Collective Wisdom: Women on Wall Street

By Melissa Anderson

Last week, Deutsche Bank held its 20th annual Women on Wall Street Conference in New York City, placing an emphasis on the benefits of collaboration. In his opening talk, Deutsche Bank’s co-CEO Jürgen Fitschen suggested that by cultivating more female leaders, the financial industry could work to prevent the next financial crisis.

“I have not the slightest doubt that if we let people do this… we will not commit the same stupid mistakes,” he said. He called on men to become more engaged in efforts toward gender equality, although, he continued, it will take some outreach by women in the industry.

“Very few have had the experience to look eye to eye with women. They are influenced by their relationship as husband or son. But you should reach out to them. You will see a lot of eyebrows raised, but don’t pay attention to them.”

There were quite a few more men at the conference than there had been in previous years. In fact, this year’s Women on Wall Street conference seemed to have a different tone than in the past, drawing on the wisdom of speakers from a variety of backgrounds, including business leaders, academics, and a one-on-one conversation between moderator Jill Schlesinger, CBS News Business Analyst, and Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer of the hit tv shows Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, and executive producer of the new show How to Get Away with Murder.

“We are constantly looking for ways to innovate and that requires you to take a risk even if it means you will fail,” Fitschen said. “Be bold.”

Women at the Top
Schlesinger also moderated the conference’s main panel, which included Ayah Bdeir, Founder and CEO of littleBits; Dina Dublon, a board director at Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, and PepsiCo; Sonia Gardner, President, Co-Founder, and Managing Partner of Avenue Capital Group; and Katherine Phillips, a professor of leadership and ethics and Senior Vice Dean of Columbia Business School.

Dublon, the former executive vice president and CFO of JP Morgan, looked back on the pace by which women are being accepted as leaders in the business sector.

“It has changed painfully slow, but it has changed,” she said. “In some ways at the top it feels like it has stalled, but we have moved up to the top. The bottleneck for women is at a much higher level. For other minorities [the bottleneck] is at a lower level.”

Indeed, women are now entering the business sector at a rate almost commensurate with men, yet there are comparatively few people of color at the entry-level. According to Catalyst’s research, women make up only 8.1% of top earner positions in the Fortune 500, and only 14.6% of CEOs. The rate of growth here has remained flat for four years. The rate of growth of women in board seats in the Fortune 500, at 16.9%, has seen no significant rise in eight years. Women of color make up only 3.2% of board seats and two-thirds of companies in the Fortune 500 have no women of color on their boards.

Philips said she believes there is still a lot of work to do before the business sector reaps the benefits of diversity. While there are women and people of color in top leadership positions throughout the United States, she said, “the people who have made it to those positions are anomalies.”

She continued, “The signpost for me will happen when it’s not that big news.”

Rhimes on Goals and Work-Life
Later on, Schlesinger introduced Rhimes to an excited crowd. Rhimes spoke on how her competitive nature has been part of her success.

“My definition of success changes constantly,” she said. “I think it has to.”

She continued, “If you want to stay active, excited, and engaged – I change my finish line constantly.”

Her finish line went from getting her first show – Grey’s Anatomy – on the air, then having it stay on for a season, then two seasons, and them getting two shows. Now, she said, she has 500 employees and sees that as a function of her job. “It’s a responsibility,” she said.

Rhimes is also a mother to three children – a 12-year old, a 2-year old, and a 1-year old.

“I said if I don’t have more children because I had all this work, I’m going to be mad,” she laughed.

According to Rhimes, balance is not something she strives for, and has found a way to frame the challenges of being a working parent that works for her: embracing failure.

“Every time you see me succeeding in one area of my life, I am invariably failing in another area of my life,” she said, referring to the commencement address she gave at Dartmouth this year.

For example, she missed Sandra Oh’s last night filming in Grey’s Anatomy to see her daughter perform in her first musical, The Sound of Music. But sometimes she has to miss her daughter’s concerts for work, too.

She doesn’t view it as a matter of making trade-offs though, she said. “It’s a failure, and I accept it.”