An Elusive Solution

Sponsorship, as we’ve explored, could remedy this dire state of affairs. The sponsor effect on multicultural protégés is dramatic: minority professionals who have sponsors are 65 percent more likely to feel satisfied with their rate of advancement. They are also far more engaged and committed. People of color with sponsors are 57 percent less likely than their unsponsored peers to leave their current employer within a year. (See the sidebar, “Katherine Phillips.”)

It’s not hard to see why having someone in your corner who believes in you can make all the difference. Look at Ken Chenault, CEO of American Express. As a new hire at American Express, Chenault relates, “I was thinking as someone who was different from the majority of people in the company, ‘I’ll stay here for five years, get the experience, and move on to something else.’” But his boss, Lou Gerstner, made a point of reassuring him on this point. “You can go really far in this company,” he told Chenault. “Here’s what you need to work on.”¹ Gerstner’s sponsorship raised Chenault’s aspirations, his visibility, and his credibility, since Gerstner was enormously well regarded as a leader and seen as a tough taskmaster.

An alarming 21 percent of Hispanics, 35 percent of African Americans, and 29 percent of Asians believe that a “person of color would never get a top position at my company” and most don’t have a sponsor in their corner contradicting this view. Fully 37 percent of African Americans and Hispanics and 45 percent of Asians say they “need to compromise their authenticity” at work, a situation that breeds discomfort, stifles contribution, and distances them from would-be sponsors. The core issue, CTI research shows, is distrust: distrust of those in power (Caucasians, mostly) to reward them fairly; distrust of each other in the scramble for a few slots; and distrust of themselves to be fully competent and deserving professionals.

Discrimination and Distrust of Leaders

Chenault’s conviction that no person of color would ever make it to the top at American Express proved to be wrong. But given what employees of color contend with in the way of hidden bias and even overt discrimination on the job, it’s easy to see why so many share this view. Overall, 39 percent of African Americans, 13 percent of Asians, and 16 percent of Hispanics have experienced discrimination in the workplace owing to their ethnicity, compared to 5 percent of Caucasian men and women.

Discrimination takes many forms. An executive editor at MSNBC who is African American noticed that when she first began attending the crucial editorial meetings that decide the day’s news priorities, her observations or suggestions were ignored and then usurped. “If I were to say, ‘let’s do X,’ the room would just continue in its discussion,” she recalls. “But then that idea would in a while find its way out of someone else’s mouth, and then everyone would hear it, follow it, and understand it.” CTI found that 24 percent of African Americans say that others take credit or are given credit for their contributions. Nearly a fifth (18 percent) of Hispanic professionals say that colleagues “have no idea” of their credentials. Eleven percent of African Americans say they’ve been mistaken for someone’s assistant, and a similar proportion (11 percent) of Asians have been taken for someone else of their same racial background.

Compounding this, Caucasians often don’t see discrimination, even when it’s pointed out to them. At Lloyds, a manager of Persian descent recalls how, when she described to her white male boss her efforts to improve race relations at the firm, he replied, “That’s great, but I am not sure that there’s really a problem here.” When she insisted there was, he retorted angrily, “You think that just because we have a white male in charge that this department discriminates?”

Because pointing out discrimination in a culture intent on denying it holds special penalties, half of all African Americans we surveyed and more than a third (36 percent) of Asians and Hispanics agreed that, if they were to reveal any struggle with bias or discrimination, it would be held against them. Professionals of color perceive it’s best to just put up and shut up, further stoking the flames of resentment and distrust—and further distancing themselves from the sponsorship that could overcome the penalties they describe.

Distrust of Each Other as Risky Bets

You might think professionals of color would turn to leaders of color for the support and validation they need to fulfill their potential in the organization. Who better to give you a hand up than someone who’s stood in your shoes and overcome the challenges you face? Who better to make you feel included than someone who knows how it feels to be an outsider? In fact, at the senior level, an impressive 41 percent of African Americans and a fifth of Asians and 18 percent of Hispanics say they feel obligated to sponsor employees of their same gender or ethnicity. “I’m going to look out for them as someone else won’t, because I understand what they’re up against,” an African American exec at Intel told us. “That’s where I see my leadership responsibility.”

