#MeToo in the Corporate World: Power, Privilege, and the Path Forward – Data-Driven Solutions for Executives to Create Safe, Inclusive Workplaces

by Sylvia Ann Hewlett

Economist and award-winning author Sylvia Ann Hewlett blends vivid stories with powerful new data in assessing the impact of the #MeToo movement in corporate America and provides concrete action to help executives and companies create more inclusive and safe work environments for women, people of color, and LGBTQ employees. While the #MeToo movement has exposed the enormous harm done by sexual misconduct in the workplace, the movement’s full promise has not been fulfilled, Sylvia Ann Hewlett argues. Showcasing new data on the incidence of sexual harassment and assault at work, she reveals how the movement has focused almost exclusively on white women and failed to support other vulnerable groups who are also targets of abuse. Black men, gay men and women, and Latinas experience particularly high rates of sexual harassment and assault.

In addition to exploring the movement’s limitations, Hewlett examines the collateral damage inflicted by #MeToo. She looks at hits to the bottom line (lawsuits and settlements, tarnished brands, and stock devaluations) and hits to the talent pipeline. In particular she shows how male leaders, fearful of gossip and legal action, are increasingly skittish about sponsoring young women, no matter how high performing they are. This makes it much more likely that women will stall out mid-career and will deprive companies of diversity in the C-Suite and “gender smarts” around decision-making tables. Digging deep into examples that range from Fox News, Nike, and Google to CBS, Michigan State University, and the Catholic Church, Hewlett lays bare the financial losses associated with sexual misconduct scandals. No wonder corporate chief risk officers newly have #MeToo in their line of sight!

A third of this book is devoted to solutions and Hewlett offers a three-pronged strategy, combining legal remedies with individual and corporate action steps that can be used to protect employees and businesses they work for. Drawing from companies as different as IBM and IPG she discusses “experiments at the edge” as well as more evolved initiatives that can help any corporation create a more equitable and safer environment.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Feminism, Womens, Psychology

261 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2020

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will speculate that many women of a certain age (myself included) can recount experiences of men just being men which was the norm back in the day. I wanted to see what this author had to say about more recent business culture.

The term ‘sexual harrassment’ was coined in 1975 by Cornell scholar and writer Lin Farley. She went on to say, “The functions of sexual harassment in untraditional jobs is to keep women out; the function of sexual harassment in the traditional female job sector is to keep women down.”

The phrase ‘Me Too’ was originated by Tarana Burke in 2006 to raise awareness of sexual misconduct in Black civil rights and of course we all know it gained attention in 2018 when #MeToo took off. In the years between was a world of male privilege.

In the business world a woman claiming harassment gets fired while the men accused get sent home with huge settlements. It’s only fair at this point to say that men can be the recipients of sexual harassment/assault at the hands of women (and men) despite breaking the stereotype. We are reminded that sexual misconduct is nearly always a power play and it goes both ways—both men and women can be victimized by women. “The primary variable is not gender but power.”

The book goes on to consider the impact to business bottom lines. More employees alleging sexual assault are taking legal action and filing cases seeking remedy. This means companies may pay settlements, may lose talent, and their brand may suffer lost business, bankruptcy or complete failure.

The author says, “#MeToo has not ended. On the contrary, we may not even yet be at the end of the beginning. Yet already there is much good news, as well as bad news... and a great deal of on-going momentum.”

These quotes are all contained in only the first 10 pages of the book and many more follow. I was sad/angered to learn that there has not been more progress made in corporate America, but somewhat pleased that at least the light is now on and reckonings are becoming more frequent and more equitable.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is my feminism showing? lol. I do seem drawn to these types of books, and #MeToo in the Corporate World was right up that alley!

As a business owner and a participant in the corporate world, albeit mostly working from my home office, I was intrigued by what Ms Hewlett had to say. She did a great job of covering what is happening, what needs to change and some practical application steps.

I think most everyone is aware that there's a huge disparity between how women and men are compensated, let alone treated, in the workspace. Not to harp on patriarchies (again), but this does seem to be the root of all the inequality evil. We need to get to the point where workers are acknowledged for their contributions, not their gender. Where women aren't rewarded for sleeping their way to the top, and men aren't given insane severance packages for inappropriate behavior.

Men need to mentor women and women need to mentor men. And this needs to be done without adding in all the messy and inappropriate issues related to gender and sexism. For an economy and society to truly thrive, there needs to be a true equality in the workplace!

Personally, I feel this is a huge issue, and I'm inspired by the rising generations unwillingness to let the status quo continue. Women need to be valued for their contributions, not their physical appearance. Men need to contribute equally, not take advantage of their perceived positions of power.

I could rant and rant. I highly recommend this book to all women, those who know a woman, people who work, or hope to work one day.

[Addie Chek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did find this book interesting and the facts where very clearly laid out and explained as well as backed by data which I enjoyed. However the reason for the 2 star rating is because as I continued to read I felt like I was just rereading the same thing over and over again. So although this book is important and has good statistics, it could’ve been a lot shorter.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book is in the tricky spot that it'll be primarily read by people who don't need to read it. I think it's trying to appeal to a different audience by making the business case for why it's actually profitable to be inclusive and to have strong anti-harassment/anti-assault policies. But that can make it come off a bit cold/cynical. Yes, it included a decent number of vignettes and many of them were compelling - but they were all necessarily quite short so you never really got to know any of the "characters". So, yes, I'm glad that corporate America is finally starting to crack down on unacceptable behavior. But it's disturbing that it's really only happening because it costs them money.

It was a worthwhile read, and I think that the most interesting parts were the discussion of intersectionality (I didn't know that sexual harassment was so much more common against latinas than whites, for example) and the use of examples of sexual harassment against men to emphasize that the problem is mostly one of power rather than of sexual attraction per se.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 2/2, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. Blends vivid stories with powerful new data in assessing the impact of the #MeToo movement in corporate America.

Find more Business Books of the week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more recommended books on my Amazon Influencer page at https://www.amazon.com/shop/stevo4747.

Also named a Best of the Best for February 2020: https://forums.delphiforums.com/stevo...

[Allison Kutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single person should read this book. Period. A recount of hundreds of circumstances, stories, scenarios that prove:
A. Those who have suffered harassment and assault are not alone and deserve every right to stand up for themselves
B. Those who have witnessed such events have every opportunity to shift from a bystander and promote change
C. Those who have committed similar horrific, disgusting acts can, and should, own the harm, do the work and make restitution

[Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, straight-forward look into the #MeToo movement and the numbers behind sexual harassment and abuse. This book is a great resource, as it also includes suggestions for both individuals and organizations on how to make cultural changes to minimize sexual harassments from happening or what to do when one gets reported.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to learn more about sexual harassment and abuse in the corporate world

[Paiman Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-COVID times ... make a distant 50cm
Corporate culture can change if leaders pave the way.

[D. G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

works as a general overview with a lot of examples but doesn´t bring up anything new.

[Laura Skladzinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've loved Sylvia Ann Hewlett's books in the past, but this one missed the mark from her usual. Too much of the book was spent on proving that sexual harassment happens (which I would hope everyone knows by now). My office book club and I agreed that there was so much time spent on the egregious examples (a boss forcing their staff member to sleep with him/her or risk losing their job) rather than the more subtle examples of sexual harassment that are, unfortunately, all too common. I wish more of the book had been devoted to practical tips to combat sexual harassment. A list was provided of the factors in a workplace that contribute, and lucky for me, it was basically describing life at any big consulting firm. This felt like it was raising the problem but not really providing any solutions.