Recently, I had an a wonderful conversation with Audrey Shah of MO.com. We talked about how I started Odyssey Mentoring & Leadership, my take on the distinction between competent and great leadership and I shared one of the mentoring stories from my upcoming book, “Aspire to Go Higher: Get a Mentor, Be A Mentor,” due out at the end of August.

From the Interview:
“The best leaders should be expected to identify and cultivate leaders and peak performers to keep the organization growing and successful. When I interviewed Sarah Mensah, Chief Marketing Officer of the Portland Trail Blazers for my book, she could point to major turning points throughout her career where mentoring helped her to grow and develop. I live in Portland and often run into members of her staff, they all tell me that Sarah maintains a culture of mentoring that makes them feel honored to work with her. They know they have a future and that they are valued. That is the secret to high employee engagement and productivity.”

“I was lucky because Bob was a natural mentor and sponsor. He was a professional colleague who readily stepped up to become my mentor. This is clearly the ideal of informal mentoring. Bob and I had been working together on a project for the chamber for two years. We met through our jobs, but didn’t work for the same companies. Our relationship began as a situational acquaintance and over time warmed into a collegial friendship and then mentoring.”

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What makes a leader effective? Sound decision-making, knowing how to manage people, taking charge, and inspiring others to achieve goals are a few of the qualities. But helping others develop their full potential is also an integral part of successful leadership.

According to a new Catalyst report, mentoring pays off for both emerging talent and those who invest time in cultivating them. And high-potential talent who have been mentored, coached, or sponsored to advance in their careers are more likely to “pay it forward” by developing the next generation of leaders.

Paying it forward pays back: For both mentees and mentors, we see tangible career advancement. Most exciting is that for mentors and sponsors we see serious compensation growth — up to $25,075 in additional compensation between 2008 and 2010, say the report’s authors.

Why? It may just be that developing emerging talent creates more visibility and a following within the organization for the high-potentials who are doing the developing, and that leads to greater reward and recognition for the extra effort.

Women, the report finds, are even more likely than men to develop other talent. Sixty-five percent of women who received career development support are now developing new talent, compared to 56 percent of men. Seventy-three percent of the women developing new talent are developing women, compared to only 30 percent of men. This finding helps bust the often-cited “Queen Bee” myth that women are reluctant to provide career support to other women and may even actively undermine each other.

Overall, the report finds that high-potentials who are paying it forward today recognize that others once took a risk on them and gave them their chance—and now it’s their turn. The men and women who are more likely to be developing others:

• Received developmental support (59%) vs. those who did not (47%).
• Were sponsored (66%) as opposed to not receiving sponsorship (42%).
• Are in senior executive/CEO level positions (64%) vs. those at non-managerial levels (30%).
• Are more proactive when it comes to their own career advancement (63%) vs. those who are relatively inactive (42%) with regard to their own career advancement.

The report poses key questions for companies to consider. For instance: How is your organization creating a culture of learning and talent development? What will motivate your talent to “pay it forward” to the next generation of leaders? How can more men be encouraged to develop women at their organizations? How can organizations disarm stigmas about spending time with the opposite sex at work?

Mentorship and Leadership training can increase the numbers of high producers and potentials who can and will be effective mentors and sponsors in your organization.

Access the Study at Catalyst

Recently I was asked if sponsorship was the new mentoring. My answer is an emphatic NO!

In my experience mentorship and sponsorship are very distinct. And I believe the most powerful mentoring includes sponsorship. While sponsorship can be a very successful stand alone strategy, it cannot and will never replace mentoring.

Effective mentoring is an interactive, dynamic and empowering relationship that improves the thinking of both partners. This allows them to grow, develop and advance together. They become fully accountable for the actions they take and learn from their mistakes, their triumphs and everything in-between. In successful partnerships both people understand their roles, trust each other, are willing to listen and try new things.

An effective mentor always remembers who you are when the going gets tough. They ask the hard questions that make you think more deeply and clearly. They cheer the loudest when you experience a breakthrough, take a step that seems impossible, or reach a goal so challenging there could be no certainty of accomplishment until it was achieved. Mentoring is all about helping you develop the skills and the kind of strategic thinking that experience teaches.

Sponsorship is all about opening doors to new opportunities. It is one of the greatest gifts a mentor can give. Mentors who sponsor their mentees share access to their own network, to people at different levels in the organization and to resources. Sponsorship when done well can lead to bigger assignments, honors and recognition, and at times, promotions. It lets your mentee know they are growing and learning, and just as importantly that you recognize their progress and value.

You may be more familiar with sponsorship as an on-boarding strategy for new hires. This is a very successful way of acculturating people into the organization so they become productive more quickly. Successful sponsorship relationships can also blossom to become life-long professional friendships. Casey Powell, former President and CEO Sequent, shared with me about how effective sponsorship for on-boarding new hires can be. It helped build a workforce of team players who genuinely cared about each other and the organization. Though Sequent was acquired by IBM in 1999, more than 1500 former Sequent employees have maintained professional relationships that were nurtured by their sponsorship program. They stay in touch via a LinkedIn Group.

When we provide staff training in the essential skills you need to succeed as an effective mentor and leader, we include sponsorship strategies and how to appropriately share your network.