Voice of Experience: Heike Eckert, Executive Director, Eurex

Image via MarketsWiki

Image via MarketsWiki

By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

In the mid 1990s, Heike Eckert launched DTB’s US office in Chicago (DTB is a predecessor of Eurex) and after successfully establishing Eurex’s electronic trading business in the US moved back to Frankfurt in 2000 to head up global marketing and sales for Eurex. She moved back to Chicago in 2006 to further expand Eurex’s North American offices in Chicago and New York, and in late 2009, headed back to Frankfurt where she currently resides.

Throughout her career, Eckert has worked with people from many different cultures and expressed the need to differ her management style in the U.S. and Germany.

“We always think that Western culture is the same wherever you go but it is very different. The U.S. has a hierarchical structure and is very goal orientated,” she said. “In Germany, everything is much more of a discussion. We are a society of debate historically.”

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Where’s My Yacht? Conceptualizing the Wage Gap

yachtBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to a recent article in The Glass Hammer, and numerous recent studies, women make, on average, about 76 – 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. But what does this mean over the course of a lifetime?

Luckily, Women are Getting Even (WAGE), a nonprofit organization based in the United States and led by Evelyn F. Murphy, author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It and Annie Houle, National Director of Campus and Community Initiatives, has done the math for us. According to WAGE, over the course of a lifetime, a female high school graduate will lose about $700,000. A female college graduate will lose $1.2 million. And a female professional school graduate will lose $2 million dollars, because of underlying assumptions and outright discrimination based on gender.

These dollar amounts certainly help us conceptualize the cost of gender discrimination in the workplace. But wouldn’t more concrete examples better illustrate the cost of today’s wage gap? Or better yet, what could you purchase with those lost dollars?

Yes, of course. The best things in life are free: a loving family, a fulfilling life, having the last laugh, etc. But let us indulge our materialistic sides, though, for just a bit.

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It’s Not Too Late to Set Career Goals for 2010!

careergoalsBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

New Year’s Eve has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to set career goals for 2010. Even if you have found yourself higher up the corporate ladder than you ever thought possible, it’s important to reflect on what success means to you. Does it simply mean attaining a specific title or earning a large paycheck? Setting career goals for yourself, no matter how much you’ve achieved or how idealistic they seem, is a good way to stay on top of your game and motivate yourself to not only do more, but do better.

Women need to take a more aggressive stance with their careers and the goals outlined below will help them do just that. It should be pointed out that though it’s great to have major career goals like become partner or CEO of a company, these five goals can actually be accomplished over the course of the remaining year so that by New Year’s Eve 2011, you’re on your way to bigger and better things. Here then, are five career goals that women at any level in corporate America should consider taking on over the remainder of the year:

  1. Network Aggressively

    It’s a given that most of your colleagues in corporate America have impressive accomplishments and a wide range of skills, but what gets certain people – men in particular – the promotion you’ve been hoping for? It’s a proven fact that networking leads to jobs and with so many qualified candidates in the job pool, sometimes it really does come down to who you know. Networking can mean schmoozing at a company event, attending an industry dinner, or maybe even hitting the golf course, but it’s got to be done. Read more

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Enduring Myths and Broken Promises

pipelineBy Gigi DeVault (Munich)

On day 4 of this year’s World Economic Forum‘s Davos Conference, members of a panel heading a discussion entitled The Gender Agenda asserted that gender parity is “not just a worthy goal — but also an excellent business proposition.” The panelists, three male chief executives and three professional women, said all the right things. They said what we would expect them to say. And they probably said what we all have been thinking.

Last month, the New York Times published an article on The Gender Agenda; readers posted comments that were manifestly concordant with contemporary thinking about gender-based dynamics in the workforce. To summarize: If you work hard enough—and deliver—you’ll move up the corporate ladder. But expect the “mommy track” to impact your career trajectory. Gender issues don’t really warrant all the attention they garner; if women come into the workforce prepared, companies will hire and promote them.

There’s not much here that would take the Davos debate to a new level, or even rekindle argument. Or is there? In fact, if a report by Catalyst, Pipeline’s Broken Promise, had been released in time for the Davos panelists to prepare for their debate, the discussion may well have taken a different tack.

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Ask-A-Career-Coach: When Networking Doesn’t Lead To The Hidden Job Market

jobsearchContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™

I often hear from people who think that networking means spending lots of time discussing their job search with family and friends. Then when they have exhausted their contacts’ patience and still don’t have a job, they wonder why they haven’t been able to crack this hidden job market everybody alludes to.

The hidden job market does exist and is significant since 80% or more of jobs are filled outside of job postings and recruiters. But the hidden job market is not about employers hiring friends and family. Your BFFs won’t get you a job. The reality is that the winning leads are more likely to be 3 or 4 connections removed. So when you network, in order to tap that hidden market, you need to move out from your comfort zone. If your friends could help you, they would have already. For career changers, friends are especially dangerous b/c they probably have a set way of seeing who you are and what you do and therefore wouldn’t be able to help, however well-intentioned.

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Advice for Managers: Top 5 Ways to Make Gen Y Women More Visible in the Leadership Pipeline

millennialwomenContributed by Selena Rezvani, Author of The Next Generation of Women Leaders

While women are making collective strides in the workplace, their youngest members still have a ways to go. In the words of Kelly Picket, one of the women executives I interviewed for my book, “It doesn’t take much for people to look at a woman in her twenties and say ‘that girl has a lot of growing up to do.’”

