Author, business guru at Shelter Island Library
International economist, author and public policy specialist Sylvia Ann Hewlett will be the featured speaker at the July 25 Friday Night Dialogues at the Library starting at 7 p.m.
Long before Sheryl Sandberg was telling women to “lean in,” Ms. Hewlett, an economist with 20 years of experience in global talent management, was focusing on the challenges and opportunities faced by women, minorities and other previously excluded groups.
Ms. Hewitt will be speaking about her newly-released book, “Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success,” which explores the premise that the top jobs often elude women and professionals of color because they either lack “executive presence” or underestimate its importance.
Based on rigorous research, the book defines and unpacks executive presence in all of its nuances and offers guidance to individuals seeking to improve opportunities for advancement.
“No man or woman attains a top job, lands an extraordinary deal, or develops a significant following without this heady combination of confidence, poise and authenticity that convinces the rest of us that we’re in the presence of someone who’s going places,” Ms. Hewlett explains. “Just witness how far ‘executive presence’ has propelled the careers of Barack Obama, Christine Lagarde, Steve Jobs, Angela Merkel, and Angelina Jolie.”
A Kennedy Scholar and graduate of Cambridge University, Ms. Hewlett earned her Ph.D. in economics at London University and went on to author 11 Harvard Business Review articles and 11 critically acclaimed books, including “When the Bough Breaks” (winner of a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award); “Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets”; and “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor” (named one of the 10 best business books of 2013 by the Globe and Mail). Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs and the International Herald Tribune, and she is a featured blogger on the HBR Blog Network.
A part-time Island resident, Ms. Hewlett is the founder and CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation, the co-director of the Women’s Leadership Program at the Columbia Business School and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is currently ranked number 16 on the Thinkers50 list of the world’s most influential business gurus.
Coming up: On August 1, Congressman Tim Bishop with a Washington Update, and on August 8, historian/author James Humes.
All events start at 7 p.m. in the library’s lower level Community Room. No tickets are necessary but donations are always appreciated.
