What We Still Misunderstand About Mentorship and Sponsorship

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Companies offer sponsorship programs to help a more diverse group of high performers and future leaders advance. But the efforts can often misfire. Herminia Ibarra, professor at London Business School, says that’s because these arranged developmental relationships can lack authenticity and meaningful paths for action. She explains the key distinctions of mentorship and sponsorship and recommends that companies focus on two vital qualities: public advocacy and relational authenticity. Ibarra wrote the HBR article “How to Do Sponsorship Right.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	So you got the job. Now what? Join me, Eleni Mata, on HBR's new original podcast, New
0:08.1	Here, the Young Professionals Guide to Work, and how to make it work for you. Listen for
0:13.8	free wherever you get your podcasts. Just search New Here. See you there!
0:30.0	Welcome to the HBR ID, a cast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Kurt Nickyff.
0:43.8	The way that organizations develop younger talent has changed a lot over time. In the 1970s and
0:54.8	80s, psychologists Daniel Levinson and Kathy Kram detailed how the best mentors empower
1:00.5	young professionals to forge their identities and realize their dreams. And that this often
1:06.3	fulfilled a deep-seated motivation for those mentors to help others. Companies latched
1:11.9	onto this power. They formed initiatives to match seasoned executives with up-and-coming
1:16.5	professionals, often from underrepresented groups. The idea was to attract hyperformers
1:22.1	and propel future leaders. Too often though, this arranged system fails to create impactful
1:28.6	relationships. You got to get over misunderstandings, mistrust, risk aversion, and misaligned incentives,
1:35.2	and too often the very talent being mentored, cultivated as the future of the organization
1:41.0	leaves. Today's guest says this disconnect in mentorship programs has gotten worse with
1:46.9	remote and hybrid work. Armenia Ibarra is a professor at London Business School. She
1:52.8	wrote the HBR article How to Do Sponsorship Right. Armenia, thanks so much for coming on
1:58.5	the show to talk about your article. Hi, Kurt. It's great to be here.
2:07.4	Let's level set to begin with what are the benefits that people expect to get out of
2:13.1	traditional mentorship programs? Why doesn't this work? The reason why it doesn't work
2:19.0	is that organizations have tried to program it at scale. It all started with the observation
2:25.9	that as the more junior ranks of an organization became more diverse, there were more women,
2:32.6	more people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Those people were less likely
	...

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