Mover and Shaker: Liliana Bauer, Marketing Director, WEX Latam

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By Cathie Ericson

“I once heard that we should listen before acting and think before reacting.

The adage is one that has stuck with me and that drives my leadership style in a significant way,” says WEX’ Liliana Bauer. “Thinking for ourselves, rather than just repeating the ideas we hear, makes a big difference in how we conduct our lives and make appropriate choices.”

And she adds, “If we seize opportunities, take our goals seriously and maintain our enthusiasm—always respecting everyone else in an ethical way—we will arrive at the destination we choose.”

A Career Built On Accepting Challenges

That ethos has helped Bauer build a multi-layered career. She attended school in Brazil, earning both a bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications from Mackenzie University and an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas University.

After graduating, she began her career with Coca-Cola, holding roles in divisions including promotions, product management and customer loyalty. She then spent nearly a decade at Citibank, responding to the centralized structuring and implementation of the B2B and institutional marketing in Brazil, where she handled marketing strategy, as well as overseeing PR and corporate communications for all business units. Her last role at Citibank was as a regional marketing manager for the Latin American region’s 24 markets, reporting to Miami and New York.

In 2011, she joined HSBC Latin America as a senior marketing manager, responsible for global banking and markets, private banking and asset management. She also oversaw planning and marketing effectiveness for HSBC’s corporate segments, where together with the countries and the global team, she developed the department’s strategic and business information for the executive committees of the region, as well as results analysis and financial control. In addition, she was responsible for the Latin American marketing for the Global Banking and Markets segment, reporting directly to London.

Prior to joining WEX, she served as a marketing executive at credit card issuer Banco Bradesco Cartões, where she oversaw strategic marketing management and payments solutions studies.

She then joined WEX Brazil as a marketing director, responsible for implementing strategies to strengthen the company’s market presence through business plan and strategy execution.

A self-described “builder,” focused on getting things done in a straightforward manner, Bauer says that one of her major achievements at WEX so far has been creating a strategic marketing mindset, from building a successful team to shaping, driving and maximizing marketing activities, including focusing on analyzing results and repositioning products.

One of the projects she is most excited about right now is her role with one such repositioning of their major product—focusing on the value proposition definition and planning larger market penetration that is driven by market research and customer surveys.

That quest for data inspires her whole career, as she finds that much of her success comes from constantly questioning assumptions, both in information she hears and where the market is trending, what the target audiences are exposing and how her team is reacting. “When making decisions about the direction of my career, I try to take a high-level, long-term perspective, based not only on what things look like, but on what they really are, what is behind each scenario, and what the legacy of my decision will be,” she says.

Surrounding Yourself With the Right People and Company Culture

Over the years Bauer has been fortunate to work with many inspirational professionals, and she’s appreciated their role in patiently showing her how to meet their expectations while advancing her own career. “I’ve always paid a lot of attention to their behaviors and decisions, learning how to drive efforts in a more constructive way, while achieving the best and fastest results,” she says.

One role model who stands out is Francine Suescun, whom Bauer describes as “a great teacher and a wise leader,” adding, “She has a broad range of experience and the ability to integrate actions in an end-to-end process, guaranteeing successful delivery of every project. Besides that, she always tries to make wherever she is a better place—thinking of others rather than just taking actions that benefit herself,” an example that Bauer is quick to thank her for, telling Suescun that she is the one responsible for the professional profile Bauer has today.

In addition to surrounding herself with smart role models, she has wisely chosen the company she works for, saying that at WEX all people are seen and equally accepted—and recognized for their achievements—regardless of gender, age, department, education level or other defining elements. She finds that during business meetings, leadership summits or social celebrations, people from different locations and ages, men and women alike, interact on equal footing, listening to one another and keeping an open mind.

The same dynamic occurs on her team, where position and gender don’t matter. “If an employee is committed to doing good work, bringing relevant information or just taking advantage of an opportunity to improve their understanding about something, we respect them the same way,” she says.

