The Importance of Transparency in Sponsorship

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I think one thing that we could do as leaders and organizations could do is to, you know, just talk more explicitly about this. I've been part of a couple of mentorship programs where you got matched up with people. And man, does that not work? Right. The table stakes of competence is part of this. There's something that's very hard to program about this. But then there's the other part of it, which is that no one would make an assignment unless she really believed that you would succeed at it. Because the payoff for this is that the job is done really well and all of us benefit from that.

Having a sponsor — someone who can use their influence to push your career forward — is invaluable. But how exactly they do this, and what your role is in making it happen, isn’t always clear-cut. Who should we be seeking to sponsor us? Should sponsors be candid with their proteges about what they’re doing on their behalf?

We pose these questions and others to Rosalind Chow, a researcher who studies sponsorship. She clarifies some of the ambiguity and talks about what should be transparent and what should stay unspoken. Then we hear how one of these relationships works between two lawyers, as well as between Nicole and Amy B.

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