Let me make a distinction between sponsorship and mentorship. Both are very important in the development of anyone's career, whether it's in the political sphere, the corporate sphere, or the not-for-profit sphere.
When you have a mentor, that mentor will talk to you and coach you and give you advice and counsel. A sponsor talks about you. A sponsor will put their hand in the fire and advocate on your behalf when you're not in the room.
What we have found through many years of research is that men have many more sponsors. Women have many more mentors. Why is that? It's because the top levels of management tend to be men. I think as humans, we look for people like us, so men sponsor men. If there are no women at the top, then men sponsor men.
How can organizations do better? Right now we're trying to create a national conversation about this with an initiative called #GoSponsorHer, in partnership with Deloitte and McKinsey. People need to be very intentional. Senior leaders, men and women, need to say, “Who am I going to sponsor and advocate for and progress the career of? I'm going to put my own reputation on the line and pull them up the organization.” That's what we are asking people to do.
Does that answer your question?