Voice of Experience: Denise Higgins, CFA, Client Portfolio Manager, ING U.S. Investment Management

denisehigginsBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Having spent most of her career as a portfolio manager, Denise Higgins, CFA, Client Portfolio Manager at ING U.S. Investment Management, says she feels very fortunate to have worked in a profession where women succeeded based on merit. “As a portfolio manager, you get a report card every day and your performance can be judged very objectively. If you deliver strong results, you will advance,” she said. However, one of the key challenges for women in the industry is that there are still few female role models at the very top.

But, she continued, she believes things are improving and that senior women can help facilitate the change – by actively mentoring and sponsoring the next generation of women in the pipeline.

“Take the time to be a mentor. You can mentor formally, but do it informally too. Identify the people who have good promise and try to give it back by advising them and raising their exposure. The only way to get more women in management roles in the industry is to lend a hand and be proactive about it,” she encouraged.

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Measuring Small Achievements, Setting Ambitious Goals

iStock_000014604652XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Phew! This was one busy summer here at The Glass Hammer – and according to a recent online poll of our readers it’s likely been a busy one for you too!

Only 11 percent of you said you wouldn’t be taking any work on vacation this summer. Twelve percent said you’d be working during vacation – or at least checking in a few times. And – the bad news – a whopping 64 percent of our respondents asked, “what vacation?”

Yikes! We hope you got the rest you needed, because this fall is going to be a busy one. We’re running (at least) three events between now and the end of the year (including this year’s breakfast panel in our popular Top Women on the Buy-Side event series and our Women in Technology career development panel) and we’ve got a few more plans underway as well.

You, no doubt, also have plenty of big business targets to accomplish before the end of 2012. So now as you take last big gulp of summer air before sprinting toward the end of the year, it might be the perfect opportunity to take stock of the career resolutions you set in January. In fact, it might be the perfect time to think about the big, intimidating career aspirations you have too.

Be brave – is the work you’re doing now going to get you where you want to go?

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Turn Your Lateral Move into a Career Catapult

Business woman with spectacles while at workBy Robin Madell, San Francisco

The only thing between you and retirement is your replacement. Instead of looking behind you, look over.

Those are messages that Joanne Cleaver, author of the new book The Career Lattice: Combat Brain Drain, Improve Company Culture, and Attract Top Talent has for executives and professionals across diverse industries—including financial services, law, and technology.

In an exclusive interview, The Glass Hammer asked Cleaver for strategies that executive women can use to turn lateral moves into career catapults rather than career killers.

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Men Who Get It: John Sensiba, Managing Partner, Sensiba San Filippo LLP

johnsensiba

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Diversity is the best resource we have,” explained John Sensiba, Managing Partner of the Northern California CPA and Business consulting firm Sensiba San Filippo LLP, “it’s not just me who thinks that – all our partners understand that diversity brings strength more than anything.” In an industry not known to have a wide range of diversity, a firm that expands its vision of what a partner looks like can gain a competitive edge, Sensiba notes.

Likewise, he continued, changing the gender make-up of a conversation will change its tone. “When we added our first woman partner, that changed the conversation. Having a balance tends to raise the level of conversation.”

That’s why the business case for diversity is clear, he continued. “If you define diversity in terms of gender, it’s an easy question. You’re ignoring 50% of the opportunities in the workplace if you look only to one gender. If you have a homogeneous group, you get a homogeneous answer – and that makes you weak.”

But it’s not just about business, Sensiba continued. “I think we’re a firm who gets it – it’s just a matter of following the golden rule: treating people the way you want to be treated. If you follow that rule, other characteristics don’t really matter.”

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Owning the Business Leadership Style That Is Right For You

BeateCheletteContributed by Beate Chelette

Many women in business struggle to find their own leadership style that feels right, natural, and based on “women-centric” qualities instead of “male” attributes.

I hear from women all the time who want something new, a leadership style that reflects more fully what their values are and who they are as individuals. Instead of mimicking male and often outdated models, as women, we must begin to identify what leadership is for us.

The new model I propose must utilize our intuition as well as intellectual abilities.

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Back to School? Back to Work!

VivianRabinContributed by Vivian Rabin, Cofounder, iRelaunch

It’s that time of year again. Back to school. Although I have only one child still at home, the beginning of September will always feel like the beginning of the New Year to me. I even tend to plot my New Year’s resolutions over the summer. “This fall, I’ll… contact ten potential new clients, finish those foreign language CDs, start exercising regularly (yeah, right!).

Thinking back, it was at this time twelve years ago that I decided to really focus on trying to return to work, after seven years at home with my kids. I remember telling myself the prior spring, “you’ll have one more leisurely summer, and then you’ve really got to start DOING something.” Not that I wasn’t doing anything. With five kids age 11 and under, I was plenty busy, but the kids were all slated to be in school at least part of the day, so I figured I had a few potential “revenue generating” hours available. And I was determined to make the most out of them. But how?

To make a long story short, I ended up working for a neighbor who had his own executive search business (I had been in finance, then recruiting, before I left the workforce). Executive search turned out to be a great fit for me, and I eventually developed my own client base. But I remained passionate about the issue of returning to work after taking a career break, and I co-authored a book on the topic (Back on the Career Track). My co-author Carol Cohen and I then founded iRelaunch and began running the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference throughout the US and in London, bringing together professional women who have been out of the workforce with employer sponsors for a day of education and networking.

So if you’re on career break now, whether taking care of your kids or for other reasons, let this be the year you DO something. Here are 5 simple steps you can take in the next week to move your relaunch forward.

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Our Latest Research: LGBT Women in Finance in the UK

LGBT-UKResearchBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

This year, The Glass Hammer has been exploring what it means to have many social identities – after all, not every woman is the same, obviously, and we are shaped by our other different social and ethnic backgrounds as well. For example, how does being a woman impact your ambition, your networking techniques, or your ability to get a promotion at work? How does adding an additional minority identity – like LGBT – change that?

We believe that taking a more granular approach to diversity is one way to develop programs, policies, and workplace cultures that help every person thrive in their career.

That’s why Evolved Employer, our workplace consulting arm, is launching today our latest research into multiple identities: “Being Out at Work: Exploring LGBT women’s workplace experience in the UK.”

Our research revealed some interesting results around the impact of leadership on creating inclusive cultures. And our respondents were not shy in letting us know – the leadership at many firms may be talking the talk, but managers and colleagues are not always walking the walk.

This points to the importance of LGBT allies (also known as straight allies). When straight colleges are willing to stand up for LGBT inclusion, they can help achieve the inclusive culture that so many people in senior management talk about. Leadership support is important, but leaders can’t do it alone. People on the ground practicing inclusion every day are critical to creating organizations where being out isn’t seen as being a career liability. This is the key to developing a company where everyone can bring their whole selves to work.

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