But many would-be sponsors of color, CTI found, hesitate or outright avoid allying themselves with minority up-and-comers. Those up-and-comers likewise avoid targeting leaders of color when they look for sponsorship. Both perceive the other as a risky bet, someone likelier to sink their ship than sail it.

Abdul, a manager at a financial services firm who is Nigerian American, illustrates why. He was just a year into his role when a junior black woman asked him to sponsor her. As the highest-ranking person of color in his office, Abdul knew that others of color would seek his advocacy. But because he was under such intense scrutiny, he felt he could not afford to make mistakes. This woman, in his view, was not “ideal.” Four years into her tenure with the company and newly returned from a maternity leave, she had been passed over for promotion twice and had a reputation for being “very, very vocal.” Abdul worried that, given her track record, he might be put in a position where he couldn’t vouch for her. He especially feared that senior leaders might see his sponsorship of her as favoritism. “I will have to go to bat for this individual,” he said. “Will it be seen as helping her just because of her skin color?” In the end, he decided his own tenure was too tenuous to take her on as his protégé.

Protégés of color, however, are just as averse to reach out to multicultural managers for sponsorship. They’re far more likely—143 percent!—than their Caucasian peers to think that there are disadvantages to allying oneself to a high-ranking person of color. They see the benefits of an affinity-based relationship, but they don’t believe a minority leader has the kind of traction a white leader does. An African American analyst with GE Capital says she turns to leaders of color for advice and mentoring. But for sponsorship, she’s hoping to win over white men. “In finance, that’s where the power is,” she explains.

Distrust is a self-fulfilling prophecy: minority professionals who distrust those in power effectively deny themselves the support they need to realize their leadership potential, further reinforcing their conviction that leadership at their company isn’t interested in people of color. This, of course, goes a long way toward keeping the top of the house homogeneous. Worn down by exclusion, buffeted by incidents of subtle bias, the unsponsored disengage, which fuels the stereotype that minorities just don’t have the ambition or the wherewithal to assume leadership positions.

Vaulting the Color Bar

Despite the forces arrayed against them, promising professionals of color can overcome distrust—distrust of white leaders, distrust of minority leaders, and distrust of each other—to win and keep the advocacy they merit. Here are some proven tactics:

MASTER THE SOCIAL BANTER. Establishing a personal connection can matter as much, if not more, than proving you’re a top performer when you’re trying to attract sponsors across a racial divide. Sponsors tend to trust people they know, after all, even over people whose credentials are more stellar. Yet it’s hard to get to know someone if you’re convinced you have little in common or you’re concerned that sharing your personal life will only serve to stress how different you are. The solution, as Kalinda, a real-estate analyst, explains, is to be a knowledgeable and enthusiastic participant in the small talk that occurs in the conference room or at the water cooler in the five minutes before or after a meeting. She points to her own learning curve, when she was working at ESPN as a financial analyst. “One of best things ever to happen to me was managing the NFL budget,” she says. “I didn’t know a thing about American football when I got there, but I recognized I needed to if I was ever going to be considered one of the guys.” Every day, she read Sports Business Daily. And every day, she had an opportunity to flex her newfound knowledge with her colleagues and superiors, most of them men who were football fanatics. The whole exercise, she says, upped her game because it emboldened her to initiate or jump into conversations with her superiors, who were invariably impressed by both her command of the subject and her enthusiasm for it. “The teams, the games, the analysts—I could talk about all of it with anyone,” Kalinda says. “Even now, if I hear football being discussed, I insert myself in that conversation, because I have something to add. For the same reason, I picked up golf a couple years ago. I’m not good at it, but I can talk about it, and that opens a door with my managers.”

