Community Spotlight: Mentorship vs Sponsorship
April 26th, 2021
Community Spotlight: A series highlighting Aspire to Her community members and their experiences early in their careers.
Who we’re featuring this week: Jennifer Chen
Position: Senior Contract Manager @ Cigna
You are currently a Senior Contract Manager at Cigna and part of their Women Sponsorship Program. What is the difference between mentorship and sponsorship and what role has sponsorship had in your career?
Cigna was the first company I worked for after college and over the last five years, I have been able to grow a very special network of mentors. These are people who, throughout the years, have been a sounding board for advice, allowed me to learn about different business areas and provided encouragement at critical times in my professional life. Mentor relationships are important, and it is not a foreign concept for most.
Sponsorship is a different kind of relationship, and it is a key success factor in one's career growth. Unlike a mentor, a sponsor is someone who intimately knows your work and is invested in your growth because it has a direct impact on them as well. A sponsor is someone with enough political capital to open doors for you and speak about you positively in rooms you are not yet invited in. Thus, a sponsor is usually a direct, skip level or higher-level executive who benefits when you succeed. They will champion you and leverage their own political capital to help you advance. Compared to a mentorship, sponsorship is more symbiotic of a relationship. It is important for women and minorities to have sponsors to increase representation in senior leadership. Grit and hard work can only get you so far in a corporate organization; sponsorship can help with the rest.
Both mentorships and sponsorships are important, and both have had an impact on my career. My last two promotions were a direct result of sponsorship relationships, and I am trying to be more mindful of cultivating these relationships in my role changes within different areas of the company.
What is your advice for someone who wants to find a sponsor?
The first step is to have a good idea of what a sponsor is, so you know how to look for one and why you are putting in the effort. Carla Harris has a great TedTalk on sponsorship and why it is important.
Another critical, somewhat obvious step in finding a sponsor is performing well in your role and delivering on results. Then, you should keep your eye open for someone who is senior to you, knows your work and you and a leader, has political capital in the organization and would speak positively about you. Some mentors can turn into sponsors under the right circumstance. Direct managers and skip-level managers can be natural sponsors as well. Be clear about what you can bring to the table and what you've already done for the team. Share your goals and how they can help get you there. Most executives welcome these types of relationships and would be open to a sponsorship, even if they are not familiar with the exact term.
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