The Doors You Can Open: A New Way to Network, Build Trust, and Use Your Influence to Create a More Inclusive Workplace - Hardcover

by Rosalind Chow (Author)

"Chow revolutionizes our understanding of how careers advance" (Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Drive), taking readers on a transformative journey beyond the standard model of mentorship to embracing sponsorship.

Named a Best Book of the Year by Fast Company and Behavioral Scientist

The way we currently network and engage in mentorship isn't working. Given the ever-evolving nature of the workplace, transactional networking and company-enforced mentorship programs simply don't help make our professional relationships more authentic or our workplaces more equitable. What we need instead is sponsorship.

What's the difference between mentorship and sponsorship? Mentorship involves helping a mentee change their behavior, while sponsorship involves changing how other people see a protégé. Sponsorship is as important, if not more so, than mentorship in determining who gets ahead, making it a more effective way to promote social equality and inclusion in the workplace.

In The Doors You Can Open, organizational expert Rosalind Chow shows readers that they likely already engage in sponsorship in their personal and professional networks--and how they can channel those skills to build more authentic professional relationships. We all have more agency and deeper networks to act as sponsors than we might think, and sponsoring others can lead to mutually beneficial lifelong connections rather than merely transactional interactions. Given the ever-evolving nature of the workplace, intentional and equitable sponsorship is more important now than ever for overturning traditional social hierarchies.

Based on decades of original research, The Doors You Can Open makes a bold case for completely changing the way we network. Reading it will change how we see and use our relationships in the service of creating stronger workplaces for all.

Back Jacket

"Rosalind Chow has spent her career studying how to break barriers, and her book is filled with engaging stories, compelling evidence, and actionable advice."
--Adam Grant, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Think Again

"Through rigorous research and compelling storytelling, Chow revolutionizes our understanding of how careers advance. She demonstrates that the path to leadership runs through helping others rise--and that speaking up for those with less influence can create organizations that are more equitable and more effective."
--Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Drive
"Groundbreaking and inspiring, The Doors You Can Open has transformed how I think about that dirty word: networking. I highly recommend it for anyone striving for more authentic relationships and greater success."
--Dolly Chugh, author of The Person You Mean to Be

"This book is a must-read for leaders and anyone looking to elevate those around them and foster meaningful change in the workplace."
--Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times-bestselling author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"A generous and skillful blend of storytelling, research, and practical advice. . . . When you think of the book on sponsorship, it should be this one."
--Lily Zheng, author of DEI Deconstructed

"This gem is packed with useful, research-based advice about how to give and get effective sponsorship. Chow's warm and witty writing voice makes it a joy to read."
--Robert I. Sutton, New York Times-bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule

Author Biography

Dr. Rosalind Chow is an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University, where she directs executive education programs that advance the careers of Black and Latino professionals and advises corporations on their sponsorship programs. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their two children.