Leaders of color who have developed young talent are 30% more satisfied with their career progress than those who haven’t built that base of support.Ĭonsider how organizations assess leadership potential, and it becomes clear why developing a posse of protégés establishes you as “leadership material”: Helping junior people evolve into major producers for the firm is what leaders do. Caucasian leaders with a posse of proactive protégés are 13% more likely to be satisfied with their rate of advancement than leaders who haven’t invested in up-and-comers. As I explain in my new book, Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor, just as “the sponsor effect” adds a quantifiable boost to a protégé’s pay, promotion, career satisfaction, and retention, “the protégé effect” leverages career traction for leaders. In earlier research, the Center for Talent Innovation explored the importance of finding the right sponsor.

They also add rocket fuel to your career. A network of protégés makes the impossible possible. Consider how much more effective - and less overworked - you are as a leader if you have an A-team to turn to whenever a crisis looms, a deadline threatens, or a massive opportunity knocks. “The people you’re around, the things you see, what you’re hearing - you provide a perspective I wouldn’t otherwise have.” Now, as a sponsor himself, Gadsden has come to appreciate the perspective his own protégés provide: “They make sure I’m never blindsided,” he says.īuilding a posse of protégés is one of the smartest things a leader can do. “You’re nothing like me, Ed,” Higginbotham told him. If you are a senior leader who isn’t actively sponsor several proteges (Hewlett recommends at least three), you are missing out on loyal talent who can make you more effective in your current role, extend your reach and brand, and ensure your legacy.Ed Gadsden, former chief diversity officer at Pfizer, once asked his sponsor, the legal scholar and federal judge Leon Higginbotham, why he took such an interest in him, aside from the fact they were both African American. What is keeping you from sponsoring someone? It is a must-read for leaders and aspiring leaders. The Sponsor Effect provides numerous examples of successful and failed sponsor/protégé relationships, as well as statistics on sponsorship. Given the investment that sponsors need to make in their proteges, Hewlett recommends a thorough vetting process, including ongoing supervision to ensure the sponsorship progresses according to expectations. Let proteges know that for certain, well-defined risks, if things go wrong, you will help with damage control, advise on remediation and tell them who to talk to….' Some air cover is public, such as bringing proteges to meetings…But a lot is private too. You’ll want to both lay the groundwork and when it comes to decision time, push hard….….'ģ. The goal here is not just to be open but to be boisterous….'Ģ. This one’s straightforward, though it can take some courage at first. Hewlett cites three specific ways that sponsors invest in their proteges:ġ. While Hewlett affirms that it’s the protégé who should do the heavy lifting of scheduling meetings and proactively managing the relationship, the sponsor plays an active role. Sponsorship does entail work and risk on the part of the sponsor

In 2016, for example, Carter secured an endorsement deal for James with Nike that could be worth $1 billion.'Įven if you’re not LeBron James, you can benefit as Subha Barry did, when her protégé Todd Sears opened up $1.4 billion in new wealth management business.īeing a sponsor also offers the qualitative benefits of complementary skills. Paul, Carter, and the rest of James’ inner circle have more than repaid the money he spent on them. His old friend Rich Paul, for example, now has his own talent agency and another friend, Maverick Carter, runs a production company. He sent them to school and steered them to internships where they strengthened their management and production skills – skills that he didn’t have himself. But unlike many stars, he didn’t just hand out money to his old buddies. 'Like many athletic stars, he has a few old friends who have accompanied him on his rise to fame. Hewlett puts quantitative metrics around the benefits of being a sponsor, as in this example of LeBron James and his $1 billion benefit from sponsorship:

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