Why Real Executive Presence is Not Only About Making Impressions

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Smartly dressed young women shaking hands in a business meeting at office desk

When it comes to possessing successful leadership behaviors, C-Suite females rate themselves virtually the same as male executives. But having what it takes to be a leader and being perceived equally as one are different things.

In a recent INSEAD article, Dr. Caroline Rook shared that an investigation of 1,167 female and male C-suite executives revealed “no meaningful differences between the way men and women rate themselves on twelve leadership behaviors attributed to successful global leaders.” In fact, Rook found that in some industries women were more likely to self-rate rate higher than men did on emotional intelligence and team-building.

An Elusive Bridge Between Ability and Success

Experts may advise on how to cultivate it or even be aware of what detracts from it, but executive presence remains elusive. Fast Company has called it “the intangible career trait that you need to succeed.” It’s easier to recognize than describe. It’s been approximated with the words “gravitas”, “charisma”, and the ability to “command a room.” It’s also been called the “workplace X factor”. Executive presence seems to be a Gestalt mosaic of qualities exuded by select leaders which, subjectively perceived, makes their whole greater than the sum of their parts.

Silvia Ann Hewlett, Ph.D., author of Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, told Fast Company that executive presence is “a measure of image – a dynamic mix of gravitas, communication, and appearance.” According to Hewlett and many other experts in this space, executive presence is the bridge you build between your abilities and advancing – because merit alone is unlikely to get you there.

“Executive Presence” Brings Men to Mind

In their study, “Understanding Executive Presence: Perspectives of Business Professionals”, researchers Gavin Dagley and Caderyn Gaskin explored executive presence through in-depth interviews with 34 Australian business professionals with expertise in the effectiveness of organizational executives.

The researchers concluded that “a person with executive presence is someone who, by virtue of how he or she is perceived by audience members at any given point in time, exerts influence beyond that conferred through formal authority.”

Because executive presence is easier to perceive than describe, the researchers began with asking the participants to nominate four people who they thought of as having executive presence, and from that point they explored what executive presence was.

71% of participants brought up and described male examples, women doing so (75%) even more than men (65%). None only brought up female examples. Some participants realized during the interview they were speaking only about men, and self-corrected to include women, but their initial inclination was already clear.

Are the Characteristics of Executive Presence impossibly male?

The researchers found that executive presence is to some extent in the eye of the beholder. One person may perceive an executive to have substantial presence, while others may be less impressed.

They also found that executive presence is not entirely impression-based, something a leader exudes from the first impression. Rather they found that sustained perceptions of executive presence were a sum of initial contacts and evaluations over an extended time of more exposure.

Of the ten characteristics of executive presence they identified, five were based on impressions during brief contacts which we would argue are heavily gendered making it tricky for women to be measured with the same yardstick since historical notions of status are just so, well, male?

  • Status and Reputation – an “initial aura of presence” based upon strong reputation, impressive networks, senior roles held, and significant achievements – “reputation” is the key word
  • Physical Appearance – appearance (“looking the part”), stature, and non-verbal body language such as posture, eye contact, and walk
  • Projected Confidence – displaying outward calmness, composure, and a sense of self, emotional intelligence, dignity, elegance, style, a “sense of authority” or charisma
  • Communication Ability – ability to communicate messages simply, clearly, convincingly and appealingly; effective use of voice; ability to make themselves heard
  • Engagement Skills – ease and manner in which executives engaged with others, with skills such as “eagerness”, “charm”, “apparent sincerity”, “quiet wit”, and “friendliness”
  • The other five characteristics were more evaluation-based and built over time and exposure and are more gender neutral, based more in substance and integrity than status and style. They included, for example:
  • Interpersonal integrity – acknowledging others contributions, “being inclusive”, remembering the last conversation with someone, showing the “human touch”, relationship-based interpersonal sincerity
  • Values-In-Action – acting in accordance with personal values, showing integrity –being “genuine”, “authentic to her values,” “courageous – speaks from the heart,” “tough-minded,” “authentic with follow through,” and “trustworthy”
  • Intelligence and Expertise – quality task-focused thinking, observed as “impressive intellect,” “knowledge in areas of focus,”“considered when expressing views,”“long-term insightful thinker,” “excellent judgment,” and “quiet wisdom”
  • Outcome Delivery Ability – ability to deliver key outcomes, including solid decision-making, commitment, being flexible, being energetic and hard-working, and achieving delivery through others
  • In many ways, these characteristics are more important to leadership than the impression-based, gender-biased measurements that have become attached to executive presence short-hand.
Gender and “Executive Presence”

Dagley and Gaskin found that “executive presence is located in the perceptions of audience members rather than being something inherent in the executive.” Executive presence might be the bridge to the executive office, but it’s also subjectively defined by who is present in it.

