A research report launched today reveals that sponsorship is a critical part of progression into senior leadership roles because it teaches individuals how advancement actually works in practice. But only a small proportion of sponsorship relationships—less than a quarter—are characterized by the mutual trust, candid feedback and active advocacy that really boost leaders' careers.
The report was launched by the FTSE Women Leaders Review and co-authored by Professor Elena Doldor (Queen Mary School of Business, Center for Research in Equality and Diversity) and Dr. Madeleine Wyatt (King's Business School, King's Global Institute for Women's Leadership). The research underpinning the report is published in the Academy of Management Journal.
Drawing on extensive interviews with senior leaders in a global consulting firm, it identified four sponsorship archetypes: assigned, resistant, shallow and reciprocal. Of these, only reciprocal sponsorships, which were characterized by shared investment, mutual trust, active advocacy, candid feedback and political support, were associated with the strongest promotion rates. Less than a quarter of sponsorship relationships fell into this category.
"Many organizations present leadership promotions as objective and meritocratic. Our research shows that when it comes to senior promotions, many talented leaders are measured against rules they are never explicitly taught. Sponsorship, visibility and informal political dynamics remain unevenly visible to leaders in the pipeline—and sponsorship is a key mechanism through which people learn how the system really works," said Professor Doldor, professor of leadership and diversity at Queen Mary School of Business, lead report author.
"Sponsorship is about advocacy, sharing networks and taking political risks for someone else, but the reality is that not everyone has equal access to these relationships at work. Inclusion initiatives that match diverse talent with sponsors are an excellent starting point to address this, but quality sponsorship depends on how those relationships are supported to flourish," said Dr. Wyatt, associate professor in diversity and inclusion at King's Business School, report co-author.
In order to make sponsorship programs and relationships more effective, the report authors recommend:
- increasing transparency around how promotions operate in practice—both formal guidelines and political/organizational dynamics;
- treating sponsorship as a strategic leadership responsibility, not an optional activity;
- moving beyond formal sponsor-matching programs to focus on sponsorship quality and better equip sponsors and protégés to build these relationships;
- building inclusive sponsorship capability among senior leaders to ensure protégés from underrepresented backgrounds have access to influential networks, stretch opportunities, advocacy and candid political/organizational feedback.
"While transformational progress has been achieved from 9.5% to 43% in women's representation on the boards of the FTSE 350, there is still much to do to progress women chairs at 17%, women CEOs at 8%, and women finance directors at 21%. The 'sponsorship gap' described in this report helps explain why women and other underrepresented professionals are advancing into senior leadership roles more slowly. Closing this gap requires action—making sponsorship a core leadership skill and a priority for senior leaders," said Vivienne Artz, CEO of the FTSE Women Leaders Review.
"If you are looking for a sponsor to help make that next career move, or looking to sponsor well and help someone succeed, it's worth thinking about how you can shape that relationship so that it's effective. Have reciprocity in mind, consider shared investment and mutual trust, candid feedback, active advocacy and political support. It's not enough for organizations looking to achieve greater diversity at the top to give people sponsors; they should also improve sponsorship capability and outcomes," said Doldor.
Publication details
Report: Making Sponsorship Work: Strengthening Executive Progression
Elena Doldor et al, Polyphonic Career Scripting: Political and Relational Dynamics in the Construction of Promotion Norms, Academy of Management Journal (2026). DOI: 10.5465/amj.2022.1039
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Citation: Sponsorship is key to career progression but less than one in four relationships work (2026, July 7) retrieved 14 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-sponsorship-key-career-relationships.html
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