Acknowledgments

This book is especially significant to me. It brings together ten years of research and writing on the power of sponsorship to fast-track careers across the lines of difference (gender, race, and culture, but also fields of expertise). It was also written during a year I faced significant health challenges. It therefore gives me great pleasure to thank those who lifted me up and pulled me through: my magnificent family (husband, children, and grandchildren) who were ever-ready with great gobs of generous love; close-in friends who showed up, buoyed my spirits, and pitched in. And my surgical team at Memorial Sloan Kettering, whose skills, judgment, and wisdom turned my prospects around.

I have other important debts of gratitude:

•To Dan Horch and Nell Casey, whose editorial skills contributed enormously to this book.

•To CTI’s board, executive leadership, and world-class research team.

•To the forty-plus senior executives who spent precious hours in one-on-one interviews, sharing—at a granular level—the tools and tactics they use to maximize sponsorship payoff. Their honest, eloquent voices thread through this book.

•To HBR’s extraordinary editorial team, particularly Melinda Merino, Courtney Cashman, and Jennifer Waring. This is the fifth book I’ve written with HBR, and it could not have been a better experience.

•To Robert Levinson and Helen Churko, my speaking agents at Royce Carlton, who are making sure that the powerful playbook at the heart of this book spreads far and wide.