FIND A SPONSOR
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Harvard Business School Publishing
228 pages; Rs 595
My mobile rang even before I was halfway through the introduction to Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s latest book Find a Sponsor. It was Vinay Pant, a school friend, calling to share the news about his new job in a leading IT multinational. Now, Mr Pant is not an inveterate job hopper by today’s definition. Before this job, he had worked three years each in two organisations, for which he had been head-hunted by people in his network. Job opportunities seem to have materialised by chance and less as a result of his star performer image, he told me during our chat. This reality hit him hard in his last company where he was unhappy with the annual appraisal. As he saw it, had there been a senior executive — other than his boss — advocating his claims, things would have panned out in his favour.
Which brought me neatly to the point of Ms Hewlett’s book. All of us have mentors to whom we turn regularly to discuss new work opportunities, problems in the workplace and industry developments that could impact our careers. But can mentors put you on the path to power and influence? Not really. One of the biggest problems with the relationship is that it is a one-way flow of wisdom from the mentor to the mentee. Without belittling the importance of a mentor, Ms Hewlett, who is the founding president of Manhattan-based think tank Center for Talent Innovation (CTI), presents a strong case for a sponsor who sees furthering a protégé’s career as an important investment in her own career, organisation or vision.
All the arguments in the book are based on her experiences and CTI’s research on sponsorship. Besides putting a word for your next promotion, a sponsor provides “air cover”, because the protégé takes up challenging assignments. More importantly, according to the author, a sponsor expands her protégé’s perception of what can be achieved.
Ms Hewlett also makes some bold suggestions. For instance, she asks professionals to look for would-be sponsors in the managers to whom their boss reports. It is easy to see how this may backfire and the author does not talk about the hurdles to look out for while doing so. The other important point Ms Hewlett makes is that professionals should never beg for sponsorships. Instead, people seeking sponsorships should take the “quid pro quo” approach by convincing potential sponsors that their capabilities can make a difference to the benefactor’s vision. Reverse-mentoring could be one of the ways of doing this when the person being sponsored brings skill sets and know-how her sponsor lacks.
The author also establishes the significance of sponsorship in furthering the careers of women and people of colour, especially Asians, Hispanics and African Americans, at the outset. Taking a page from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In, she proves how selecting the right sponsor can take you places. As an undergraduate at Harvard, Ms Sandberg built a rapport with the powerful Lawrence Summers, who was later responsible for getting her jobs at the World Bank and the US Treasury.
Devising a sponsorship strategy for readers, Ms Hewlett draws attention to her “2+1 rule”. Since the global economy has lapsed into a slowdown after the crisis of 2008, it is important to spread the risk by not looking for just one but a set of sponsors. So Ms Hewlett prescribes having three sponsors – two within your organisation (one in your department and one in the other division) – and one outside the firm. It’s like maintaining a sponsor portfolio. Obviously, this will not materialise if you are bad at work-life balance. This is doable if one is willing to “cultivate vibrant networks outside work” by getting involved in a host of activities like philanthropic projects, cultural events, and so on. On behalf of the author, we caution readers not to confuse this with corporate social responsibility.
The high point of the book comes when Ms Hewlett studies the dynamics of sponsor-mentee relationships between people of different genders. She does this by not taking a feminist stance. Rather it is seen as something that can be dealt with. As gross as it may sound, globally the first reaction to a sponsorship relation between a man and a woman is that the arrangement is made on the bed. In the chapter titled “Sex” the author provides a comprehensive list of dos and don’ts like always meeting one’s sponsor in public, never getting into an illicit affair, introducing one’s spouse or partner to the sponsor, among others. However, some of her views could shade into exploitation at the workplace. The story of Mellody Hobson explains how besides demanding more hours at work, her boss used to make her run home errands too. Ms Hobson was promoted from time to time, but few women are likely to follow her example. The book is an important read for professionals looking for mutually beneficial (no pun intended) relationships with powerful sponsors. So do you have some names in mind?
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Harvard Business School Publishing
228 pages; Rs 595
My mobile rang even before I was halfway through the introduction to Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s latest book Find a Sponsor. It was Vinay Pant, a school friend, calling to share the news about his new job in a leading IT multinational. Now, Mr Pant is not an inveterate job hopper by today’s definition. Before this job, he had worked three years each in two organisations, for which he had been head-hunted by people in his network. Job opportunities seem to have materialised by chance and less as a result of his star performer image, he told me during our chat. This reality hit him hard in his last company where he was unhappy with the annual appraisal. As he saw it, had there been a senior executive — other than his boss — advocating his claims, things would have panned out in his favour.
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All the arguments in the book are based on her experiences and CTI’s research on sponsorship. Besides putting a word for your next promotion, a sponsor provides “air cover”, because the protégé takes up challenging assignments. More importantly, according to the author, a sponsor expands her protégé’s perception of what can be achieved.
Ms Hewlett also makes some bold suggestions. For instance, she asks professionals to look for would-be sponsors in the managers to whom their boss reports. It is easy to see how this may backfire and the author does not talk about the hurdles to look out for while doing so. The other important point Ms Hewlett makes is that professionals should never beg for sponsorships. Instead, people seeking sponsorships should take the “quid pro quo” approach by convincing potential sponsors that their capabilities can make a difference to the benefactor’s vision. Reverse-mentoring could be one of the ways of doing this when the person being sponsored brings skill sets and know-how her sponsor lacks.
The author also establishes the significance of sponsorship in furthering the careers of women and people of colour, especially Asians, Hispanics and African Americans, at the outset. Taking a page from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In, she proves how selecting the right sponsor can take you places. As an undergraduate at Harvard, Ms Sandberg built a rapport with the powerful Lawrence Summers, who was later responsible for getting her jobs at the World Bank and the US Treasury.
Devising a sponsorship strategy for readers, Ms Hewlett draws attention to her “2+1 rule”. Since the global economy has lapsed into a slowdown after the crisis of 2008, it is important to spread the risk by not looking for just one but a set of sponsors. So Ms Hewlett prescribes having three sponsors – two within your organisation (one in your department and one in the other division) – and one outside the firm. It’s like maintaining a sponsor portfolio. Obviously, this will not materialise if you are bad at work-life balance. This is doable if one is willing to “cultivate vibrant networks outside work” by getting involved in a host of activities like philanthropic projects, cultural events, and so on. On behalf of the author, we caution readers not to confuse this with corporate social responsibility.
The high point of the book comes when Ms Hewlett studies the dynamics of sponsor-mentee relationships between people of different genders. She does this by not taking a feminist stance. Rather it is seen as something that can be dealt with. As gross as it may sound, globally the first reaction to a sponsorship relation between a man and a woman is that the arrangement is made on the bed. In the chapter titled “Sex” the author provides a comprehensive list of dos and don’ts like always meeting one’s sponsor in public, never getting into an illicit affair, introducing one’s spouse or partner to the sponsor, among others. However, some of her views could shade into exploitation at the workplace. The story of Mellody Hobson explains how besides demanding more hours at work, her boss used to make her run home errands too. Ms Hobson was promoted from time to time, but few women are likely to follow her example. The book is an important read for professionals looking for mutually beneficial (no pun intended) relationships with powerful sponsors. So do you have some names in mind?