On one hand, generation Y women have a high degree of confidence, earn the majority of bachelors and advanced degrees, and as evidenced in a recent Families and Work Institute survey, have a tremendous hunger for jobs with responsibility. On the other hand, this group is the least likely to fit the typical CEO mold, especially compared to the look and leadership style of the most common executive: a Caucasian male in his late 50s.

Here are my top five tips for businesses looking to leverage the talent of Gen Y women, the most ignored leadership pipeline.

  1. Give Them a Proper Induction: From the very moment a Gen Y woman signs an employment contract, you can be instrumental in seeing that she gets off to the right start. Make sure this group has a logistical orientation as well as the more overlooked kind – a culture orientation. Learning the culture of an organization proactively–rather than passively figuring it out as one goes along–can help a newcomer package their messages so that they’re embraced more often. Make leadership development a major priority for all new people entering the organization, rather than an exclusive benefit only for those that are well established.

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The Unexpected Stay-at-Home Mom

unexpectedstayathomemomBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Many working mothers agonize over their decision to spend long hours at the office while their children are being taken care of by full-time nannies. Under these circumstances, there are often feelings of guilt as well as self-doubt. While walking out the door, many women are left wondering if they’re going to miss a pivotal moment in their baby’s life while making their commute, attending a meeting, or working overtime for the third day that week. It’s more than understandable that these feelings exist, but what happens when being a stay-at-home mom isn’t your decision, but rather thrust upon you… after being laid off?

According to Dr. Gillian Paull, a research associate for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the current recession is having a more far-reaching impact on working mothers; more so than previous economic downturns because there are now more mothers in the workforce and because their sectors have been hard hit.

The discord of the guilt-ridden working mother has been well documented, but with this crop of laid off moms brings a multitude of new and unfamiliar problems to the table. After years of tormenting themselves over whether or not they should give up their job in order to raise their children full-time, the one-time fantasy has become a reality and for many women, it’s not how they had envisioned it.

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Voice of Experience: Gena Lovett, Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management

Gena LovettBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Growing up as a little girl on a farm in Arkansas, Gena Lovett, now Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management, knew instinctively that she belonged on Wall Street. There was something about the ringing of the opening bell each day on the morning news that left a lasting impact and kept her dreaming of a high-powered career in New York City. Lovett’s mother, Beulah Lovett, the most influential person in her life, worked herself to the bone and dedicated her life to ensuring that she and her three siblings were taken care of after their father died when Lovett was just ten-years-old. Despite being a single, widowed, working mom, Lovett’s mother was able to keep her children on the straight and narrow after they moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. Eventually all four children would graduate from college, Lovett herself receiving a B.A. in Business Administration from Philander Smith College.

Fast forward just over twenty years later and Lovett has served on numerous boards, accrued years of financial services experience, developed a wide range of expertise managing front, middle, and back office operations, and currently finds herself in the esteemed position of being the first Black American Principal and COO at Alexandra Investment Management, an alternative investment advisor managing assets of approximately $500 million. As if that didn’t keep her busy enough, Lovett is also acting President of the New York Junior League (NYJL), an organization of 3,000 women volunteers who work to address some of the city’s most critical issues through volunteer services. Each member of the organization is dedicated to working just as hard as Lovett does, as 85 percent of the volunteers have full-time jobs and contribute more than 250,000 service hours.

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Why the Paycheck Fairness Act is Crucial

paycheckfairnessBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 29 and according to the organization AAUW, a charitable membership organization dedicated to advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research, it restores the long-standing interpretation of civil rights laws and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policies that allow employees to challenge any discriminatory paycheck they receive. This of course, is a step in the right direction, but recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the pay gap between men and women has actually widened for full-time, year-round workers. It seems completely ludicrous that women are still making less money than men for performing the same amount of work, but what’s even worse is that Congress has failed to pass any legislation that would give women equal pay protections.

This is where the Paycheck Fairness Act comes into play. The bill, which was the topic of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’ hearing yesterday, March 11, provides a much-needed update of the Equal Pay Act, which is completely outdated and nearly 47-years-old. According to AAUW, this comprehensive legislation would create stronger incentives for employers to follow the law, empower women to negotiate for equal pay, and strengthen federal outreach, education, and enforcement efforts. The bill would also deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations and by prohibiting retaliation against workers who ask about employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages. Many believe that after the enactment of Ledbetter Act last year, the Paycheck Fairness Act is the next logical step forward in the fight for pay equity, but whether or not it will pass remains unknown. According to AAUW’s Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, Lisa Maatz; however, the Act has a better chance now than ever before.

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Debating Transparency and Valuation – Theglasshammer.com’s Second Women on the Buy-Side Panel Discussion

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Yesterday, theglasshammer.com hosted its second Women on the Buy-Side networking breakfast and panel discussion. Nicki Gilmour, founder and CEO of theglasshammer.com, began the event by explaining that the purpose of the gathering was to draw together top women in the investment management industry to discuss the topic of risk and its implications on performance for 2010.

Gilmour later explained that by getting top women together, we can continue to create a critical mass of female leaders in the industry and “change the perception of what a leader looks like.” For the women themselves, this was an event where “they are not the only woman in the room.”

Holly H. Miller, founding partner of Stone House Consulting, LLC, moderated the panel on the “massively broad topic called transparency,” today’s new “buzz word.” Panelists included Michelle McCarthy, Chief Risk Officer at Russell Investments, Virginia Volpe, CFA, Director of Hedge Funds, Global Transaction Services at Citi, Diane Garnick, Investment Strategist at Invesco, and Mara Topping, Partner, Investment Funds Group, D.C. Office of White & Case.

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