You’ve most likely heard of someone in your network hiring a coach, or working with a mentor or a sponsor—all for the benefit of advancing their career. What are the differences between coaches, mentors, and sponsors; what role does each serve; and how can you benefit from each of these relationships? The following is a look at the unique roles these helpful connections can play to help in your career development.

The Coach 

Coaches help you develop or improve a specific skill for a job. They’re experts in their fields, and their relationship with you doesn’t usually extend past the instructional. You may decide to engage a speaking coach to help you build your presentation skills, for example, while a brand coach can help you develop your personal brand. A sales coach can help you increase those sales numbers; a writing coach can help you articulate your thoughts. If you need to fine-tune a specific skill, you can find an expert who’ll work with you to improve or build that desired skill.

The Mentor

Think of mentors as advisors, helping their mentees shape their goals and career plans. The mentor-mentee relationship is continuous and long term. A mentor will support you as your career progresses, providing guidance along the way. However, a mentor isn’t there to make decisions for you. Instead, he or she is there to pass along knowledge and information, provide constructive feedback, and act as a sounding board—all as part of your decision-making process. A mentor can be anyone who can offer advice and encouragement, and the mentor’s age and seniority don’t matter.

Furthermore, these relationships can be formal or informal. A formal mentoring relationship usually occurs in a workplace or other professional setting where mentees are assigned to mentors. (CFA Society Toronto, for example, offers its members an excellent mentorship program; learn more about the program here.) In an informal mentoring relationship, the mentee personally chooses their mentor. Most often, an informal mentoring relationship develops organically over time, and occurs when two people connect through common interests.

The Sponsor

The sponsor’s role is very different from that of a mentor’s. Where mentors advise you, sponsors advocate for you. Sponsors have protégés and take a direct role in their career advancement. A sponsor is your champion, someone who’s willing to advocate for you to help you gain key opportunities to advance your career. Your sponsor will ensure you’re considered for that next big project or promotion. Holly Brittingham, senior vice-president of global talent and organizational development with FCB Global, explained it this way in an interview posted on a Glassdoor blog: “Sponsors actively seek out and facilitate career-expanding opportunities for their protégé, and, in turn, the protégé commits to stepping up and demonstrating value to the organization. Sponsors open doors and provide access while protégés support and drive the sponsor’s vision.”

Because of the nature of sponsorship, sponsors should work in the same organization as their protégés for the relationship to be most effective. Furthermore, sponsors tend to be in senior-level positions with authority and influence, and be believers in your talent and skills. Since there’s more at stake in a sponsorship—as a sponsor takes on a degree of professional risk as your champion—sponsorship must be earned through hard work, diligence, and loyalty. These relationships take longer to develop and often do so through more formal channels within an organization. Keep in mind that, while you can ask someone to be your mentor, you can’t choose your own sponsor—they need to decide (and want) to sponsor you.

“You need both mentors and sponsors in your career because they serve different roles,” says Amy M. Gardner, a career and career transitions coach with Apochromatik, in an article for Ivy Exec. “Mentors serve as a guide, talking you through issues and telling you that you can do it, while sponsors serve as cheerleaders, speaking about you publicly and telling others you can do it.”

So mentors and sponsors can play a significant role in the trajectory of your career. It’s imperative to connect with the right mentors and sponsors for you. This may take time, so keep an open mind, be patient, and build your network. But don’t forget: you, too, can be a mentor or sponsor for someone.

MEET YOUR MATCH

CFA Society Toronto’s Mentorship Program has successfully paired more than 500 mentors and mentees since its inauguration in 2007. The aim of the program is to pass on the knowledge and experiences of senior charterholders to future generations in the investment community. The program offers participants a chance to develop stronger leadership skills and networking opportunities. Click here if you’d like to be added to the 2021 applications notification list.