Another important part of the WEX culture is the focus on work-life balance. Bauer has been able to devote time the past two-and-a-half years holding various roles for a social entity teaching English to low-income students, from ages 10 to 83. “It is such a valuable opportunity to learn from those students as they develop, and those people have played a crucial role in changing my life,” she says. “Interacting with others who have the same objectives, intensity and wishes is what makes us feel part of a society in such a special way.”

An avid traveler, Bauer has visited more than 50 cities in Brazil and 15 countries around the world. “When we interact with people from a different culture, with different points of views and experiences, we are able to rethink the prejudices we have and our previously established opinions and see how the vast resources of ideas can move the world forward,” she says.

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Is Being Liked an Important Element for Public Speaking?

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Women Speaking

Guest contributed by Beate Nimskly

What are the obstacles that keep you from presenting on stage or in a business meeting joyfully?

And what would change in your life if nothing could stop you from delivering your message to the crowd?

We in some way confuse the issue that the speech has nothing to do with the person itself but the way she is able to connect with the audience. Don’t wish to be liked, rather place the focus on wanting to influence so strongly that most of the public will really get what you have to gift and remember you as inspiring and energetic.

Be aware that no matter what you do some will like you and some will dislike you. People have the tendency to compare. This is especially true for women in business – women will be compared with other women and men too.

You are not comparable because you have something to deliver that no one else could. Concentrate on that. You are different than others and that is what counts.

Content is King

The content you are looking for is how your message fits into the reality of your audience. What are they able to hear? What is their problem? What do they want to change and could not until now because they had no idea, no sense that other things are possible? What are they willing to receive?

You could do a story around the topic with one of your customer who was struggling with a similar situation your audience has. Explain his difficulties, how he suffered, that he wanted to give up and then what possibilities opened up when he was willing to do something different. Make your customer the hero not yourself. Be so precise in how your customer or colleague or your friend changed and what he did exactly to overcome the complexity of the situation that there is no doubt at all that you have been the one who accompanied him – without mentioning that.

The Difference in Preparation

Who are the participants in your meeting, in your audience? Where do they come from? What background do they have? What position in business do they have? What is it your audience wants to get from you?

No matter who they are they want to be inspired. Find out which words they use so you can talk to them in their language. Prepare yourself in the way that they have the sense you speak with them on their level like a private one on one conversation.

The Difference in Questions

Know what you want them to do after they have left the meeting, the presentation or the event.

And ask them a lot of question during your speech like:

  • What are you going to do different when you are back in your office?
  • What one thing you could change back home that if you changed it, it would make your life much easier?
  • When you leave this event, what question would you like to ask me that you could write on a piece of paper with your e-mail address attached so I can answer it for you?

As well include questions like:

  • What would your life be in five years from now if you could and would change it?
  • What would our business tell us if we would ask the business itself what is needed right now?
  • How would we define success in ten years from now?

These questions keep your audience in a constant search for new possibilities. It makes them feel alive, more connected to themselves and pro-active.

Energy is the Key

Your energy is the key to success. Why? Every word you say has energy behind it. And not only the spoken word influences the audience. It´s more the tone and the body language that counts.

So, ask yourself questions like this:

  • What energy, space and consciousness can I be to have total ease and fun on stage?
  • If I would not judge myself, control myself and try to mimic others what brilliant speaker could I be?
  • What can I be or do different to allow myself to step up into the brilliance I truly be?
Space and Consciousness

Space within yourself allows you to connect with others on another level. You can do breathing exercises to experience space within yourself. You could do Yoga or meditation to experience space. If you are the space, you have no resistance to whatever people are asking or are talking about you. You just let it go through yourself with no attachment at all.

And no matter what people say you could say to yourself: “Interesting point of view that they have this point of view.” With this you free yourself from your own judgment about them and as well from their judgment about you. If you practice “interesting point of view” all day long in your normal daily life you will experience more freedom with everything. This is the space of all possibilities.

You are now able to act and react with ease and flexibility in the given situation. That inner freedom gives you access to consciousness. Consciousness includes everything and judges nothing. Everything you do, everything you experience is a way to more awareness. There is no right or wrong. There is always awareness and the choice to be or do something different the next time.

You don´t like me? Interesting point of view.

