The 15th Annual Women on Wall Street Conference 2009 Coverage
By Nicki Gilmour (New York City)
“Overcoming Obstacles: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities” was the theme of Deutsche Bank’s 15th annual Women on Wall Street conference (WOWS) held this past Tuesday evening in New York City. And, after some seriously tough market conditions this year, the audience was eager to pick up some tips on how to go forward successfully.
In her keynote address, Joanne Barsh, a Director at McKinsey, challenged the women in the audience “to cross the line tonight, shift from a person to whom life happens to becoming a woman who makes life happen.” As previously reported, Ms. Barsh is the designer of a leadership framework called Centered Leadership, which promotes examination of the following areas of your life to become a more effective leader and have increased satisfaction in your personal life:
- How you manage your energy (Energizing)
- What is the sense of purpose that your work gives you (Meaning)
- How you perceive situations to be (Framing)
- How you relate and connect to other people (Connecting)
- How you interact and how you take risks (Engaging)
The panel took up the challenge, offering advice on each of the above points from their own perspective. Dr. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, did not disappoint last night as the first panelist to tackle the issue of “Engaging.” Dr. Hewlett said, “Women know what they really need and it is rich access to mentors and especially to sponsors. Isolation is the worst poison for women and they know it.” She then mentioned a recent study she conducted in the technology sector which showed that women took risks at just one third of the rate that men took risks and that the “dive and catch culture” of running off to fix something to be a hero as a result was less appealing to women due to the lack the “buddy system.” She explained that if you lack that safety net provided by a sponsor who can pick you up and dust you off if you fail, you are less likely to volunteer for the bigger and more risky jobs or situations. “The safety net is what most men build naturally through engaging and it is a pre-condition for risk taking,” she added.
The importance of having someone who will “have your back” was reiterated by all the panelists. And that’s where networking comes into play, according to Eileen Taylor, the Head of Global Diversity for Deutsche Bank. But, she added, that there is often a misconception of what effective networking actually is. Ms. Taylor advised each woman in the audience to put herself in situations where she could find common ground with the others there, like, for example, a lunch she arranged for the female Managing Directors from the trading floor in London. She added, “A lot of business connections happened [out of that].”
Denise Incandela, the President of Saks Direct, talked extensively about how she learned the value of connecting, something which, in her words, she had previously viewed as “not a productive use of time.” To illustrate the point, she shared a story about the dot com bubble burst, which led Ms. Incandela to re-integrate the internet side of her business back into the main fold for a few years. The move received less support from colleagues than it would have had she taken the time to connect with her colleagues. But, after taking that time to connect and engage, she was once again given the blessing and support to build out SaksDirect.com as a business when the time was right. It is now Saks’ second biggest store outside of 5th Ave in NYC.
Moving on to “Framing,” Lucille Douglass, a managing director at Deutsche Asset Management, shared an incident early in her career when, because of restructuring, she was made redundant. Instead of allowing herself to enter into the “downward spiral” that can happen at that point, Ms. Douglass reframed the situation to her advantage. She sought out and obtained ten references from a top executive, a move which ultimately led to her career in financial services.
The message from the panelists was clear: first turn around the negative in to a positive and then take all of the skills you have and match them to something you want to do. And the benefits are undeniable. According to Ms. Barsh, a self-proclaimed pessimist, if you frame things positively, you can have up to three times more satisfaction in your life.
Ms. Hewett added her thoughts on the importance of adapting to circumstances, whatever they might be, saying “A recession is a terrible thing to waste.” She reminded the audience one must find a use for one’s talents and understand what drives and energizes them. Once one does that, one should build a Personal Board of Directors to help her go forward into the future in a more thoughtful and useful way.
Roelfiens Kujpers, a managing director with Deutsche Bank and global head of DB Advisors, wrapped up the panel by summing up many of the panelists’ advice. “If people are vested in your success, then your success is their success and their success is the company’s success.” She then added some additional words of advice we would all do well to follow: “Don’t give up on yourself; create a pleasant work environment for yourself and others; don’t make enemies; and take personal risk.”
