Sponsorship

FOUR HUGE WINS

Sponsorship is the magic bullet which progresses diverse talent from the middle to top of companies.

Did you know that a woman manager with a sponsor is 19% more likely to win promotion to executive ranks than a woman who does not? The payoff of sponsorship for Black talent is even more impressive. An African American manager with a sponsor is 51% more likely to progress.

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Sponsorship retains diverse talent over a career cycle.

Did you know that a woman manager who has just had her second child (a circumstance which often triggers an Off-Ramp) is 67% more likely to come back to work and stay back at work if she has a sponsor? Even more dramatically, an African American manager is 108% more likely to stay with a company if he/she has a sponsor. Qualitative data show that sponsors provide the advocacy and empathy that Black Talent crave.

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Sponsorship cools perceptions of bias and creates the conditions for an inclusive culture.

Did you know that when all demographic cohorts have equal access to executive sponsorship, perceptions of bias in an organization's culture drops precipitously, thus cooling a company's heat map? When every high achiever feels that he/she has a fair shot at a top job the impact is measurable.

SPONSORSHIP COOLS PERCEPTION OF BIAS

Sponsorship unlocks the value of difference and drives innovation and new market growth.

"Sponsorship is the hand-to-hand combat of inclusion. By revealing the value of this relationship, Hewlett provides a roadmap that companies can use to help ensure diversity at the top."

Randall Stephenson, Former Chairman and CEO

"Sylvia Ann Hewlett makes the smart practical case for why all leaders should be sponsors."

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

"These powerful books center on the value of people in the workplace and the importance of leaders investing in their talents and gifts."

Eddie Glaude, Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University

"Embedding sponsorship in the company's culture is key to accelerating a pipeline of leaders spanning the full spectrum of diversity."

Shari Slate, Chief Inclusion and Collaboration Officer, Cisco

Executive Presence 2.0

The missing link between merit and success.

Hewlett cracks the code of Executive Presence (EP) for up-and-comers whether they are male, female, black, white, gay or straight. This is EP in an age of inclusion. In 2021 showing that you “have what it takes,” that you are “leadership material,” involves signaling authenticity as well as confidence and credibility.

EP is a dynamic mix of gravitas (how you behave), communication (how you speak) and appearance (how you look).

Gravitas is at the heart of EP

Projecting gravitas is 67% of the EP equation and high performers who can’t conjure up this secret sauce don’t make it.

Gravitas in 2021.

Key elements and tripwires to watch out for.

Using hard data and vivid interviews with senior executives from tech, finance, advertising and other industries, Hewlett tells us what leaders look for when assessing gravitas in junior talent. She also reports on pitfalls and tripwires. What behaviors get you struck off the list? Hewlett has SIX TOP PICKS in each category. Six traits that allow high performers to show up in the world in ways that earn them the next big opportunity, and six blunders that cut them off at the knees.

"Authenticity is the new currency of leadership...this valuable book demonstrates how you can crack the code of Executive Presence by embracing what differentiates you from the pack."

Mark T. Bertolini, Chairman CEO and President, Aetna

"Hewlett explains what Executive Presence is why it's essential for anyone who wishes to lead in today's uncertain and fast-paced work environment."

Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School

"Anyone seeking to close the gap between their merit and their success could benefit from Hewlett's practical, engaging and humane advice."

Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, NYU School of Law

"Sylvia Ann Hewlett takes the mystery out of the claim that 'you just don't have what it takes.' Combining stories with data, this book provides a guide that will help you crack the code of career success."

Katherine Phillips, Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School

#METOO

Did you know that diverse professionals experience particularly high rates of sexual abuse at work?

Sexual Predators Target Black Men

Did you know that sexual misconduct costs organizations billions of dollars a year?

Sylvia Ann Hewlett exposes hidden pockets of pain, but also showcases road-tested policies and practices that greatly reduce predatory behavior and foster more successful leadership cultures. Psychological and physical safety is pre-requisite for inclusion.

"An invaluable book. It quantifies hits to the bottom line inflicted by sexual misconduct and offers a rich array of concrete action steps for individuals and corporations. This book will shape how leaders deal with sexual misconduct for years to come."

Tiger Tyagarajan, CEO and President, Genpact

"Sylvia Ann Hewlett paints a vivid picture of the destruction wreaked by sexual misconduct. Harassment and assault hurt and harm women and men of color and LGBTQ individuals as well as white women, and are much more about control, dominance and territory than sexual desire."

Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard University

"A bold and urgent call to action. Hewlett presents a compelling business imperative and a range of solutions to ensure that meritocracy, equality, diversity and inclusion are rigorously embedded within company cultures."

Jyoti Chopra, Chief Diversity and Sustainability Officer, MGM Resorts

"A brave and important book filled with personal stories and rich data. Once you start reading it, you won't stop."

Victoria Bateman, Lecturer in Economics, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University

Off-Ramps & On-RAMPS

Fully a third of highly qualified women step off the career ladder to care for family. This decimates individual earning power and lowers GDP as companies suffer when they lose a large slice of their female talent. During the pandemic, this “brain drain” has become much worse because the burden of at-home, online learning, has forced many mothers to opt out.

Hewlett presents a rich array of policies that allow women to down-ramp rather than off-ramp. At DraftKings as well as JPMorgan, women are successfully flexing their careers as well as their weeks.

"Hewlett provides a vital road-map for how employers can more efficiently and thoughtfully utilize the female workforce. If taken to heart, this book can prove more beneficial than GPS and MapQuest combined."

Alan B. Krueger, Former Chair, Council of Economic Advisors

"Hewlett combines her savvy analysis of women's life paths with significant case studies of how companies succeed in generating flexibility and meaning at work."

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest Arbuckle Professor of Business, Harvard Business School

"A remarkably useful business book. In today's intensely competitive global economy, companies cannot afford to lose key female talent. With clarity and vision Hewlett gives employers the wherewithal to retain and reattach highly qualified, committed women."

Ken Chenault, Former CEO and Chairman, American Express

"Sylvia Ann Hewlett vividly chronicles the price women pay for trying to fit into a man's world. Now women are insisting that the world of work be refashioned to fit the needs of women, men and children alike. Off-Ramps and On-Ramps is a brilliant guide to that world."

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health, United Kingdom