Role Model, Mentor, Sponsor or Coach - What's the difference and who do I need to grow my career?
There will be times during your career when you feel stuck, uncertain, you’re in the wrong job, or that you just want more. The average career spans 47 years so if you don’t feel this way at some point you’d be highly unusual. And at these points, you are going to need support to help you grow and get ahead.
If you are feeling unfulfilled in your current role or have tried a job search but you’re not getting anywhere you might need some help. But who do you ask? The coaching industry is the second fastest-growing industry in the world so it certainly won’t be hard to find someone who says they can help you.
But how do you find the right person and whose help do you actually need? In this blog, I’ll be explaining the key differences between a role model, mentor, sponsor, and coach and how to decide who is the best person to help you achieve your career goals.
Who can help you develop your career?
It's often said you should be thinking a couple of roles ahead in terms of your overall career planning and development. Landing that next role will largely depend on your experience and skills but how do you ensure you keep developing and evolving in your career? A role model, mentor, coach, and sponsor can all support your career but how do you decide who you need right now? Spoiler alert - you can work with more than one at any given time depending on what you want to achieve.
Role models, mentors, coaches, and sponsors all help you succeed but how they do it and why they do is where the similarity ends. It’s a bit like using a hammer to do all your DIY. Choosing the right person to guide you through your career is like finding the right tool for the job and sometimes you might need more than one tool at any point in your career to get the right results.
So who does what and what help do you need to prioritise right now? Getting the right help at the right time really matters and it can be confusing when the titles are often used incorrectly and interchangeably.
Who’s who?
Role model - someone you want to become.
Mentor - someone who talks with you.
Coach - someone who talks at you and asks you questions (as you try to perfect something specific) - holding space whilst you do the work.
Sponsor - someone who promotes you to others.
What is a Role model?
A role model is someone you admire and want to emulate. Your role model might be Katherine Freese, Jacinda Ahern, or someone you know closer to home. You may never meet this person and it doesn’t matter - you can still admire and respect them and maybe base your career journey on theirs.
What does a Mentor do?
A mentor is someone who usually helps for free. It is someone who talks with you about your career goals, plans, and aspirations. They are normally from the same sector as you but are more senior or have more experience. Think of Yoda when you think about a great mentor. Yoda conveys his experience to help other Jedis fight. Mentors use their own expertise to help you boost your career progression. They can help you navigate the stuff that they’ve already worked through.
You can find mentors through your workplace, your network, or external organisations. The relationship lasts as long as you need it to and they can support you by sharing industry knowledge, offering advice on work problems, sharing network connections and making introductions, and serve as a reference for a new job opportunity.
Mentors are there because they want to be and not because they are getting paid to do it. They have no obligations to their employer or to you.
What does a Career Coach do?
A career coach is someone who gives you tools to do things on your own and holds you accountable to make progress in your career. They are performance-driven. A coach doesn’t need to have experience in the same field as you and they don't need to know about your ‘stuff’ to help you grow. A coach also doesn’t give advice. Coaching works on the understanding that you already know the answers to your problems, a good coach helps you help yourself.
There is a misconception that career coaches are only there to help you find a new role but there is more to it than that. If you’ve got your eye on a senior leader opportunity you might need to overcome imposter syndrome or deal with procrastination first.
Working with a coach will require a financial investment and you’ll need to find one that is a good fit for you and your goals. The coaching industry is unregulated so buyer beware. Do your due diligence, check accreditations, ask to see recommendations, or if it’s possible for you to speak to their former or existing clients and see how they found the coaching experience.
The coaching relationship is managed by a contract/coaching agreement. This relationship is usually time-bound over a number of sessions and not ongoing over a long period - once the issue is resolved the relationship ends.
What is a sponsor?
A sponsor is a person senior to you and in the same line of work. They usually work for your existing organisation or the organisation you would like to work for so they can have a direct influence over your career growth and progression. You can’t request a sponsor, you have to earn one.
A sponsor will advocate for you when looking for a promotion and they put their reputation on the line with a hiring manager. A sponsor might also have some influence on other aspects of your career.
The person receiving the sponsorship benefits the most but the sponsor can take credit when their sponsee does well. A sponsor doesn’t help with goal setting or accountability and it’s unlikely they would spend much time with you if you were polishing your CV or prepping for an interview. They also can’t offer objective advice due to the close link and ultimately they would probably look out for their own interests ahead of yours. No fee is charged for this relationship.
A sponsor is ultimately someone who advocates for you when you are not in the ‘room’. You can watch a great TED talk by Carla Harris here
Role model, mentor, coach, or sponsor?
Choosing the best support to develop your career depends on what your goals are. Knowing who does what has hopefully given you some clarity. The reality is that you might need all three most of the time. It might also depend on who you are. Women and men might need different kinds of networks to succeed. Research from HBR found that only 5% of women set career goals. Women often leave more to chance and focus more on internal opportunities than their male counterparts. Women can also struggle with building up a knowledge of the wider market, which impacts their network. This means they can be more vulnerable to career crises. This article gives further insight into the differing needs of men and women on their career development journeys.
What next?
When you have a clear idea of what your goals are and the type of support you need you can start finding the right person who can support you. If it’s a mentor you need, try and find someone who has previous mentoring experience. Be honest about what you hope to achieve and clear about how you think they can best support you. If it’s a coach you need to do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for recommendations, qualifications, and previous experience. Spend your cash wisely. Coaching is a big investment of time, energy, and effort.
And be prepared to do the work, with any of these relationships, you will always get out what you decide to put in.
I’m Amanda Owen Meehan a Career and Leadership Coach who helps women get clarity and control over their careers to be more fulfilled and successful at work. If you’d like to know more about how I can help your organisation you can reach me on LinkedIn or at amanda@amandaowenmeehan.com