31% of entry-level women have a sponsor versus 45% of men, and it shows up at every rung after

Find a counselor. You'll hear it on every panel, in every new-hire orientation and in most of the kind emails you collected during your first five years. Seek out someone senior who will sit down with you, walk you through how the organization really operates and help you work through the tough decisions. That counsel is sound as far as it reaches, and most women in Las Vegas took it to heart.

It only gets you partway there. A mentor speaks to you. A sponsor speaks for you, inside rooms you aren't invited into, and puts their own standing on the line to do it. Men receive that second kind of help more often, and that imbalance accounts for more of the distance between you and the top than anything printed on your résumé.

First. The imbalance starts at the very first rung and persists from there on.

The 2025 Women in the Workplace study from McKinsey and LeanIn found that 31% of entry-level women have a sponsor, versus 45% of men. That figure appears at the very bottom of the ladder, before anyone has had a real opportunity to prove themselves. That same study showed that among every 100 men elevated to manager roles, only 93 women and 74 women of color received the same step up. The sponsorship shortfall arrives first, and the promotion shortfall follows behind it.

Second. Advice comes from mentoring, while shortlists come from sponsorship.

Think back over the last three promotions that were announced around here. Either someone behind a closed door in Sunrise Manor said, "I'd put her forward," or no one said anything at all. Lunch dates won't change what gets decided in that room. By the time the door closes, a mentor has already finished giving what they can offer. A sponsor's contribution takes place once it does. If every one of your senior relationships stops at that threshold, you have been thoroughly advised and never once nominated.

Third. The ambition gap shrinks as the backing gap shrinks

That same 2025 study found that 80% of women want a promotion, against 86% of men, and that the difference vanishes when women get the same support. The bulk of real backing comes through sponsorship. So the "ambition" discussion that often takes place about women during talent reviews is frequently a sponsorship discussion in disguise. Few people doubt the ambition of a candidate that a powerful figure in Clark County has already endorsed.

Where the usual counsel still makes sense

Mentoring remains essential for you. Somebody needs to spell out what the CFO actually cares about and why your last proposal got stuck in committee. Mentors are the people who show you how the game really works. The mistake is assuming they can take the field for you. Hold on to those relationships, but be honest with yourself about where each senior colleague really belongs.

Alternative steps to take

Choose one senior leader who has watched your work up close and make the specific request a sponsor would respond to. Skip the vague "will you be my sponsor," which is uncomfortable and easy to sidestep. Consider phrasing it along these lines: "When the regional lead position opens up, I intend to go for it. When that shortlist is being discussed, would you be willing to say you back me?" You have identified the room, the role and the action. A yes means you have a sponsor. A hesitation means there is more groundwork to lay, and now you know exactly where it is.

Then extend the same practice to someone below you. Sponsorship is a habit that organizations pick up from the people who model it, and Las Vegas employers, from the hospitality and healthcare workforce to the growing professional services sector, benefit when that habit spreads.

Whose voice has spoken for you in rooms you were not part of, and when did you last ask someone in Winchester or Enterprise to do that for you?