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&lt;p&gt;So you&amp;rsquo;ve received all kinds of career advice and support from your mentor, but you&amp;rsquo;re still not reaching the top? According to &lt;em&gt;Catalyst&lt;/em&gt;&amp;mdash;a nonprofit organization focusing on women in the workplace&amp;mdash;the missing link to your career success may be sponsorship. At this week&amp;rsquo;s Women&amp;rsquo;s Leadership Conference hosted by the Conference Board in New York City, Jan Combopiano and Michael Chamberlain of &lt;em&gt;Catalyst&lt;/em&gt; addressed the issue in a presentation titled &lt;em&gt;Sponsorship: Is it a Prerequisite to Drive Career Advancement?&lt;/em&gt; The short answer to that question is yes, and men are reaping the career benefits of sponsorship, while women are often left sponsor-less.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So what should companies and leaders do to ensure that sponsorship crosses gender lines? Check out these five lessons from Ms. Combopiano and Mr. Chamberlain&amp;rsquo;s session.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1.&lt;strong&gt;Sponsorship &amp;amp; Mentoring Are Not the Same&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although often thought of as interchangeable, mentoring and sponsorship are in fact quite different and serve two distinct roles in career development. Mentors offer &amp;ldquo;career advice&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;advise and support you,&amp;rdquo; while sponsors are &amp;ldquo;generally in senior-level positions&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;provide individuals with an opportunity to advance,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Chamberlain. In other words, a mentor serves as a career guide, while a sponsor will step up to the plate for you and help you move ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2.&lt;strong&gt;Mentoring is Effective&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Mentoring works,&amp;rdquo; says Ms. Combopiano. Among its benefits include: 1. &amp;ldquo;decreased stress,&amp;rdquo; 2. &amp;ldquo;increased job satisfaction,&amp;rdquo; 3. &amp;ldquo;improved performance,&amp;rdquo; and 4. &amp;ldquo;increased exposure&amp;rdquo; (from &lt;em&gt;Catalyst&amp;rsquo;s&lt;/em&gt; Power Point). In fact, women with mentors have a higher salary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3.&lt;strong&gt;But . . . Mentoring Alone Isn&amp;rsquo;t Enough&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mentoring is most effective, however, when it is coupled with sponsorship. According to Mr. Chamberlain, &amp;ldquo;sponsors give you the opportunities to use those skills&amp;rdquo; provided through mentoring. Career guidance is critical, but what good is it if you can&amp;rsquo;t put the advice into action? The goal is to get recognized by the top; it doesn&amp;rsquo;t matter if your sponsor is male or female&amp;mdash;what is important is having some one in the senior ranks promote you and your work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4.&lt;strong&gt;Men Are an Important Part of the Conversation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speaking of men, they are critical to growing sponsorship of women. &amp;ldquo;Men are very important to women&amp;rsquo;s advancement,&amp;rdquo; says Ms. Combopiano. &quot;It&amp;rsquo;s about leadership, and it&amp;rsquo;s about men being part of the solution,&amp;rdquo; she says.  Most high-level positions are held by men; therefore, they form the majority of the sponsor pool. &amp;ldquo;If we&amp;rsquo;re gonna make change, we really need to engage those men at the top,&quot; says Ms. Combopiano.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;5.&lt;strong&gt;Women Should Mentor Men&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Growing sponsorship of women isn&amp;rsquo;t merely about finding sponsors for women, though. It&amp;rsquo;s about building an understanding of the career barriers faced by women. One way to spread knowledge is through mentorship. &amp;ldquo;Men with female mentors actually became more aware of the inequalities women face,&amp;rdquo; says Ms. Cambopiano.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Conference Board&lt;br&gt; The Conference Board&amp;rsquo;s Women Leadership Conference&lt;br&gt; Catalyst&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read More:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;Get a Sponsor Now if You Know What&#39;s Good for Your Career--Women, Especially &lt;br&gt;The Sponsor Effect: Why Qualified Women Don&#39;t Make it to The Corner Office &lt;br&gt; Law Firm Diversity: Views from Female Insiders&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FOLLOW VAULT LAW ON TWITTER! @VaultLaw&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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