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The Sponsor Effect
book

The Sponsor Effect

by Sylvia Ann Hewlett
May 2019
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
208 pages
4h 8m
English
Harvard Business Review Press
Audiobook available
Content preview from The Sponsor Effect

5

Include Diverse Perspectives

When the late and much-missed Ed Gilligan was president of American Express, he made clear to senior executives that they should 1) pick three up-and-comers to sponsor and 2) make sure that two of these protégés didn’t look like them. It became known as “Gilligan’s one-plus-two rule.”

What lay behind Gilligan’s rule was a savvy insight. Gilligan was saying, sure, sponsor one high-performing younger talent who reminds you of yourself—a “mini-me,” so to speak. But with the other two picks, mix it up. Reach across the divides of gender, generation, and culture to find high performers who bring to the table knowledge, skill sets, life experiences, and contacts that you lack—and that you and your organization need. Gilligan ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781633695665