PICK UP A SPORT OR JOIN A TEAM. You don’t have to become a golfer, but learning how to play bridge, training for a marathon, or taking up yoga (whatever resonates with your company culture) can all be incredible connection builders. You don’t have to be good; you just need to be willing to learn something and join in. Deb Elam, chief diversity officer at GE, tells how she prepared for the firm’s annual top management meeting years ago when she was a newly promoted senior executive. The meeting was held at a resort where golf was one of the afternoon activities. Eager to make a good impression, she took lessons for several months and invested in a custom set of clubs. When the opportunity to select activities became available, she signed up to join a foursome the first afternoon and very nearly chickened out. In a field of 150 that day, she was the only African American female. But she went ahead with her plan and even managed to enjoy herself. That evening, when she entered the evening reception—“a sea of khaki slacks, blue oxford shirts, and navy blue blazers”—a couple of senior white men came over and introduced themselves. They had seen her out on the course earlier in the afternoon. “Golf was the icebreaker,” Elam observes. “I realized it’s about being willing to put yourself out there.”

DRAW ON YOUR BACKGROUND TO DRIVE VALUE FOR THE BUSINESS. Sharda Cherwoo, an Ernst & Young partner, describes how she previously led a dual life: she wore a Western-style suit at the office but dressed in a sari at parties with her Indian friends; she led a high-performing team at work but at home she tended to and cooked for family and relatives visiting from India. She preferred avoiding cultural differences to calling attention to them. Her mind-set changed after she told a Caucasian colleague that Diwali—a very important Hindu festival—was approaching, and was later touched to receive a “Happy Diwali” note. “It happened because I shared,” says Cherwoo. She continued sharing more about her personal life, cultural differences, and interests, with the unexpected result of receiving additional professional responsibilities that tapped into her experience and heritage. Over time this has ranged from recruiting Indian “boomerang” talent (employees who’ve left Ernst & Young but who wish to return) to landing meetings with Indian business leaders in the United States and key regulatory officials in India. “You have to be proactive and find the unique value you bring to the table,” says Cherwoo. “There is incredible potential to advance your career in showing where and how you can be helpful leveraging your relationships.”

PROPOSE A PROJECT THAT POSITIONS YOU AS A PROBLEM SOLVER OR INNOVATOR. Where you see a gap, fill it. A recruiter for a biotech firm noticed that other biotechs diversified their pipelines by providing scholarships to undergraduates of color who majored in the life sciences. Working with colleges and her own team, she launched the company’s first-ever minority scholarship program. Over the course of eight years, it made available more than $800,000 to promising candidates and attracted a significant number of minority graduates to jobs at the firm.

DARE TO ASK FOR HELP. This same recruiter describes how, in trying to launch an ambitious initiative as a new hire, she recognized she simply didn’t have the experience, network, or resources she needed to pull it off. She sought out the department head, walked him through the steps she had taken, and candidly admitted she was out of ideas. “I don’t know how to get this program successfully launched without your guidance and insights,” she told him. “I’ve tried everything, and nothing is working.” His response shocked her. “In all truth, I wouldn’t have done things any differently than you have,” he assured her. Then he pledged to help her win the buy-in among his peers that she needed. “Maybe developing trust has to start with the protégé, rather than the sponsor,” she observes. “For people of color, it may be about overcoming the fear of being judged for needing help. I made myself vulnerable because I was determined this program would succeed. I wasn’t going to let it fail just because, as a young woman of color, I was afraid to show I needed help.”

IF YOU ARE PASSED OVER, FIND OUT WHY. Don’t assume race is at issue; don’t assume anything. Antoinette, a black managing director in a financial services firm, remembers how shocked she was when her boss’s boss informed her that he’d be looking to hire someone to replace the woman she reported to, who’d gone on maternity leave and wasn’t coming back. “I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t being considered, since I’d been doing her job for three months,” says Antoinette. The more she thought about it, the more outraged and wronged she felt. After a sleepless night, she marched into his office and shared her consternation. “Quite honestly,” he told her, “it just didn’t occur to me to consider you. But, of course, I should. I’m glad we talked.”

Her outspokenness won her the job. Never again, she says, did she make the mistake of assuming too much. As a result, Antoinette has a high-level circle of supporters both inside and outside the firm, including the CEO. “He calls me to discuss everything from succession plans to his son’s college applications,” she says. “He knows I’m someone who will shoot straight, who will tell it like it is. And I know he’s one of several people who take my success personally.”