The Current Invitation

The current invitation (March 2025) is for T-SQL Tuesday #184. The next invitation should be released on April 1st.

Invitation from Deborah Melkin

Our topic this month is one that’s near and dear to my heart: Mentoring and Sponsorship. For those of you who don’t know, I am a co-founder of a mentorship circle, WITspiration, and have been a mentor as part of New Stars of Data many times. And I know I’m not the only person who is passionate about this topic in our community.

There are numerous studies out there that talk about the benefits of mentorship and sponsorship. The results are overwhelmingly in favor of both.

We talk a lot about mentorship. It’s the “relationship in which one person, usually more experienced or senior, takes time to assist the career, professional or personal development of someone else, who is known as a mentee, mentoree, or protégé.” (Definition taken from https://artofmentoring.net/mentorship/).

I feel sponsorship is less talked about, at least in more a formal way. Sponsors are typically “workplace decision makers who can vouch for you and pull strings behind the scenes. Their endorsement can result in big career gains, like promotions, raises, or bonuses—or help you land the kinds of opportunities that lead to those larger milestones.” (Quote from https://www.themuse.com/advice/sponsor-vs-mentor.)

For your post, I’d like you to talk about how your relationship to mentoring and sponsoring. This can include:

  • What does mentoring and sponsorship mean to you? What value do you see in mentoring and sponsoring?
  • How have you benefited from mentorship and sponsors?
  • What has worked for you in making these relationships successful?
  • On the flip side, what obstacles have you had to work through?
  • What do you do to sponsor others in the community?
  • As March is Women’s Month, I’d also like to add: How are you mentoring and sponsoring women and other underrepresented groups in our community?

As an added bonus (and/or potential experiment):

  • One of the hardest things about mentoring is finding a mentor or letting people know that you’re open to be a mentor. If you are looking to mentor or be mentored, make sure to mention this in your post. (If you don’t blog but fall in that category, feel free to leave a comment below.) Maybe we can create some new mentoring relationships as an added bonus.