Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career

In her book Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career, Sylvia Ann Hewlett explains the difference and the importance of having the right person in your life to help maneuver you to your career. Many people seek mentors for this purpose. Having a mentor is good; however, this book explains why you really need a sponsor.

According to the author, she worked hard to get into one of the best universities in Europe – Girton College, Cambridge University – but without the help of sponsors – not mentors – it would not have happened. While in college, Hewlett experienced the support of a transformative sponsor and enjoyed a trip to Africa that lifted her confidence and greatly improved her prospects for graduate school. Notice how the people who have interest in her have the power to transform her life.

Mentors listen to you and support you and expect little in return. Sponsors will invest in you and further your career, but they expect a great deal from you. Case in point, sponsors have the power to make your career happen. The question is, can you be successful without a sponsor? It really depends on who you know.