Voice of Experience: Theresa S. Wilson, CIO/Operations and EVP Technical Services, Wells Fargo

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Make sure you’re in front of the right leadership, that you’re sharing about the type of work you do,” advised Theresa S. Wilson, CIO of Operations and EVP of Technical Services at Wells Fargo. She continued, “You have to be vocal.”

Wilson, who has been with her company for 34 years, through several mergers and acquisitions, emphasized the importance of portraying one’s skills. She said, “It’s always good to step outside [your area] and help another group, so you can show your leadership style to others and build a wide breadth of your network.”

She continued, “Volunteer to do extra work. Demonstrate your leadership.”

Building a Career in Technology

When I was in college, I was a typical student, and I couldn’t decide what to do,” said Wilson. “I was very good at math so I majored in Technology and Computer Science.”

After college, Wilson joined First Union Bank, which became Wachovia, and is now part of Wells Fargo. She explained, “I joined the internship program in technology, working as a developer for 18 months, doing coding and testing. Then I went into leadership and management. I was asked a year later to come on full time.”

Wilson has been with the company ever since, she said, having seen several acquisitions, she said one of the most interesting parts of her job is the rate of culture change within the company. She explained, “One of the things I valued a lot is making new people comfortable in a new culture,” noting that she sees a blend of corporate cultures after businesses merge.

She continued, “We’re working on that right now with Wells Fargo and legacy Wachovia. It’s been interesting to see the two cultures come together. And now we’re talking about geographic locations – in the past m of the Wachovia acquisitions have been on the East Coast.”

“Fortunately,” she continued, “I have a team [spread out across] the US – it’s great to see my team all come together. Folks step in and help out no matter which legacy organization they’ve come from.”

Looking back, Wilson said, a major career achievement was the development and implementation of a customer information system in the early ’90s – which is still in use today. She said, “Earlier in my career, I applied to lead a major project – $30 to $50 million. We actually built a deposit system interface, the customer information system – which was unheard of in 1993. It’s still in place today to some extent. It was forward thinking, easily adaptable.”

Wilson said, that in the next ten years, she hopes to retire. She said, “It’s my plan! My kids, who are young adults now, tease me though. They don’t see me retiring anytime soon. I’m the type of person who needs to do something.”

Advice for Women in the Technology Field

“In the beginning, I felt I would do well. I thought all I had to do was my job, and if everybody saw that I would be successful.” But actually, Wilson said, “Stand out, build your network, and be more assertive.”

Wilson continued, “Perception-wise, it’s still a man’s world. Sometimes it discourages women, but it’s getting much better than when I came along. But still, the perception is there.”

When she is managing young people, Wilson said she often has to remind her employees to focus on the building basic skills. She said, “Especially in technology, if you’re very ambitious, you want to move at a very fast pace. You need to help slow them down just a tad so they can get the basics. You’ve got to be able to perform. You need to your job and do it well.”

She continued, “But you don’t want to break that ambition – it’s a balancing act.”

She advised women at the mid-level of their careers to concentrate on networking. Wilson also emphasized the importance of mentors. She said, “I’ve always had more than one, so I could learn which traits I liked and didn’t like. It helps to be the right hand person to a leader – you have the opportunity to learn by observance.”

“It’s helpful to go other key executive meetings, to observe style differences,” she added.

As far as getting women in the leadership pipeline, Wilson said that at Wells Fargo, “we do ensure we’re looking at a diverse candidate pool, that women, with the same skill set, have the same chance at the position as men.”

The company also provides mentoring initiatives for women.