Latest / Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers / How to Use a Career Sponsor to Accelerate Your Growth
Transcript
- Lucas: So we talk a lot on this show about mentors. But there's a quieter, more powerful category of career helper that rarely gets airtime: the sponsor. Luna: A sponsor. And not the kind that buys you a drink at a networking event. Lucas: Right. A sponsor is someone with organizational power who actively advocates for your advancement. They're not just giving you advice—they're putting your name forward for a promotion, a stretch project, a seat at the table. And they're doing it when you're not in the room. Luna: That's a big difference. A mentor might tell you, 'You should go after that VP role.' A sponsor actually says to the CEO, 'She should be VP.' Lucas: Exactly. And we deliberately don't run ads on these episodes. If you want to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps the show free and independent. Luna: Yeah, listener support is what makes this possible. If you've gotten value from our career conversations, it really helps. Lucas: Okay, back to sponsors. The reason they're so effective is that they operate in the gap between your performance and your visibility. You can do great work, but if the people deciding promotions don't know your name, you're invisible. Luna: And a sponsor bridges that gap. So how does someone actually find a sponsor? Is it something you can ask for? Lucas: You can, but it's subtle. You don't walk up to a senior leader and say, 'Will you be my sponsor?' That's too direct. Instead, you want to find someone who already has a reason to believe in your work. Maybe it's your boss's boss, maybe it's a senior leader from another department who you've impressed on a cross-functional project. Luna: So you build the relationship first, like you would with a mentor, but with a specific goal. Lucas: Right. The key difference is that with a sponsor, you're not just asking for advice. You're asking for action. There's a framework I like called the 'three asks': visibility, opportunity, and endorsement. Luna: Can you walk us through each? Lucas: Sure. First, visibility. You ask the sponsor to include you in a meeting or a presentation where decision-makers will see your work. For example, 'I've been working on this analysis. Would it make sense for me to present it at the quarterly review?' Luna: That's a low-risk ask. You're not asking for a promotion yet, just a stage. Lucas: Exactly. The second ask is opportunity. This is when you ask for a stretch assignment or a project that builds a skill you need for the next level. You say, 'I want to develop my leadership skills. Could I lead the new product launch?' Luna: And the third ask is endorsement. That's the big one. Lucas: That's where you ask them to actively support your promotion or your candidacy for a role. By the time you get to that ask, they've already seen you succeed in high-visibility settings. They have evidence to point to. Luna: I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of asking for endorsement. It feels like you're skipping the line. Lucas: It does feel that way, but here's the reality: promotions are not purely meritocratic. They're social decisions. A sponsor is essentially translating your merit into the language the organization understands. Without that translation, even great work can get overlooked. Luna: So what if you don't have an obvious senior leader in your network? Where do you start? Lucas: Start by doing excellent work on a project that gets noticed by someone two levels above you. Then look for a small ask. Maybe you send a follow-up email after a presentation: 'I appreciated your feedback on the Q3 strategy. I'd love to get your perspective on my career path.' That's a foot in the door. Luna: And once you have that conversation, you can start testing whether they'd be willing to advocate for you. Lucas: Exactly. You can ask a question like, 'Is there anyone in the leadership team I should make sure I'm visible to?' That gives the sponsor a natural opening to say, 'I can help with that.' Luna: But what if the person says no, or they're not interested? Lucas: No is okay. It's better to know early than to assume someone will advocate for you and then be disappointed. And sometimes a no just means they don't have the bandwidth or the political capital. In that case, you move on to someone else. Luna: So you can have multiple sponsors, right? For different goals? Lucas: Absolutely. One sponsor might be great for visibility. Another might be better for endorsement, especially if they sit on the promotion committee. You want a portfolio of sponsors, just like you want a portfolio of mentors. Luna: I love that framing. How do you track whether sponsorship is actually working? Lucas: Keep a simple log. Every time a sponsor does something for you—introduces you, recommends you for a project, mentions your name in a meeting—write it down. Over six months, you'll see a pattern. If nothing happens, you may need a different sponsor. Luna: And if you become a senior leader yourself, you should look for people to sponsor. Lucas: That's the cycle. The best sponsors were once sponsored themselves. And it doesn't have to be formal. Just notice when you see potential in someone and take a small action. Mention them in a meeting. Suggest them for a task force. That's sponsorship in action. Luna: One thing I'd add: make sure you're sponsoring people from underrepresented groups too. Sponsorship is one of the most effective ways to close the gap in leadership diversity. Lucas: That's a crucial point. Research from the Center for Talent Innovation shows that women and people of color are often over-mentored and under-sponsored. They get plenty of advice but not enough active advocacy. So if you're in a position to sponsor, think about who isn't in the room yet. Luna: So to wrap up: find someone with power, build trust, ask for visibility first, then opportunity, then endorsement. Keep track of it. And eventually, pay it forward. Lucas: Exactly. Your career doesn't grow in a vacuum. It grows through relationships. And sponsorship is one of the most intentional ways to make those relationships work for you. Luna: Thanks, Lucas. And thanks to everyone who supports the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo.