Voice of Experience: Mareile Cusack, General Counsel, Ariel Investments

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)Cusack_Mareile_H_9975

“Change awakens the stranger in you. When you are faced with a different situation, that’s when you find your strength and are able to grow and become a better person,” said Mareile Cusack, General Counsel at Chicago investment firm, Ariel Investments.

That’s the voice of experience talking. Cusack was born in Haiti. At the age of two, she and her family fled to Guinea when her father, a government official, was exiled. They remained in northwest Africa until a nationalist movement forced all foreigners out five years later. “It was an unusual time. It wasn’t yet violent but foreigners were being looked upon with suspicion. I do remember, though, that the father of someone I knew suddenly disappeared because he was thought to be a spy. It was that kind environment, so my parents decided it was time to get out.” The family moved to France, where Cusack lived until she came to the United States to attend boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts at the age of 16.

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Ask-A-Career Coach: How To Handle The First Days On The Job

jobsearchContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

I am starting a bigger role in a new company. How do I handle messaging, managing my team and the first days on the job in general?

Congratulations on the new role! Even more congratulations are due for recognizing that getting the job is just the first step. Any time there is a big change, be deliberate about how you will handle your first quarter, first half, and first year. Here are some tips for that first quarter:

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FN100 List: Where are the women?

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By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)Feminine Business 2

If you’re paying attention, then you know that women are good for business. Even outside of women-focused news outlets like ours, people are finally talking about the positive link between women in leadership and bottom line results. Just last week, the Clinton Global Initiative held a programming track at its annual meeting, called Investing in Girls and Women. There was a special topic dinner held one night during the meeting to celebrate people committed to addressing the challenges and accomplishments of women around the globe. The participants included: Sarah Brown, Wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of State and Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank. A plenary session on gender inequality featured speakers including: Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs and Robert B. Zoellick, President, The World Bank. So why, if awareness is raised, if the data exists, if heavy hitters like the ones mentioned above are discussing the issue, why are there still so few women at the top?

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Voice of Experience: Cynthia Steer, Chief Research Strategist and the Head of Beta Research Group, Rogerscasey

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)steer_cynthia_2006_3

A former competitive figure skater, swimmer, and track and field star, Cynthia Steer knows about self-discipline and drive. She relies on those traits daily as the Chief Research Strategist and the head of Beta Research Group at global investment solutions firm Rogerscasey.

“I was an athlete at a time when women were not normally athletes,” she explained. She forced the integration of her high school track team and held her own as the only girl on the team.
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group. Martin Mitchel of CTG

The E.U. unveiled new rules to create a new Eurpoean Systematic Risk Board. The pound fell to a low of £0.9078 against the euro, its weakest level since April. Goldman Sachs tops Dealogic’s third quarter M&A list. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

  • The European Union unveiled new rules that it hopes will prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. The draft legislation will create a new European Systemic Risk Board warning of threats to financial stability. The board’s main members will be the 27 central bank governors as well as the president and vice president of the ECB. There will also be a European System of Financial Supervisors to oversee individual banks and financial groups, although day-to-day supervision will remain with national supervisors.
  • A technical analysis of sterling’s performance since 2007 published in the Bank of England’s quarterly report brought about a substantial fall in the pound. The article highlighted changes to Britain’s economic outlook, including the perceived riskiness of its assets and the need to rebalance the economy away from domestic consumption. The pound fell to a low of £0.9078 against the euro, its weakest level since April.

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The White House Project: Promoting Women Leaders in the Public and Private Sectors

iStock_000004638435XSmall[1]By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

“When we started there was absolutely no attention paid to how stuck women’s leadership was in the US,” says Marie Wilson, founder and President of The White House Project.  That was 1998. Today, she says, “people actually care about women’s leadership.”

The White House Project aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency—by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women. Wilson’s objective was to help foster a representative democracy, with women leading alongside men in all areas of life. The last decade has seen The White House Project become a leading voice on women’s leadership.

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Five Tips to Help You Become a Transparent Leader

Contributed by Colleen J. Payne-Nabors of www.colleenjpayne.com.iStock_000000869742XSmall

Leadership is neither an art nor a science, rather a combination of both. It is an art form because it must continually change and evolve, requiring energy and creativity. And it is a science because there are certain essential principles and techniques required to become a good leader.

Management positions give you the power to make decisions, but this power does not make you a leader. It makes you merely the boss. A good leader empowers, motivates and inspires others to reach a common goal. Anyone can manage, but leading requires transparency.

Transparency is the ability to clearly see the relationship between oneself and one’s environment. Transparent leaders know their strengths and weakness but, above all, know who they are and how their actions impact the actions of others.
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The MOVE Project: Top Accounting Firms Trying to Find Out Why Women Leave the Industry

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)iStock_000005966600XSmall

According to Joanne Cleaver, the founder of Wilson-Taylor Associates, there’s a pattern for women in public accounting: they love it, but leave it. There are many theories as to why, but Cleaver, a research project manager and business journalist, has partnered up with the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA) for some solid answers. Together, they’ve created the Accounting/MOVE Project, a national survey research effort to measure and advance women at public accounting firms and corporate accounting employers.

MOVE stands for Money (fair pay practices), Opportunity (advancement and leadership development), Vital supports (work/life programs that remove barriers), and Entrepreneurship (operating experience for managing business ownership). According to Cleaver, this study will be the first of its kind. “The key thing is [that] our methodology combines quantitative with qualitative. Nearly all of the other companies that do similar projects just collect self-reported survey results and draw conclusions from that. We go far beyond, which is why we think this will become the most authoritative measurement of women’s progress in accounting,” Cleaver said.

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Ask-A-Career Coach: When Is The Best Time To Start A Job Search

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart.jobsearch

I am securely employed at a premier management consulting firm. I know that I want to relocate sometime next year but I can take my time. Now that the market is picking up, is it better to start now, or do I wait in January? When does most hiring take place?

Congratulations to this person for recognizing that she can take her time with the job search. Too often people jump into it and settle for the first thing that comes. Even if you have more time urgency, you still want to launch a thoughtful search, and you certainly don’t want to show any time urgency to prospective employers. So a take-my-time attitude is good.
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Goldman Sachs Returnship (SM) Program Helps Top Women On-Ramp Into Finance

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

On September 15, 2008, 11 women walked through the doors of the Goldman Sachs office in Manhattan. Some had decades of experience in finance; others had substantial careers in law, technology, operations and accounting. All had voluntarily taken a hiatus from the workforce—from two years to two decades—and were there to explore the possibility of returning to the world of finance through the pilot Returnship (SM) program offered by Goldman Sachs.

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