sponsored that this isn't a guaranteed fast track to promotion, but rather an investment in long-term growth. Effective sponsorship is not about ticking off a box but about building relationships that continue to deliver long-term results.
Perhaps the most common question I've encountered is whether these women-focused programs are fair. "What about men?" people ask. But this perspective misses crucial context. Through my experience, I've observed how men often naturally receive informal sponsorship through existing networks - they're automatically included in social circles and advocacy opportunities with senior leaders who share similar backgrounds. One could argue that the ‘boys club’ has historically excluded certain people of color—and I agree. In the case of women in the workplace, our program wasn't about creating an unfair advantage but rather leveling a playing field that has historically been tilted.
This journey taught me that effective sponsorship isn't about preferential treatment - it's about breaking down barriers that have long prevented talented women from advancing. It's about creating pathways that might not naturally exist otherwise. My experience showed me that when done right, sponsorship programs don't just benefit individual careers - they help build stronger, more inclusive organizations where talent can truly thrive.
If you’re still doubtful (maybe you’re thinking women get way too much preferential treatment) - I think the best way to begin is by looking at the fundamentals of your organization. Look at the structure of your organization, distribution of talent at the lower, mid, and upper levels. Look at how people are assessed for promotion. Look at the pipeline of talent 5-10 years down the road. Why is that? Is this necessary to solve? What if it isn’t solved? Are there sub-segments of men who are disadvantaged and could use these programs? Make the case from there.
The Advice Overflow Problem
So back to the topic of mentorship. Advice is boundless in the age of podcasts and self-help books. I’ve never had more thought leadership and intellectual material thrown at me in the form of Shorts, Reels, Podcasts, and Tweets. Do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that. And in the current job market of infinite tech layoffs, why not sell to our insecurities that the reason why we aren’t getting a job or promotion is because we haven’t unlocked a new dimension of advice (so, buy my short course today!)
This leads us to an uncomfortable truth: we don't have a mentorship deficit in tech; we have a sponsorship deficit. While countless professionals are willing to share advice over coffee, far fewer are willing to put their own political capital on the line to advocate for someone else’s advancement. The challenge isn't finding someone to give you guidance - it's finding someone willing to champion your career when opportunities arise.
Reframing Career Development Events
I looked around the room yesterday and felt compelled to speak up about the distinction between mentorship and sponsorship. While the more timid corner of my brain worried about potentially offending the panelists, I knew it was crucial that young women not leave these career development events thinking they weren't succeeding simply because they lacked mentors.
If you're wondering why you're taking a bunch of courses but not getting the results you want; why you're more competent than your peers but missing promotions; why you deliver on expectations but aren't progressing in your career - it's likely not because you lack mentors or advice. The missing piece might be active sponsorship - someone who will advocate for you in rooms you haven't accessed yet.
This isn't to diminish the value of mentorship. Good mentors can provide invaluable guidance and support. But if we're serious about advancing women in tech, we need to move beyond the mentorship narrative and start having honest conversations about power, influence, and advocacy.
Moving Forward: What Actually Works
So what does this mean for women in tech? First, it means being strategic about the relationships we build. While mentorship relationships can develop naturally, sponsorship often requires more intentional cultivation. Look for leaders who don't just give advice but take action - those who have the power and willingness to advocate for others. They must believe in your character, your potential, and your growth enough to be willing to use their social capital and reputation to speak up for you, and extend their network to you.
As Hewlett says in her book to fast track your career, “A mentor can guide you to the right doors, but a sponsor will help you knock them down—and even knock them down for you.” Remember, mentors advise, sponsors act.
For organizations, consider creating formal sponsorship programs that pair high-potential women with leaders who have real influence. These programs should focus on creating opportunities, not just providing guidance.
The Path Forward
As I left that Women in Tech event, I couldn't help but think about all the women who might leave feeling that their career challenges stem from a lack of mentorship. The reality is more complex - and more actionable. While we can't control who will choose to sponsor us, we can be clear about what we're really seeking: not just advice, but advocacy; not just guidance, but opportunity.
The next time you're encouraged to "find a mentor," consider whether what you really need is a sponsor. And if you're in a position to help other women advance, consider moving beyond advice-giving to active advocacy. That's where real change happens in women's careers - not just in conversations over coffee, but in the rooms where decisions are made.
I’m done firing from the hip, now.
Extra Note: Sponsorship was a 10% bonus opportunity outside of my day-to-day work. But the reality is, you focus on what you’re paid to do—I spent the remaining 90% of my time within my unit. Thanks to the trust of my skip-level managers, Laurens and Yu Guo, I was given incredible opportunities to dive deeper into my work. These included having a seat in budget meetings, engaging with high-profile customers, and participating in other ‘high-stakes’ meetings that were critical to the product I was working on. I’ll probably share more about this experience in another article.
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