There’s a well-worn myth that leaders emerge on their own – ambitious, self-motivated, and driven enough to “rise” through grit alone. But scratch the surface of any meaningful leadership journey, and you’ll find a network. A mentor who offered perspective. A sponsor who made the introduction. A colleague who said, “You’ve got this.”
Leadership doesn’t grow in a vacuum. It grows in community. And the networks that surround a leader – especially in the earliest phases – are often the difference between potential realized and potential lost.
Leadership Growth Isn’t Just Structural – It’s Social
Years ago, I worked with a high-performing manager – let’s call her Maya. Smart, strategic, endlessly competent. She consistently delivered beyond expectations, but her name never came up in succession planning. Why? She had few senior advocates. Her brilliance stayed local.
It wasn’t until a VP noticed Maya’s work and brought her into a high-stakes project that things changed. That moment of sponsorship – someone using their social capital and influence to elevate hers – transformed her trajectory. Six months later, she was leading a regional team.
This is the power of networks that nurture: they don’t just support leadership, they unlock it.
While systems and structures matter, it’s often people – not processes – that catalyze leadership growth. When we focus only on training or promotion cycles, we miss the deeper need: building webs of connection that activate, stretch, and sustain leadership over time.
Mentorship Is Insight – Sponsorship Is Access
In leadership development conversations, mentorship gets all the attention. And for good reason: mentors help us reflect, recalibrate, and grow. But mentorship alone doesn’t open doors. For that, we need sponsors. And Carla Harris from Morgan Stanley knows this better than most:
“A mentor, frankly, is nice to have. You can survive a long time in your career without a mentor, but you are not going to ascend in any organisation without a sponsor.”
— Carla Harris, Morgan Stanley
Sponsorship is advocacy in action. It’s a leader using their platform to create space for others. While mentorship is generous, sponsorship is bold. It says: I’m putting my name behind yours.
In a McKinsey report, organizations that invested in sponsorship saw measurable gains in advancing women and underrepresented talent into leadership. Why? Because access isn’t distributed equally – and neither is advocacy. Without intentional sponsorship, many talented professionals remain unseen.
Morgan Stanley’s “Return to Work” program is a prime example. Designed for professionals re-entering the workforce, it pairs participants with sponsors, not just mentors. Those relationships have driven promotions, visibility, and renewed leadership pipelines.
Leadership Visibility Grows Through Stretch and Support
Talent becomes leadership when it’s tested. But that test must come with a safety net – and a spotlight. I like to call this “stretch and support”.
Microsoft’s “Talent Talks” initiative works with this principle. It brings together senior leaders to identify high-potential employees who aren’t on the radar. These hand-picked employees are given stretch assignments – real challenges with real consequences – and paired with experienced leaders to guide them. The result? Leadership development that’s tied to opportunity, not theory.
But stretch doesn’t just come from formal programs. It often starts with something simpler: being seen.
This can happen in almost any space. A cross-functional meeting where someone’s insight changes the game. A peer recognizing quiet influence. A manager saying, “You should lead this.” These are the moments where leadership emerges – and where networks either amplify or silence it. As a leader, developing your ability to see, not just listen, can transform careers.
Build Leadership-Activating Networks, Not Just Contact Lists
We all know the difference between a contact and a connection. Between a casual introduction and a committed advocate. Between a networking event and a trusted circle.
To grow leadership, we need more of the latter.
Smart organizations are now building:
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Mentoring circles that pair junior talent with seasoned leaders and cross-functional peers
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Reverse mentoring programs that allow emerging voices to influence senior leaders
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Affinity-based sponsorship groups that ensure inclusion isn’t accidental
Leaders are building these culture-changing strategies.
Because when relationships are embedded into the fabric of leadership development, we shift from waiting for leaders to emerge – to helping them rise with intention.
Nina Nets It Out
You can’t scale leadership without connection. Behind every confident leader is a network that believed, stretched, and elevated them before they had the title. Mentorship offers insight. Sponsorship offers access. And together, they create the relational infrastructure where leadership grows. If you’re serious about nurturing leadership, build the networks that make it possible.