Are You the Ally You Think You Are? Consider a New Approach
As some of you know, last year I was laser-focused on riding my bike across the country (bucket list adventure) and writing my 2nd book (focused on men). I am happy to say that I accomplished both!
My first book, The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and the Gender Divide, focuses primarily on career-minded women. It outlines the barriers that women encounter in the workplace and explains why we don't see more women leading our global organizations today (and what we can do about it). It also provides a unique look at leadership and emotional intelligence from a gendered standpoint.
This new book, written with my co-author Michael O'Brien, focuses on helping and supporting men be better allies to both women and people of color. It's titled, The 5 Levels of Male Allyship: A Guide to Building Better Teams Through Real Inclusion. It officially launched on February 3rd, 2026, and I'm excited to share that it quickly became an Amazon bestseller!
Drs. Brad Johnson and David Smith wrote the foreword for the book, and with endorsements from Mel Robbins, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Dorie Clark, Josh Linkner, and others -- we are beyond grateful for the praise we've received.
Here's a brief overview:
Male allyship is critical in attaining gender parity in today’s organizations. And data shows that many men want to be better allies, but just don’t know what to do, don’t know where to look, or don’t have the support they need.
In The 5 Levels of Male Allyship, inclusion experts Dr. Shawn Andrews and Michael O’Brien deliver a groundbreaking framework that charts the path from passive awareness to courageous advocacy. From the resistant Traditionalist to the fully engaged Champion, this book addresses the fears, pressures, and cultural forces that hold men back from meaningful support and offers tools to overcome them.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews with men and women across industries, this practical and eye-opening guide helps men understand where they are on the allyship spectrum—and how to move forward with intention and impact.
In an era when diversity efforts face backlash and burnout, The 5 Levels of Male Allyship is more than timely—it’s essential. It makes the case that gender inclusion isn’t a zero-sum game: it’s a win for men, women, and entire organizations.
Packed with real-world examples, self-assessments, and more than 60 strategies for personal and professional growth, this book empowers men to become stronger teammates while also guiding women and HR leaders in identifying and developing more male allies.
Here's a high-level overview:
Level 1: The Traditionalist - generally resistant
Level 2: The Armchair Ally - in their comfort zone
Level 3: The Toe Dipper - performative fence-sitter
Level 4: The Emerging Ally - eager to learn
Level 5: The Champion - all-in advocate
Where Are You on the Allyship Spectrum?
In the book Appendices, we provided 3 useful tools for men, women and organizations.
The 1st tool is the Personal Allyship Assessment.
It is designed to help you identify where you might be on the allyship spectrum—and works for both men and women. It's the only assessment out there that gives you a sense of what type of ally you may be.
It’s 22 multiple choice questions designed to evaluate behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs across the 5 allyship archetypes. This powerful assessment reveals your primary leadership approach, takes about 3 minutes, and is completely free.
It reveals your current allyship level and uncovers potential gaps in your inclusive leadership approach. You’ll get a personalized profile with tips to help improve your impact, plus videos for each level from me and Michael.
Here's the website to access the Personal Allyship Assessment. Check it out...what do you have to lose?
https://5levelsofallyship.scoreapp.com/
The 2nd tool is the Ally Matrix.
In looking for potential allies, mentors, or sponsors to support your career, it’s helpful to determine how you’re going to approach them. The Ally Matrix is useful for women or for any underrepresented individual to help you identify and create a strategy for your top 3-5 potential allies or stakeholders. Why? Because a stakeholder is an individual with power and interest to help or hinder your career.
The appendix includes a stakeholder mapping grid, a matrix you can fill out with your potential allies, and an example of how to use it. You map your top allies and rate yourself on a 1 to 10 scale for each dimension. You are essentially rating the quality of your relationship with that stakeholder. You are rating the levels of trust and communication you have with them and rating their overall level of influence and interest in supporting you.
This can help you to start building relationships. I did a similar exercise in my doctoral program, and it helped my career immensely.
The 3rd tool is Classroom or Book Club Discussion Questions.
Discussing the levels of allyship with other people is the best way to start a meaningful dialogue about these important subjects. Use these 20 questions to share ideas and build your group’s awareness and understanding of the invaluable support that allies can give.
You can also refer to the reflection questions at the end of every chapter to gain a deeper understanding of how each of the issues affects you personally.
Next Steps
Men's engagement is essential to making meaningful progress toward parity, and we need to invite men into the inclusion conversation.
This book is broadly applicable to both men and women—and serves as a guide for HR leaders in building a culture of allyship. If your company is planning career or leadership development programming this year, don't hesitate to reach out. I support your efforts through speaking, workshops, and consulting.
And if you pick up your own copy, I'd love to hear your feedback.
Best regards,
Shawn
