Voice of Experience: Yvette Vargas, Managing Director, Head of Talent Development & Diversity, UBS Wealth Management

yvettevargasBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“My role at UBS is to put in a talent management framework that is totally integrated with – subsumed in – our diversity agenda. I’ve been working to reframe how people think about managing talent, to make sure the right people are in the right jobs at the right time in the context of the business they’re in,” explained Yvette Vargas, Managing Director and Head of Talent Development and Diversity at UBS Wealth Management.

“When I look at financial services, diversity has really been focused on evolving from affirmative action and creating awareness around sensitivity to now understanding the importance of diversity from a values perspective,” she explained. “The challenges is getting people to think about this from a business perspective.”

She added, “If we do this right – set the philosophy, processes, tools – managers can become the best talent managers they can be.”

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Office Politics – Five Steps to Make It Joyful

Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

The Joy of Office Politics. Oxymoron? Almost every leader I talk to hates office politics and sees it as a necessary evil to get things done. What if we discovered steps that would actually help make office politics joyful? Would you try them?

Here’s a recent client situation that inspired me to write this blog post. My client is a senior leader in a new role in the Supply Chain in a manufacturing company. She is responsible for major transformation of the Supply Chain function. The new CEO of her division is holding her accountable for making it happen. She has a dotted line reporting relationship to the Supply Chain Head who is the official Sponsor of the transformation project. The problem is that the Supply Chain Head was recently demoted in position and does not have a great relationship with the CEO. The transformation project is to dismantle some of what the Supply Chain Head created over his 20+ year career. He’s not exactly thrilled, as you might imagine. He is unconsciously sabotaging the efforts my client is responsible for.

She has been told by the current CEO she needs to be the “watchdog” to report back any sabotage. However, she needs the Supply Chain Head’s help, as most of the people implementing the changes work for him. Who should she be loyal to? How can she be successful? The “icky” politics of this is enough to get her to avoid the situation all together.

Does this situation sound familiar? Do you know anyone who is accountable for results where they have no direct authority and political agendas get in the way? Not you? Maybe a friend you know?

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Is the Opt Out Myth Officially Defeated?

iStock_000006262297XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Recently Pew Research released the results of a new study showing that career aspirations are increasing in women. According to the research, the importance women aged 18-34 placed on career aspiration increased by 10% between 1997 and 2011. Not only that, the importance of career aspirations to men aged 18-24 only increased by 1%. In fact, the study showed, more young women (66%) than men (59%) named “being successful in a high paying career or profession” as very important or one of the most important things to them.

And it’s not just young women. The importance of a high paying career to women aged 35 to 64 also rose significantly in the same time period – from 26% to 42%. That’s an even bigger leap than for younger women. Men of the same age group only saw a 2% increase in the importance of a high paying career.

The ambition gap is officially closed. But what’s really surprising is how much more quickly women’s ambition seems to be growing. Will companies be able to keep up with women’s soaring career goals? And now that we can clearly see that the importance women place on their career is equal to (surpassing, even) men at every age, can we finally lay the opt-out myth to rest?

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How to Talk about a Risky Career Move with Your Partner

iStock_000009286763XSmallBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

You’ve just found out that you’re receiving a promotion—along with the extra hours that it entails. Or maybe you’ve been asked to join a new firm, or tackle an assignment abroad. While new career opportunities are cause for celebration, they can also raise complex work/life issues that need to be resolved with family members, particularly your partner or spouse.

Major job changes, while exciting, can also be risky—sometimes even more so for partners and other family members than for the person with the opportunity. Therefore, it can be difficult for ambitious women to announce to their significant other that they are considering a risky career move.

With a PhD in molecular medicine and leading a team of scientists, Teresa Bryan had been on the rise in the biotech industry. Yet she wanted to start a family-owned business. Because the change would entail giving up her current earning potential, as well as career growth and experience in her industry, Bryan was afraid such a drastic and high-risk career change would not be well-received by her husband. She describes the process that she went through in discussing the possibility with him:

“We found it best to talk things out and put all the pros and cons on the table. We also were sure to be completely honest with one another regarding expectations and pitfalls. We knew that we’d be losing a large source of income, likely need to delay having a child, have insanely busy work and travel schedules, and would need to drastically reduce our discretionary spending. But, we were also gaining the opportunity to be in control of our future—this was the most important benefit for us.”

Bryan says the most critical point was to get her husband on board with 100% buy-in to the commitment. “We agreed that this was the risk we wanted to take, and understood the implications,” says Bryan. “He was highly supportive since he realized the new career move was in the best interest for our family.”

Not everyone’s situation goes as smoothly as Bryan’s. What are the best strategies to handle this possible communication powder keg to ensure the best possible outcome for all involved? Read on.

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