The research shows how women can more broadly build the bridge of their executive presence, how you can recognize existing strengths and fill in your own personal gaps. But how executive presence interacts with gender is embodied in the word. The most likely reason “executive presence” brings men to mind first is that men are over-represented in the corporate executive suite.

When will “executive presence” bring women right to mind?

When women have equal presence in executive roles.

That’s a bridge that requires collective organizational and cultural building.

By Aimee Hansen

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Voice of Experience: Jennifer Tsahalis, Managing Director, Head of Planning, Execution & Operations, TIAA Digital

jennifer tsahalis featuredAs a woman in a male-dominated industry, I’ve made sure that my male counterparts know what I bring to the table to ensure I have a seat with them,” says TIAA’s Jenn Tsahalis. Although tech and finance are both male-dominated fields, Tsahalis shares that she hasn’t felt gender discrimination, always assuming positive intent.

Over the years if she was excluded from a meeting or important conversation, for example, she didn’t automatically assume it was because she’s a woman, but because the team wasn’t yet aware of her strengths, talents or ability to add value.

While Tsahalis has worked in financial services technology for many years, she initially attended the University of Vermont where she majored in Electrical Engineering, a path chosen because the school didn’t offer courses in architecture, her intended career of choice at that point.

During the course of interviewing for her first job after college, Tsahalis was particularly intrigued with Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, where she says “it was less about the bits and bytes and more about how you think and how you get work done.” She moved to Boston to work for them, which she says set her career path on its current trajectory. “Accenture taught me many essential skills. Their focus on the thought process and their encouragement to never stop learning has stuck with me.”

Building a Legacy of Success

During the tech bubble days in 2000, Tsahalis had a short stint at Razorfish, before deciding to pursue her next role as a tech lead at Fidelity Investments in the Health & Welfare Benefits Outsourcing division. It was there, while working Fidelity’s NetBenefits product that she says she found her niche and moved into technical project management. In her eventual role as Technology Delivery Manager Tsahalis ran some of the largest and most complex systems in the history of the firm, developing a reputation for bringing highly complex systems and highly matrixed teams together to deliver results.

Following her success at Fidelity, Tsahalis was offered an opportunity to join Merrill Lynch, helping to build the company’s digital presence. In her role as Director of Program Delivery for Online Channels, she led the design, development and delivery of the 3- year program to launch MyMerrill.com and Merrill Edge.com before moving the eventual ongoing day-to-day program delivery of the firm’s client facing (online, mobile, IVR and call center desktop) channels.

It was during this post-launch period that Jenn helped create a process that transitioned this launch of a brand new platform into a steady state development machine and is a period about which she is particularly proud. For Tsahalis, the satisfaction came from overcoming people and process resistance and developing a delivery methodology that made projects run both smoothly and transparently. “I’m one of those people who loves process,” she says. “It was gratifying to develop a process that would make someone’s job easier, in order to give them more time in the day to focus on being creative and innovative.”

In July 2015, Tsahalis joined TIAA as the Chief Operating Officer for the TIAA Digital organization – a group that spans both business and technology and is at the heart of TIAA’s quest to become a true digital company. Different from her technical program delivery past experience, she says working in a business operations role provides unending learning opportunities and challenges, all of which are immensely fulfilling and provide the same opportunity to establish right-sized processes and to grow professionally.

“It is fascinating to work on the business side of the TIAA Digital organization, developing strategic operational plans and delivering essential metrics,” she says. “Automating and improving both the customer experience and our back office operations is imperative to success, because in reality, every company must now become a technology company,” she says. “And this is absolutely true of a firm like TIAA.”

