Catalyst Blog

To mark the launch of Sponsoring Women to Success, I invited lead author, Heather Foust-Cummings, to discuss its key findings. In the coming weeks, we’ll also hear from Heather’s co-authors, Jennifer Kohler and Sarah Dinolfo. In today’s guest post, Heather cuts through the jargon and describes how sponsorship offers a unique “win/win/win” opportunity that benefits protégés, sponsors, and organizations.

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Sponsorship can be a squirrely concept, leaving many of us sensing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s dilemma when he issued his 1964 opinion on pornography in Jacobellis v. Ohio: we may not be able to define it precisely, but we know it when we see it.

Catalyst’s latest research on sponsorship, Sponsoring Women to Success, tackles this ambiguity head-on and puts the clichés on the sidelines. We define sponsorship in clear terms: it is active support by someone with significant influence on decision-making processes or structures who advocates, protects, and fights for the career advancement of an individual.

Through in-depth interviews conducted with nearly 100 executives and high-potential leaders across the globe, we learned first and foremost that sponsorship represents a unique “triple-win.” Sponsorship benefits the protégé, the sponsor, and the organization.

High-potential protégés gain career advancement. This is especially important for women, who are often overlooked for plum assignments and big promotions.

Sponsors benefit, too. In our study, sponsors reported that they received access to information at different levels of the organization that enabled them to better understand the business and become more effective leaders. Leaders who play sponsorship roles also learned that talent in their organizations needs to be more diverse to support business growth. Beyond that, sponsors reported that they gained a deep sense of personal and professional satisfaction from helping others to become more successful.

Sponsorship also boasts direct and indirect benefits for organizations, producing more committed leaders. According to the leaders in our study, having a sponsor made them want to “pay it forward,” and increased their job satisfaction and intent to stay.

Likewise, sponsors argued that sponsorship was critical to team-building. As one woman told us, “I would argue that our most successful partners…are the people who are sponsors.  And the reason it’s so is because it’s a reciprocal relationship. I would run through a brick wall for [my sponsor] because of what he does for me.”

Okay, one cliché—but you get the idea. Sponsorship is not just for protégés. In an effective sponsorship relationship, everyone wins.

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Heather Foust-Cummings, Ph.D., leads research projects on women in leadership and organizational change and effectiveness for Catalyst. Her current work examines the role of sponsors in influencing the advancement and retention of senior-level women. Prior to joining Catalyst, Dr. Foust-Cummings taught at Columbia University and Barnard College, and also conducted brand analyses for the Corporate Research Department at Young & Rubicam. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science (American Politics) as well as a Certificate in Women’s Studies from Emory University in Atlanta. She received a dual B.S. in Political Science and Secondary Education (Social Sciences) from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

A little-noticed provision in new U.S. legislation requires all federal financial agencies and firms to establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion to boost diversity. Banks and firms that fail to diversify their ranks do so at their own peril. According to the rule, failure to make “a good-faith effort to include minorities and women in their workforce” can result in cancelled government contracts. More on this ground-breaking provision in today’s C This.

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Laying Down the Law

Championed by California Democrat Maxine Waters, a powerful provision within U.S. financial reform legislation will hold federal agencies responsible for failing to diversify. “Firms must take steps to be more reflective of America,” said Michael Yaki of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “This is a wake-up call for Wall Street.”

READ: “Bill Aims for Diversity on Wall St.,” by Julia Love and Jim Puzzanghera, The Chicago Tribune, 8/29/10

Stop, Think, Act

“Would I want my daughters working here?” It’s a simple question, but it stops many men in their tracks. “If the answer is no, then you should own part of the solution,” insists Deloitte’s Ann Weisberg.

READ: “Engaging Men in Culture Change: “Would You Want Your Daughter to Work Here?” by Tina Vasquez, The Glass Hammer, 8/31/10

CEOs Speak

What traits do more than 300 CEOS from 40 countries have in common? Researcher Robert Rosen endeavored to find out.

READ: “The Secret to Leadership Success,” by Harvey Schachter, The Globe and Mail, 8/9/10

A Deadly Figure

Since the start of this year, The New York Times has published 698 obituaries— and only 92 were of women. This statistic made Fast Company magazine cofounder Bill Taylor wonder “about who deserves such recognition in the first place, and what their stories might suggest about a life well-lived.”

READ: “The New York Times Is Dead Wrong,” by Bill Taylor, Harvard Business Review, 9/2/10

No Trend Here

New market research has found that single, childless women aged 22 to 30 earn, on average, 8% more than their male counterparts in many U.S. cities. Is this a cause for celebration? Not so fast. “This small slice of data is unlikely to be indicative of a larger, penetrating trend,” wrote DailyFinance’s Melly Alazraki.

READ: “Young Single Women Now Earn More Than Men,” by Melly Alazraki, Daily Finance, 9/1/10

Drum roll, please!

I’m happy to share with you that business leaders at TD Bank, Ontario Power Generation, and Scotiabank have been named the inaugural champions of The Catalyst Canada Honours for their commitment to advancing women in the workplace. Below is a CanCon cross-post by Deborah Gillis, Catalyst’s Vice President, North America, on this worthy achievement. Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

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Honouring Leaders

Someone once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Today, Catalyst Canada celebrates three remarkable leaders who have made a difference in the lives and careers of countless women in Canadian business. TD’s Ed Clark, Ontario Power Generation’s Colleen Sidford, and Scotiabank’s Sylvia Chrominska share a common trait (aside from their personal success!). Each has made it their mission to champion women in their organizations, their industries, and their communities.

And for each of them, the reward comes not in personal recognition, but in seeing others become and achieve more than they ever dreamed possible.

There are few of us who can’t point to a time when our lives were changed by someone who offered advice, or an opportunity, or shoulders to stand on.  Certainly, if there’s one thing I hear consistently from women who have risen to the top of their fields in Canada, it’s that they didn’t make it on their own.  They benefitted from mentors and champions who stepped in, often at critical moments, and set their careers on a new path.

And that’s why we’ve created the Catalyst Canada Honours – to recognize champions of women in business and to mark Catalyst Canada’s tenth anniversary.   It’s our hope that in recognizing these champions, we will inspire others to step forward and create real change that will benefit both women and organizations.

The Catalyst Canada Honours began about a year ago, with a conversation I had with a woman who attended Catalyst’s first Canadian event.  She was surprised that the event was hosted by a CEO.    Today, no one would be surprised to hear a business leader in Canada talking about the importance of women to the bottom line.  Over the last ten years, the conversation has shifted.  Diversity—with women at its core— has become a strategic imperative for Canadian businesses.

And it started with a leader, who stood up and did something unexpected.

While today is primarily about Ed, Colleen and Sylvia, it’s also about all of the other leaders— today and tomorrow—changing workplaces and changing lives.  Thank you for what you do.  We are truly inspired.