If you want to advance your career, having a mentor isn’t enough anymore. Don’t get me wrong—mentors are wonderful. They help you gain critical skills, navigate you through challenges at work, and offer a sounding board when you’re at a crossroads in your career. But if you aspire to climb higher in this modern and competitive climate, you’ll need a sponsor as well.

In the article, “Why You Need a Sponsor—Not a Mentor—to Fast-Track Your Career,” for Business Insider, author Jenna Goudreau says, “Four recent studies clearly show that sponsorship—not mentorship—is how power is transferred in the workplace.”

As a general manager in the medical devices industry once described to me, “A sponsor is someone who will use his or her internal political and social capital to move your career forward within an organization. Behind closed doors, he or she will argue your case.” Millette Granville, Director of Diversity and Inclusion with Delhaize America described a sponsor as “an influential spokesperson for what you are capable of doing.”

Here are six steps you can take to attract the attention of an influential sponsor:

Read more in my article for the Daily Muse, The People Who Can Open More Career Doors Than You Ever Thought Possible.