Investing in Each Other

Whether working on technical projects or driving business operations, Tsahalis has found one constant theme. “It’s important for women to support each other, regardless of their career stage,” says Tsahalis. “The workplace can be competitive and this sometimes can cause women to face off against each other. After experiencing some of this in the past, I’ve made it a focus to bond with my female peers and to invest in their teams and their goals, which helps to keep the competitive vibe at bay and better serves us in the long run.”

At TIAA, she has made it a point to join relevant groups including the company’s Women’s Employee Resource Group and the IT Women’s Council, where she recently participated in a panel discussion for International Women’s Day. “The panelists were fantastic – very transparent and candid. We really helped some of these younger women think about how they can manage their career and still have a good life balance,” she says. “I learned so much from the panelists myself – women really can do amazing things and I was inspired by my peers.”

Inspiring the Next Generation of Women

While Tsahalis says she didn’t understand the need to join women’s networking groups earlier in her career, she believes they can be of huge benefit to women because these groups offer an easy way to meet people, build your brand, contribute to a community and potentially even to find a mentor. She also encourages women to look to men as mentors to take advantage of the different perspective they can offer.

Tsahalis advises young women to have a vision for where they want to go and to reach out and build the relationships to get there. That’s an important topic for her as the mom of two daughters: Lily, age 11, and 18-month-old Violet. With a husband who’s also in IT, they focus on helping their daughters understand that they can aspire to any career.

“We spend a lot of time really encouraging them because we see the logical way their minds work to process information. Lily has become a very rational person as she applies logic and the principles of science to every decision – helping her to cut through the drama that can be associated with 6th grade girls.”

Tsahalis says that when she was growing up, she wasn’t aware of all the career options that were available and only landed in Electrical Engineering by accident. She is happy that girls now have so much opportunity presented to them through a wide variety of programs in their schools and communities.

In addition to taking advantage of women’s groups or other networking programs that may be available at school or work, Tsahalis also encourages all women to speak up for themselves and not to overthink their decisions. It is her experience that many women limit themselves just by not speaking up or trying something new. She believes that working hard, being confident in one’s skills, networking and supporting one’s peers are all keys to a successful career.

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11 Ways Mentors Can Help You Succeed – And How To Get Their Help

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11 Ways MentorsMost successful women will tell you that mentors made a big difference in their careers. Their mentorship may not always translate into breaking through the glass ceiling, but mentors can help your work performance, help you achieve success in a company and also help you be more fulfilled in your work.

Here are 11 ways a mentor can help you during 4 general stages of your career:

Stage 1: Newbie: Your Mentors Help You Acclimate to a New Job or Work Environment:

1. Find Your Way and Learn the Rules: Bonnie Marcus, author of The Politics of Promotion, says, “The mentor can offer advice on how to best navigate in the new work environment and give information about the people and politics.” A mentor within your company can help you understand corporate expectations—both spoken and unspoken rules. They can point out mistakes if they see you in action. Your mentor can help you feel comfortable operating within that environment.

2. Identify your skill set and anything missing that you need to work on. In my second job out of business school, a mentor suggested I attend trainings in time management and organization, which helped me be more effective in my job.

3. Model what works: Ask your mentors to share their stories of what’s worked in their careers and what hasn’t. Learn from your mentors’ experience. Beth B. Kennedy, a Leadership Coach who has taught many Leaders how to begin a successful mentoring relationship, shares the success of a client whose mentor taught her “excellent delegation and time management strategies” that led to the client’s success and promotion.

Stage 2: Strategic: Your Mentors Help You Plan Where you are Going for a More Successful and Fulfilling Career:

4. Create a Vision: A mentor can help you think about where you want to go in the long run and what can help you get there. This type of mentor can be someone in your workplace, someone in your field, or more of a general business coach, perhaps even someone you hire.

5. Look for Resonance: A mentor or coach can help you assess how well your current environment fits your values, skills and interests. You will be happier with a job and environment that resonates.

6. Help you define success: Long term success is not only about what a company or environment defines as success. Says Amy Beilharz, former corporate executive turned serial entrepreneur and business coach shares that as women, group goals, our relationships and contribution to a larger cause are all important to feeling fulfilled in our careers.

