With renewed corporate attention to racial equity — and a growing body of evidence showing that diversity programs don’t work, especially for Black employees — many companies are turning to a different approach for diversifying their pipelines to the top: sponsorship.
Want More Diverse Senior Leadership? Sponsor Junior Talent.
Mentorship isn’t enough. Use your personal clout to advocate for your young colleagues.
October 09, 2020
Summary.
Sponsorship is emerging as a valuable tool for increasing diversity in an organization’s senior ranks. The authors define sponsorship as “a helping relationship in which seHernior, powerful people use their personal clout to talk up, advocate for, and place a more junior person in a key role.” In this piece, they define a number of specific do’s and don’t’s that apply specifically to the use of sponsorship to help the careers of promising employees from underrepresented groups, and to boost diversity at the executive level.
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New!
HBR Learning
Leading People Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
What you need to know about being in charge.