October Research, LLC will host a webinar titled “Next-Level Leadership: Mentoring the Next Generation of Women” on July 15 at 2 pm (ET). Ashley Cook, CEO and founder of Zoccam, and Sheri Olsen, senior vice president, national director of banking services at First American Trust, FSB, will speak on how to effectively mentor the next generation of female leaders.
Throughout their careers, Cook and Olsen have championed emerging leaders and created opportunities for women to have a seat at the table. In this webinar, they will share insights on how mentorship can strengthen leadership, drive organizational success and help shape the future of the industry. This webinar will help attendees understand the difference between mentorship and sponsorship as well as how to move from simply advising to actively advancing the next generation of leaders.
We caught up with Cook and Olsen to answer a few questions ahead of the webinar.
How does one understand the difference between mentorship and sponsorship and how to move from simply advising to actively advancing the next generation of leaders?
Cook: “I’ve been on both sides of this. I’ve had people in my corner who gave me their time, their wisdom, their honest feedback and I’ve had people who went further and put their names behind me when I wasn’t in the room. Those are two very different gifts, and for a long time I didn’t fully understand the distinction. Here’s how I think about it now: a mentor talks with you. A sponsor talks about you. One builds your confidence. The other changes your trajectory.
“There’s a difference between someone who climbed and someone who leads. When you’ve earned your seat, the question isn’t whether you’ve arrived. It’s who you’re pulling up with you. Moving from advising to actively advancing the next generation isn’t a passive act. It requires you to ask yourself a hard question: Am I sharing my wisdom, or am I deploying my access?
Olsen: “Mentorship and sponsorship are often discussed together, but they are not the same. One helps a person grow. The other helps a person advance. Ideally, good leaders do both.
“Mentorship is having someone who provides valuable, honest feedback to help you grow and develop. A mentor listens, advises, challenges your thinking, and helps you see what you may not see in yourself.
“Sponsorship goes a step further. Sponsorship is being someone’s voice in the room when they are not there. A sponsor uses their influence, credibility, and access to actively advocate for someone’s growth and visibility.”
What are the important qualities a mentor should possess when seeking to positively impact talent?
Cook: “I’ve thought a lot about what made the mentors in my life impactful and it wasn’t their titles or their resumes. It was that they listened. Not to respond. To actually understand. They were honest with me even when it was uncomfortable. They showed up consistently, not just when it was convenient. And they were curious about me and not just my business metrics, but my fears, my blind spots, my actual goals.
“The best mentors I’ve had also had the humility to recognize that their path isn’t my path. What worked for them in a different era, a different industry, a different set of circumstances. That context matters. Real mentorship means meeting someone where they are, not where you were.”
Olsen: “A mentor who wants to positively impact talent needs more than experience and a calendar invite. I think an effective mentor is one who gives honest, constructive feedback. They tell the truth with care and do not simply cheerlead. One of the best mentors I had told me, ‘I believe in your potential, that is why I am going to be honest with you.’ Other important qualities of a good mentor, the ability to actively listen to understand, not just prepare what they want to say next. They also need to be trustworthy, have self-awareness, perspective and most important, be generous with both their time and talents.”
What is meant by “actionable mentorship?”
Cook: “Inspiration without direction is just a nice conversation. The mentorship relationships that have genuinely changed my life were the ones that ended with a plan. A specific next step. A real commitment. Not ‘you should think about that,’ but ‘by next month, here’s what you’re going to do, and here’s how I’m going to help you do it.’ That’s what I mean by actionable mentorship. It produces momentum. It holds you accountable. It closes the gap between potential and progress.”
Olsen: “Actionable mentorship means mentorship that moves beyond encouragement and good conversation into clear, practical steps that help someone grow, improve, and advance. It provides specific feedback, clear guidance, measurable goals and follow-through. The goal of mentorship is not just to make someone feel supported. Support matters, absolutely, because humans do insist on having feelings. But the deeper goal is to help talent become more capable, confident, prepared, and visible. Actionable mentorship gives people tools they can use immediately and development they can build on over time.”
Click here to register. Thank you to DataTrace for sponsoring this complimentary webinar.