Stage 3: Mobile: Your Mentors Help You At Key Decision Points

7. Solve Problems: You can turn to your mentors for feedback on any challenges you are experiencing, offering possible solutions to problems, as well as general strategies that have worked for them in similar situations.

8. Evaluate Job Offers: You may be offered a job within your own department, another part of your company or even your own company. Sometimes it’s hard to see all the ramifications of taking a particular job—both for short-term fit and also for its long term strategic value. A mentor can help you see all angles and evaluate the fit.

Stage 4: Successful: Your Mentors Help You Get Where You Want to Go:

9. Help You Network: Marcus says mentors can introduce mentees “to potential allies and champions.”

10. Get You Noticed: Beth B. Kennedy, a Leadership Coach who has taught many Leaders how to begin a successful mentoring relationship notes, “A current client of mine learned strategies from her mentor that led to her promotion. Her mentor taught her ways to raise her visibility in an authentic way.

11. Your Mentors Can Serve as Sponsors: Marcus points out that at the upper echelons, it’s not just about mentoring. To get promoted, women need sponsors who are willing to introduce their mentees to the right people and suggest them for promotion.

12. Look Outside Your Company: External mentors in your field can help you look beyond your company for opportunities. They may help you decide what you are looking for, introduce you to contacts of theirs, or even help you get into their own organizations.

Where to Find a Mentor? Cultivate mentors within your company and outside of it. Kennedy offers the possibility of someone “from a different department to add a more systemic and strategic perspective.” Your boss can also be a good mentor, depending on the person.

How to get mentored? Kennedy says that, “The best mentoring relationships take place when they’re not forced mentoring programs. A proactive way to get a mentor is to begin the process in a more unofficial way.”

How?

a) Identify someone who has been successful in your organization or field in a way that resonates with you or that has certain skills and relationships you’d like to emulate.

b) Get to know them. Kennedy suggests you ask for a brief meeting or coffee, nothing fancy.

c) Kennedy says, “Asses the synergy.” What does your gut tell you about the mentor? “Does the possible mentor have the time and energy to mentor?”

d) After a few casual meetings, Kennedy says you can then ask the person if they would be your mentor. “Share your expectations. Some of the best mentoring relationships my clients have shared with me are the relationships that meet once a month and the mentee brings questions and an agenda. The mentee needs to be proactive and discuss their needs.” It’s also a good idea to share articles on mentoring and “other best practices with your mentor.”

e) At some point you want to evaluate the effectiveness. Kennedy suggests an assessment six months or a year down the road. If it’s not working, you can thank your mentor and move on to someone new.

Don’t wait for someone to offer to mentor you. Start to think now about specific ways you want a mentor to help you and list people who might be of help. You can have more than one mentor at a time, too. Ask other women about their mentoring experiences, as well. And if your company has a mentoring program, find out how one gets chosen to participate. No one goes it along in the corporate world. The support of your mentors can be one of the most important determinants in your success.

Guest contribution by Lisa Tener

Lisa Tener is an author, trainer and four-time Stevie Award winner, including the Silver Stevie Award for Mentor/Coach of the Year 2014. Lisa serves on faculty at Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course  and blogs on topics like how to choose a literary agent. You can also find her posts on the Huffington Post. Follow Lisa on twitter @LisaTener and Facebook.

Guest advice and opinions are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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Why Working For a Good Company Makes a Big Difference

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happy man with womenI coach women across many firms, most in the financial services industry and most in a variety of roles and although there are very individual reasons why people come to me for coaching ranging from wanting to leave to wanting to stay and get a promotion and sometimes when they have been a casualty of a restructure. While the old adage “people leave managers not firms” is definitely true, I have to say that I more and more see people leaving companies due to the fact they just do not believe that they are getting the best ROI for their time and energy spent. For years, we were told that women do not ask for promotions and pay increases and this is frankly nonsense as they are asking in various ways but sometimes just not being heard due to systemic issues at companies that are less evolved.

In short, working for a progressive company makes all the difference as the water is provided for the fish of all types and no one is left grasping for basic air supply.

If you are looking to go further then consider getting a coach. Not all are created equal and I would recommend people with coaching certificates from good universities or else coaches with an organizational psychology background as they can help you spot the company’s good points and flaws on a systemic level so we are not just telling you to lean in. Isn’t it time that the companies leaned in?

