Advance Praise
“A must-read for any ambitious young woman (or man) who wants to get ahead. Sylvia Ann Hewlett provides actionable, hands-on advice—backed up with hard data and revealing stories from business leaders—for navigating the modern competitive workplace. Take her advice and run with it to the top.”
—Anne Fulenwider, Editor in Chief, Marie Claire
“A mentor gives you advice about how to get ahead. A sponsor has power and uses it to get you a great assignment. Women are often overmentored and undersponsored. Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s book tells you all you need to know about how to make sponsorship work for you and for your company.”
—Herminia Ibarra, Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning, Insead
“Sylvia Ann Hewlett is enormously insightful and always one step ahead. Reading this book makes it so obvious that having a sponsor—not a mentor—makes the critical difference, and I recommend it to both those aspiring to leadership roles and those looking to encourage the next generation of female talent.”
—Helena Morrissey, CEO, Newton Investment Management Limited; Chairman, Opportunity Now; and founder, 30% Club
“This is a breakthrough book. Sylvia Ann Hewlett is challenging the entrenched orthodoxy that still prevents women and minority talent from scaling the heights. She argues convincingly that progress is more often a product of partnership than a solo success and tells us exactly how to make it happen. This study assembles hard evidence, compelling stories, and persuasive analysis and is invaluable to anyone who wants to get beyond ‘do-gooding’ to get the most out of their diverse talent.”
—Trevor Phillips, former Chair, UK Equality and Human Rights Commission
“For women climbing the ladder, Sylvia Hewlett has identified a key piece of the puzzle. High-potential women need sponsors who will not only provide advice but also actively create opportunities for their protégées to shine and advance. Hard work and merit are simply not enough to make it to the top.”
—Anne-Marie Slaughter, author, “Why Women Still
Can’t Have It All”; Bert G. Kerstetter ’66
University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University; and former Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State
“This book takes executive development to a new place. By highlighting the key role sponsorship can play, Sylvia Ann Hewlett offers good career advice for individuals and provides a road map that companies can use to help ensure diversity at the top.”
—Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
“We know the value of mentors to young professionals climbing the ladder, but Sylvia Ann Hewlett hits the mark in highlighting the tremendous power sponsors bring to that reach for the top. This is a significant work.”
—James S. Turley, Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young
“A powerful and urgent book. Sylvia Ann Hewlett demonstrates the heft of sponsors and shows how women and people of color can win sponsorship and take their place at decision-making tables. Heterogeneity at the top is not only fair, it unleashes creativity and the ‘power of difference.’”
—Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary
(Forget a Mentor)
Find a Sponsor
The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Harvard Business Review Press
Boston, Massachusetts
Copyright 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
The web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the book’s publication but may be subject to change.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hewlett, Sylvia Ann, 1946-
Forget a mentor, find a sponsor : the new way to fast-track your career / Sylvia Ann Hewlett.
pages. cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4221-8716-6 (alk. paper)
1. Career development. 2. Mentoring in business.
3. Success in business. I. Title.
HF5381.H4293 2013
650.14--dc23
2013007357
For my children
Shira, Lisa, David, Adam, and Emma,
may this book provide inspiration for your journeys
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: My Story
PART ONE
The Sponsor Imperative
1. What Is Sponsorship?
2. How Sponsorship Works
PART TWO
Road Map for Protégés
3. Embrace Your Dream and Do a Diagnostic
4. Scan the Horizon for Potential Sponsors
5. Distribute Your Risk
6. Understand That It’s Not All About You
7. Come Through on Two Obvious Fronts
8. Develop and Deploy Your Currency
9. Lean In and Lead with a Yes
PART THREE
Pitfalls and Trip Wires
10. Sex
11. Distrust
12. Executive Presence
Epilogue:
