Beyond Skills and Smarts: Thriving in the New Economy
Contributed by Liz Cornish, Leadership Coach and Keynote Speaker
It’s been a tough and frustrating year for financial professionals. Watching other smart, motivated people lose their jobs is sobering. Increased regulation is forcing many institutions that were playing by the rules to endure shrinking margins and panicked customers. It’s like being grounded because your sibling broke curfew. As the economy shifts and uncertainty prevails, what should women in finance do to ensure their own future?
First, congratulate yourself. You’re a motivated woman in the right industry. Sure, there will be changes and disruption, but finance is here to stay. As Patty Vantuhl of Bank of America noted, “There will always be a financial world. Names and players will change. But people will always need a way to store, access, invest, leverage and keep track of their money.” If you were in the newspaper publishing business, this would be a very different article.
So you’re in the right place, right career. Now what? What will it take to thrive in the new economy?
Build capacity
Just as a wider boat increases stability in a whitewater river, your continued ability to prosper requires you to build capacity. Three ways to do that are:
- Learn. Expand your knowledge of other departments and aspects of the industry. So what if you can’t return to school? Take a marketing professional to lunch. Spend an extra few minutes chatting with a customer. If you are in service, spend some time shadowing the sales folks.
- Raise your hand. Volunteer for that risky, high profile assignment. Don’t let you inner critic stop you from taking a chance. If you aren’t slightly intimidated by the project, don’t take it. Jump into a project and learn your way out of it.
- If you can’t move up, move over. In over 300 interviews with highly effective leaders, we learned that many career paths look more like an “etch a sketch” drawing than a trajectory. If, during these economic times, your options for a promotion are limited, try moving laterally. A broad exposure will pay off later.
Manage the White Space
The white space is the pause between the “uh-oh” and the “oh-no” – the time between the “rumor” and the actuality. For example, you hear a layoff is coming, but don’t know your own fate. Or, a high stakes meeting is announced, but you’ve not yet heard if you are invited.
Too often, women waste that white space fretting or being anxious. As a savvy Henry Link once wrote, fear is the sign of an overactive mind and underactive body. If you’re worried or nervous about the future, get busy. Create a back up plan. Tell the meeting organizer that you need to attend the meeting and will make vital contributions. Don’t use the white space to worry. Replace fear with hope and action.
Focus on Five
As the pace accelerates and things become more uncertain, focus on the following five:
- What’s Coming
The short-term crisis is consuming, but keeping part of your attention on the long-term is vital. Whitewater enthusiasts will tell you that the bigger turbulence, the more important it is to know where you need to be at the end of the rapid. Continue to spend at least 10% of your efforts on your long-term goals. - The Big Picture
You are ultimately most useful to your organization if you understand the entire system and how things fit together. Do you truly “get” how all the pieces fit together? Do you recognize how a policy or market change will affect your colleagues in other departments? Do you know what keeps them awake at night? - The Basics
The closer you can get to the core of the business, the stronger your chances of thriving in this economy. What are the most important tasks? What drives profit? Your success during a chaotic time might be determined by how well you understand this and how close you can get to the essential work of your business. - Others and Your Shared Success
In tough times and shrinking budgets, the tendency is to hunker down – producing inter-department bickering and negativity. Those silos can be very damaging to the operations and the morale of your organization. Use your knowledge of the big picture (See #2) to drive your approach to shared success. When we pull out of this current challenge, your colleagues will remember. - Your Best Self
Do you know what your best self is? Razor sharp analytical skills? A gift for sealing deals? When stretched by challenging times, women leaders too often put themselves last, assuming they can continue to harness the energy of their teams without replenishing their own. They risk not bringing their best self to work.
Your best self means you are having fun. If Diane Casey Landy, Chief Operating Officer of the American Bankers Association, can ride an elephant into a national conference wearing full show girl regalia, surely the rest of us can lighten up.
Of course, we’ve all had days that require “show time,” when we’d much rather take a nap than negotiate the deal, face the Board of Directors or corral the negative employee. On those days, remember to give yourself permission to regroup, whether it’s a spa, gym workout, family time or a dig in the garden.
You’ve chosen a solid industry and you’re driven enough to read articles on this website. Just remember to keep expanding your capacity and manage the pause between the “uh-oh” and the “oh-no”. Focus on what’s coming, the big picture, and the basics of the business, others and your shared success. Above all, know who your best self is. If current work crisis takes the best out of you, the sustainable response is to get it back.
Leadership Coach and Keynote Speaker Liz Cornish guides financial women from middle management – executive levels to manage transitions, achieve their goals and sustain top performance. Find her McGraw Hill leadership book, Hit the Ground Running: a Woman’s Guide to Success for the First 100 Days on the Job and other excellent resources on her websites: First 100 Days and Liz Cornish.