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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Voice of Experience, Hila Goldenberg, Head of Ultra – High Net Worth Clients in Israel, UBS Wealth Management

Hila GoldenbergBy Cathie Ericson

“Ask for more,” advises UBS’ Hila Goldenberg. “Women often expect to be promoted or be included on a high-profile project, but are too shy to speak up and ask for what they want. It won’t just happen; they need to ask for professional development and define their career goals, then express these plans to their superiors as they strive for more.”

Throughout her career, Goldenberg has seen the benefits of being open about a desire for increased responsibility. She began her career at a law firm in Israel and then went to work as an assistant to the General Director for the Israel Antitrust Authority, a unique experience that allowed her to meet a wide variety of business, parliamentary and government leaders.

Realizing she had an interest and aptitude in business, she went back to school and earned her MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau and Singapore, ranked as the best global MBA program in the world. After graduating, she joined Citi Private Bank in London as part of the team that covered Israel, later moving back to Israel when they opened an office there. She stayed there until 2014 when she was invited to UBS to form and lead its ultra-high net worth team in Israel.

Helping Her Clients Make a Difference

This decision to join UBS to start a new venture and create a new coverage team is a professional achievement of which she is particularly proud. In her role, she is able to help wealthy individuals with a full array of services far beyond asset management, everything from philanthropic endeavors and impact investments to next generation wealth transfer and art selection. “We are partners in their endeavors and work with them to help develop the legacy they want to leave, such as creating a tangible impact on society or helping disadvantaged socioeconomic groups,” she says. “Many have concerns that the next generation must not rely solely on the great wealth they are inheriting. We advise them on best practices for setting personal and professional milestones and provide assistance on structuring their wealth for the generations to come.”

The other part of her role that is meaningful to her is overseeing the Social Impact Bond UBS has launched in Israel to help fight diabetes. The funds will be used to identify and work with high-risk populations on lifestyle changes they can implement to help prevent diabetes, work that she says will make dramatic differences. “Impact investing provides a vehicle that has a social effect and also offers solid financial benefits for investors,” she says. “We have seen much interest from clients in this theme.”

Diversity Creates Success

Goldenberg has been involved in an annual Women in Wealth networking forum at UBS that allows participants to learn about other cultures and best practices. She appreciates that UBS has a focused emphasis on diversity and inclusion and views it as an asset in the organization’s recruiting endeavors. “Whether it’s diversity of gender, culture or even just a different educational expertise, such as arts and sciences, we look to hire people from various backgrounds,” she says, adding that the goal is always to look at the individual to find the best talent.

“We benefit from these different viewpoints because they lead to more quality decision making as we consider perspectives of people who can share a broader variety of input,” she says.

Travel as an Integral Part of Work and Family

With a partner and two boys, ages three and four-and-a half, Goldenberg strives to balance the challenge of a successful, fulfilling career with the needs of her family. Her position requires extensive travel, so while she finds it hard to leave, she is proud to articulate to her family that she loves what she does, even though she misses them.

And they are able to share in adventures with frequent travel as a family, both around Israel and abroad. They take a trip to Asia every year and are currently preparing for a trip to Thailand. “We love discovering different cultures and history and immersing ourselves in the entire experience,” she says.

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Thought Leader: Elizabeth Diep, Partner, Asset and Wealth Management Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Elizabeth DiepBy Cathie Ericson

Don’t be afraid to pursue the big assignment or job even if you think you don’t meet 100 percent of the qualifications,” says PwC’s Elizabeth Diep. She urges women not to limit themselves because although you won’t always hit it out of the park, you learn from every experience, and often even more from the ones that don’t succeed. “Big jobs are scary but the only way you learn is by practicing.”

And, she cautions, if you say no too many times, people will start assuming you’re not interested and you’ll no longer be on the list for consideration. “Along the way you have to take calculated risks.”
As an assurance partner in the audit practice, Diep focuses on alternative investment clients, which include endowments, hedge funds and private equity clients, ranging from highly complex, multi-national companies to smaller, locally based equity funds. As Diep puts it, that is her “day job,” as she is also involved in other firm business, including assisting with people initiatives as a Human Capital (human resources) partner, where she focuses on helping a group of about 150 more junior colleagues navigate the firm, providing guidance on their development, education and experience.

