Voice of Experience, Jessica Lieberman Quinn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning, American Express

Fresh out of college with a dual degree — a BS in Economics from the Wharton School and a BA in History from the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania – Jessica Lieberman Quinn’s first position was an ideal avenue into the business world. Working at a small investment banking firm, she was privy to a wide variety of deals, from M&A to IPOs across a variety of industries.

“Even as a more junior person, I was fortunate to spend time with clients who were CEOs. They were running small to mid-sized businesses, and I was able to have a look through their eyes at what was important in running and growing a business. These early experiences taught me to view business in a big-picture framework.”

It wasn’t long, though, before she realized investment banking wasn’t her long-term passion, and she went back to school to earn her MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

“Since I already had a degree in finance, I decided I wanted to experience different subjects with the best minds out there, so I was committed to taking classes with the best professors no matter what discipline they were in,” Lieberman says. “In fact, when people ask what my favorite class was, they expect me to say finance, but it was actually a marketing class in which we did a product management simulation.”

After her summer internship at American Express, she joined the firm full-time and fourteen years later, has rotated through a wide variety of finance positions — seven different roles in all. Most of them have been in decision support finance, with a focus on business planning and analysis, resource allocation, deal negotiation support and pricing, and in departments as diverse as Global Corporate Payments, Global Merchant Services and International Consumer Services, among others.

“One of the many benefits of working at American Express is the ability to move around frequently. You never stay in a job long enough to become bored and there is always a fresh challenge.”

Several months into her new role as head of corporate planning, she is appreciating the evolution her department has undergone since her stint in the department over a decade ago. In particular she cites the heightened regulatory environment that has emerged, and her involvement in the stress testing process for the company.

Mastering the Juggle

Lieberman says that even compared to the many thorny business challenges she’s helped her partners and colleagues overcome, the career achievement she is most proud of is her ability to manage her work and home life. “Working full time with two kids is not always easy, and I don’t always get it right, but I am proud of pulling it all together. Striking the right chord between how I drive both my career and personal life is very important to me. It’s a high bar to be a great mom, good wife, high performer at the office and find me time. At times the level of energy it takes surpasses any other project or initiative I’ve ever worked on, but I love it both personally and professionally. It is absolutely worth it.

“It’s What AND Who You Know”

Lieberman says that the most valuable lesson she’s learned over the years is the importance of networking and sponsorship. As with many high achievers, early in her career, she navigated the path to success based on merit, numbers and grades: she had earned her rewards by working really hard to earn great grades, be accepted at a great university, interview with a top company based on her GPA and then perform at the highest level once on the job.

“As a young person, it wasn’t about who your connections were to get to that point, so I didn’t see how sponsorship could augment merit. At a certain point, the lightbulb went on, and I realized that performance plus relationships are the elements that make you successful.”

Her hope is that junior women will realize that what makes them successful early in their career is not necessarily the same set of competencies that will lead to success as they become more senior.

In addition to the key role that networking and sponsorship play, Lieberman cites executive presence as a key trait to success. ”It incorporates a lot of elements – gravitas, communication, appearance – and I think there are lots of ways that women get tripped up. It’s not like decades ago where women tended to adopt characteristics of men, but you must have the awareness, as a woman, that how you present yourself matters, and that, like it or not, it probably matters more than for your male colleagues.”

Working Together to Overcome Challenges

Lieberman acknowledges that women in the finance industry as a whole face challenges to ascending to top positions. She believes that American Express is committed to making strides in that area, through groups such as the Women in Finance affinity network, which is conducting ‘root cause’ research. Specifically, they are interviewing women who are midcareer as a way to extrapolate information about why some women drop out before reaching higher levels and what can be done to keep them.

“We’re discussing the issues facing women, such as ‘Is there enough sponsorship? Is there enough flexibility? How does the fact that women bear most of the burden at home factor into career decisions? Is there enough support from leaders?’ I’m sure every firm grapples with these issues.”

Other groups with which Lieberman has been active in include the Women in Finance Network, which features “hot topic sessions,” where senior women will host smaller sessions as a way to introduce conversations and offer input in a collaborative fashion. Recent conversation starters have included the “Confidence Gap” and a TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg.

Lieberman cites the company’s Pathways to Sponsorship program, which is designed to reach high-potential women with coaching and skill building to enhance their leadership capabilities, along with access to senior leaders. She says the program placed a heavy emphasis on the importance of networking, and today she sees the value for the women on her team who are involved.

Lieberman believes in the value of mentoring younger women, and recommends that her peers who have successfully navigated the career path help women by acting as sponsors, along with making the workplace friendlier to their needs, and providing a range of real life examples of how it can be done. “I think it’s important to avoid judging the choices other women have made – whether they’ve decided to work or not, or have a family or not. There’s a lot of choice along the spectrum for women, and in many ways we’re lucky to have that much choice. We need to accept and support the decisions that work for each individual.”

Outside Interests: Her Family

Reflecting back on the “juggle” she cited earlier, Lieberman reaffirmed her commitment to her six-year-old twin daughters and her husband with any free minute. “When I am not at work, I spend as much time with them as I possibly can!”

By Cathie Ericson