Leaderly Quote: Mentors can help you skill up, but sponsors help you move up.
By Jo Miller
What’s the difference between a mentor and a sponsor?
Mentors can help you skill up, but sponsors help you move up!
In their 2010 article for Harvard Business Review titled Why Men Still Get More Promotions than Women, Herminia Ibarra, Nancy M. Carter, and Christine Silva reported finding that high potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male peers, and resulting in a slower rate of career advancement.
So if you are a high-potential woman, consider whether you might be over-mentored and under-sponsored. Do a network audit. Do you have mentors and sponsors in equal number?
Jo Miller
Jo Miller is a globally renowned authority on women’s leadership. She’s dedicated two decades to helping women advance into positions of influence by leveraging their leadership strengths. Based on her work with hundreds of thousands of women, she developed a pragmatic and powerful roadmap that guides women to become the leaders they aspire to be. Jo shares this proven process in her book Woman of Influence: 9 Steps to Build Your Brand, Establish Your Legacy, and Thrive (McGraw Hill, 2019.)
Jo is CEO of leadership development, consulting and research firm Be Leaderly. Learn more about her speaking engagements at www.JoMiller.com and follow @Jo_Miller on Twitter.

By Jo Miller
What’s the difference between a mentor and a sponsor?
Mentors can help you skill up, but sponsors help you move up!
In their 2010 article for Harvard Business Review titled Why Men Still Get More Promotions than Women, Herminia Ibarra, Nancy M. Carter, and Christine Silva reported finding that high potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male peers, and resulting in a slower rate of career advancement.
So if you are a high-potential woman, consider whether you might be over-mentored and under-sponsored. Do a network audit. Do you have mentors and sponsors in equal number?

Jo Miller
Jo Miller is a globally renowned authority on women’s leadership. She’s dedicated two decades to helping women advance into positions of influence by leveraging their leadership strengths. Based on her work with hundreds of thousands of women, she developed a pragmatic and powerful roadmap that guides women to become the leaders they aspire to be. Jo shares this proven process in her book Woman of Influence: 9 Steps to Build Your Brand, Establish Your Legacy, and Thrive (McGraw Hill, 2019.)
Jo is CEO of leadership development, consulting and research firm Be Leaderly. Learn more about her speaking engagements at www.JoMiller.com and follow @Jo_Miller on Twitter.