A Changing Industry Full of Challenges

Because the asset management world within the financial services industry is still fairly male dominated, Diep sees it as one ripe with opportunity. “If someone wants to thrive and be challenged every day, this is the field for them,” she says, noting that in an ever-changing industry, there are constantly new financial instruments being created. “As the world gets more complex, the industry gets more complex,” she says.

The industry also is appealing to anyone with an international mindset. “The opportunities that lie abroad push you to be more open to the world because we’re interacting in a global society every day.”

The industry also calls for flexibility since your day can change with every phone call or email articulating a new client need. “I might have a client interested in investing in transportation out of Greece and Panama so I need to see what resources PwC has to support those needs,” she says. And that’s why success lies in delivering relationships before you need them.

“You’re not just working with people in your office, but other partners and members of the global network. You have to be resourceful and know who can help you find the answer you need. Those connectors become critical to your success.”

She says that today’s workforce is different from generations past when people were expected to have all the answers. Today, it’s more important to know which expert can help you get the answer rather than being expected to know everything personally.

Flexibility Remains a Challenge

Diep cites a recent PwC survey of millennials that explores the importance of flexibility, and unfortunately, she finds that while many firms promote work/life balance, employees still worry that taking advantage of these programs could have a negative impact. And that translates into a pervasive feeling among many women, especially working moms at the mid-career level, that the industry is too demanding if they want to perform well and also have a family.

One program designed to help is the “He for She” program, of which PwC is a sponsor with a goal of having 80 percent of the men join. “At the end of the day it’s primarily men sitting around the table so we have to get them involved in this conversation and advance women’s causes,” Diep says. “When we move away from just women talking about the challenges but have men supporting them, it will be a game changer.”

She says that she has been bolstered in her own career by mentors and sponsors who served as role models with a balance that she has learned to emulate. “It’s not always equal,” she says, noting that sometimes they were working late hours but then they still always made time to disconnect on vacation or take off for their kids’ birthdays. “They gave me an example of how you can use the day how it works best for you, to balance all your key life relationships, while always completing high-quality work.”

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Thought Leader: Deborah Lorenzen, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Global Product & Marketing; State Street Global Advisors

Deborah Lorenzen 2To Deborah Lorenzen, talent is everything for a business’ success.

Since 2008, acquiring talent in the financial services sector has largely been a buyer’s market, where it’s been easier for firms to pick and choose the talent they want to bring in. Consequently, they haven’t had to spend as much time or effort making sure people are enthusiastic about joining the firm. But, says Lorenzen, savvy firms know they need to be prepared for the next cycle, which she calls the “War for Talent.”

“We can dramatically improve the front end of our hiring process, but we don’t spend enough time on it,” she says.To that end, she is currently focused on improving three different phases of the talent acquisition cycle.

Making Job Descriptions More Inclusive

First, she says that job descriptions need an overhaul, recommending that they be stripped of corporate speak and made more gender neutral. “Beyond articulating the job requirements, job descriptions are a marketing document, since they are read by hundreds of people who never even apply,” she says. “The majority of those who read them are people in my industry, and I want to leave them with a positive impression of my company.”

One remedy is tools that use an analytical perspective to identify which words attract which people by mapping the factors of a job description that ultimately led to a certain type of hire.

Entering existing job descriptions into the tool yields instant feedback, such as which words are likely to attract female or male candidates, which can then be used to incorporate more balanced verbiage. One lesser-known fact is that if your job description is filled with acronyms, research shows that men are more likely to apply even if they don’t understand the corporate jargon.

“We’re excluding large swaths of the population by how we word things,” Lorenzen says.

Maintaining Consistency Throughout the Interview Process

While competency-based interviews have become the norm, there is still a need to improve consistency. To that end, Lorenzen has helped create tools that lead to better interviews. Managers can quickly select the key competencies for the job they are filling, which brings up a set of pre-worded questions that will give them insight into candidates by prompting specific, measurable examples specific to that skill, such as “Give me an example of a time that you displayed teamwork.” For a trait such as global acumen, managers can choose different questions based on the depth of expertise required by the position level.

