Mentoring & Sponsorship—Bringing Others with You

Life + Leadership

We all need support and guidance in our personal and professional lives. But how do you build a network of people who will lift you up when you need it? How do you know if your current situation calls for a mentor, a sponsor or a coach? And what if you’re ready to BE an advocate for someone else?

Today on the podcast, we’re sharing the distinctions among mentoring, sponsorship and coaching and describing how to build a network of supporters who can solve any problem that might come up. We explore what makes an effective mentor and why it’s crucial to define what you want the mentoring relationship to look like.

We go on to discuss the connection between doing your job well and finding a sponsor who will advocate on your behalf. Listen in for insight on when it’s appropriate to seek help from a mentor, sponsor or coach and learn how YOU can benefit from being a champion for others.

Themes explored in this week’s episode:

• The distinctions among mentoring, coaching and sponsorship
• What an effective mentor looks like and why it’s important for mentees to be clear on what they need
• How to find mentors based on specific needs + how we each select and serve mentees
• The three primary types of mentorship—traditional, peer circles and reverse mentoring
• Why it’s crucial to agree on what you want the mentoring relationship to look like
• The relationship between doing your job well and finding a sponsor willing to advocate for you
• Keeping the person you sponsor top-of-mind and speaking up on their behalf
• When you might need a mentor, a sponsor or a coach
• How to build a network of supporters who can solve any problem that might come up

Resources from this episode:

• Watch this episode of the show on the Life & Leadership Podcast YouTube channel
• Read Tegan’s blog, ‘How the Gift of Mentorship Changed My Life’
• Learn ‘How to Be a Next-Level Mentor’ in Tegan’s Forbes article
• Explore Ed Batista’s piece on getting feedback in Harvard Business Review
• Find out ‘How to Get the Feedback You Need’ in Carolyn O’Hara’s HBR article
• Learn more about reverse mentoring in this New York Times piece
• Understand how coaches, mentors and sponsors differ via this Catalyst infographic
• And just for fun, listen to Michael Bolton’s hit song, “Soul Provider”

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