After key questions are chosen and position specific questions are added, the manager then can print out the job interview form and use it consistently with all of their candidates. “It allows them to compare apples to apples rather than having different experiences with different people,” she says. “The tools should be intuitive so we set our managers up for success.”

Pre-boarding for Success

In the United States, there is typically a two-week lag from when someone accepts the job until they actually start. In other parts of the world, people might have up to 90 days, a lengthy transition period when companies must engage with their future employees throughout the gap.

Among the support her division supplies are links to company information, “acronym decoders” and details on what to expect the first day. “This is about emotional engagement, so our new hires believe they have made the best decision of their career.”

For example, new employees will learn what to expect on the first day, and what activities to expect in the first 10 days. Setting expectations improves time-to-productivity, which is a key metric for the business.

Another key component of pre-boarding is discussing the wide variety of Employee Resource Groups available. “We want them to know that our company is proud of our diversity and whatever their gender, orientation, culture or background, there’s someone like them here already.”

Data Analytics Drive Decisions

In addition to a focus on better hiring, Lorenzen is immersed in technology infrastructure and data analytics. “Data is the key to understanding both our current environment and our next move,” she says. We can use data to identify products which are high performers and which aren’t meeting expectations, and track those products in real time.

Since decision science is a relatively new field, Lorenzen and her team are constantly tasked with finding the best talent. “They have to come in with diversity of thought, which comes from diversity of experience,” she says. “We must have a variety of perspectives in the room since there’s constant demand to improve the technology architecture.”

A Word for Women

Finally, Lorenzen believes that women have a special role in the industry to help others. And while she sees this as a responsibility, the rewards are mutual. “It gives me great joy to watch young people come up in the organization,” she says.

And she adds, there are few industries that are more competitive. “People are always going to be looking to take you out, but it’s not because you’re a girl, it is because you are competition. We need to raise our voices, as uncomfortable and dangerous as it can feel, when we see bias.” Why? Because for our businesses to thrive in this rapidly changing landscape we need the smartest, most innovative team we can muster, which by definition brings a diversity of thought to the table. This is an obligation for senior executives, including women.

The views expressed in this material are the views of Deborah Lorenzen of State Street Global Advisors through the period ended April 13, 2016.

The whole or any part of this work may not be reproduced, copied or transmitted or any of its contents disclosed to third parties without State Street express written consent.

State Street Corporation, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111-2900

© 2016 State Street Corporation – All Rights Reserved

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Adopting the Premortem Technique to Enhance Your Career

Career AssetsThere is a good chance that you have witnessed a gathering of your co-workers after the unfortunate demise of a high-potential project or goal. Odds are you played a part in gathering the remains of a venture through statistics, polls, surveys, and listed out all of the reasons why your project didn’t go the way it was supposed to. It’s a common practice for project groups to analyze failed projects in order to prevent the same outcome for the next one.

Read more

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Is it time for a vacation?

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Beach-chairsAre you feeling overworked and not as productive as usual? Maybe it’s time for a vacation.

Science indicates that breaks help increase productivity and whilst short breaks during your working day may improve concentration, longer breaks and vacations can improve overall job performance. They help improve the state of our mental health by giving us better life perspective and making us more motivated to achieve our goals when we return to work.

So, my advice this week is to take more vacations, as recharging your batteries can make you more productive! On that note, whilst I’m on vacation in Florida, Career Tip will return next week.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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Change Leader: A Q&A with Christine Hurtsellers, CIO Fixed Income, Voya

Christine HurtsellersWe caught up with Christine Hurtsellers, Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income for Voya Investment Management (IM), to talk about the future of the financial services industry.

Nicki: What has changed since we last interviewed you back in 2010?

Christine: I still have the same role, however, following our IPO in May 2013 and separation from ING Group, we rebranded as Voya. It’s been an exciting process to define Voya’s values and recalibrate our investment policies. In 2015, Pensions & Investments Magazine named Voya IM one of its “2015 Best Places to Work in Money Management” list for the first time. The firm also recently received distinction as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute for the third year in a row.

Nicki: Why do you think it is so important to help advance good talent, including more women in the industry?

Christine: I am passionate about making the investment industry better. I want to help rising stars in the industry that are women and provide them with a toolkit. I believe that women can be phenomenal investors, and I want to challenge and speak with them to help them grow as thoughtful investors. People entering this industry are looking for more than a paycheck. They value experience and want to work for places that are more values-based. I think it is great that millennials are thinking way more about linking their values to their workplace experience than previous generations.

Nicki: What is your advice to someone entering the industry or who is in the early stages of her career?

Christine: The cost of doing business is increasing and as a result we will see some consolidation. Some products are becoming more commoditized with ETFs showing up more for retail investors on that side of the business. It is an interesting time to be in the industry as institutional clients look for unique, customized approaches for their portfolio. The road is becoming more and more bifurcated. For people entering the industry, there is a temptation to become specialized early at a boutique firm. I believe it is critical to stay flexible to learn a variety of skills for the first 8-9 years of your career. My advice is to look for companies with multi-dimensional businesses to give yourself that opportunity.

Nicki: You recounted to me how one time a woman said you were an unrealistic role model. How did that make you feel?

Christine: I don’t want to be the poster child for women at work because I have five kids and I run marathons, that isn’t everyone’s version of life. How do we lift as we climb? That is the bigger question, and I think the answer is to share with people my failures and some of the decisions I have made. I try to be real and make sure my advice is very content oriented about the markets and investing. By challenging and teaching people, I can be a better role model. Lastly, if I can use my network to help women and make appropriate introductions, then I know I am walking the talk.

I try to hire women and I use my network because a long time ago a woman did the same for me and she was instrumental in helping me get my next job. She was in fixed income sales and she introduced me to many clients and people in the industry. This was crucial in me securing my next role at what is now Alliance Bernstein

Looking out for each other in times of trials is so important. To have someone put her credibility on the line and say “hey, talk to this person” is incredible, and this woman did that for me, so I want to pay it forward.

Nicki: How do we ensure other leaders are as accountable as they think they are for real change?

Christine: I think the best way to engage leaders in the discussion of having diversity in their teams is to challenge them to think about what they do to shape the culture.
Sometimes it isn’t obvious to other leaders that they need to create pathways and a culture for success for women that goes beyond mentioning their women’s network and other HR policies.

I want to see accountability for diversity, and if I start with the numbers – literally asking how many women are in senior roles – then it usually opens up an honest conversation with most male leaders to think more about how they can approach hiring and developing more women.

Nicki: How have you successfully built relationships in the industry – both within your firm and with people in other firms?

Christine: Networking can be such an implicit action; it’s just something we do. You meet interesting people along the way and share relevant insights with them – add value to the other person and they will reciprocate – like in a marriage you have to love and you have to love first.

I joined the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee in 2014 and I am enjoying working with really talented and intelligent people on a very interesting subject that has real consequences. I work at leaning in with them. Sending an article to a small group who share common interests, dropping them a note from time to time. It is about contributing as best as you can to further the task and mission. Building relationships is ongoing, and it is an honor to work with such great people providing recommendations to Treasury on a variety of debt management issues.

Nicki: Do women help other women at work?

Christine: I would go as far as saying that I believe that women help women in tough situations, more than men help other men. It is also important to look for your advocates in male and female leaders as I have great examples of how men have believed in me. Rob Leary, now CEO at TIAA Asset Management, was the person who gave me the job at Voya. I wasn’t the most obvious candidate, and he took a risk on me. He knew I was great with people and an exceptional investor, and I delivered for him.

Nicki: What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting your career?

Christine: I went it alone for a long time. The power of networking peers and mentoring is something I wish I had considered when I started my career. I wish I had focused more on the quality of management, their values and ethics, and the culture they create at the company.

In life, you take every opportunity and you learn – in careers, as long as you maximize learning, you are on the right path. I ended up fine tuning my experience in mortgage derivatives when I made a move to Freddie Mac. Many advised me against it, but I knew it was important for me to spend more time with my family as previously I wasn’t seeing them from Sunday night to Friday afternoon. I learned so much. It meant I could come to Voya due to my deep knowledge, and for my life at that time it meant my family and I could be happy, which is of course really important.

It’s about making the best out of any experience.

Christine is also a panelist at our upcoming event – theglasshammer.com’s 5th Annual Navigating your career event on May 4th 2016.

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