Beate Nimsky is an inspirational catalyst for change, who works with CEOs, business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders in companies developing their leading abilities. She has been a pioneer in consulting and implementing value driven cultures in companies for more than 25 years. Her new book Ask – And Create Your Life will be published in summer of 2018.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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2018 Latina Leaders- Hispanic Heritage Month

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach, Organizational Psychologist and Founder of theglasshammer.com

This week’s column is a nod to our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month series this week and throughout the month.

Latinas at the highest echelons are still underrepresented but we wanted to spotlight the top Latina leaders in business show you the Latina professionals that are making it happen. The future is now, progress is being made and more Latina women are running companies and raising capital for entrepreneurial ventures than before.

Career advice for Latina women may seem on the surface to be the same as for advice for any other woman from any other background. Why? Because it is only by varying degrees of believing and adhering to the patriarchy as an operating system, that makes each woman who is reading this abide or dissent from the cultural norms and gender roles they are messaged from birth.

If you are messaged values of a collectivist society versus those of an individualist society, you may show common traits. This is a more accurate way of actually having a career conversation about the context in which a person is operating in also, because the term “Hispanic” is perhaps something that is so inaccurate and unfair since it assumes that all Spanish-speaking people from over a dozen countries are the same, yet it equally assumes that all English-speaking people are not the same. That is an uneven start and can lead to greater stereotyping.

Beneath the surface, career advice could differ greatly for aspiring Latina leaders, because going against the grain is easier said than done in families and firms alike. This is where collectivism as a theory meets the reality of living in an individualistic culture.

Also, everyone has different personalities and value sets so many women do want to care-take more and play a larger family role, but to reduce it to a binary is a problem. And, many (not all) Latina women are faced with this binary in choosing to comply or dissent against the gender roles set, and dissent against the historical family structure expectations.

My advice is let’s start asking what each individual woman wants, instead of assuming we know that their social identity is all that they are (ditto anyone else for that matter.)

If you are a Latina, a constant strategy is to individuate yourself as a person to remind people who you are and what you want and what you are capable of, not who they think you are!

Nicki Gilmour, CEO of theglasshammer.com offers Executive and Career coaching in Spanish and English. For an exploratory call contact  nicki@theglasshammer.com o reserva aqui.

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Voice of Experience: Agostina Pechi, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Agostina PechiIt’s important to be patient when you are more junior and to realize that building a business can take several years.

“If you work hard and are consistent, you will get there,” says Goldman Sachs’ Agostina Pechi. Yet, she adds that you have to balance that patience with an ability to speak up and vocalize your intention to take on additional responsibility. “You have to make sure that management is aware of the work you are doing,” she says, adding that “mentors and sponsors who can vouch for your work are extremely valuable.”

Building an Expertise in Latin America

After studying economics at Torcuato Di Tella University in Argentina, Pechi moved to London to work for Deutsche Bank in their emerging markets group. Her work at Deutsche Bank took her to Mexico City and then to New York, where she worked as part of the Latin American coverage team. Through working in different environments and under different supervisory styles, she gained what she believes to be an important skill for success: adaptability.

In 2013, Pechi decided to move to Goldman Sachs. “I found it valuable to be based in the headquarters, close to leadership and decision making,” she says. She was tapped to build a Latin American institutional coverage team for the firm that has since expanded its coverage to smaller market countries.

“It was extremely rewarding to know that the firm trusted us to produce in these markets that don’t have as much access to Wall Street and liquidity in their currencies.” She says that the firm’s increased involvement in smaller markets has fostered its reputation in the region, generating new business, with revenue comparable to that of larger economies. “Direct investment is key for these economies to grow – it’s important for them to obtain financing to facilitate investments in key areas such as infrastructure, and it has been rewarding to help clients in these regions achieve their goals,” she says.

Pechi considers the growth of fintech to be one of the most important rising trends, namely due to the way the sector will disrupt existing business methods. She believes that Goldman Sachs is on the cutting edge of this change, and will be able to expand product offerings and support a greater array of clients.

“History has shown that doing things the same way because that’s how it has always been done is a disadvantage, and I believe we are at the forefront of the radical change that is coming,” Pechi says.

Sharing Her Passions With Others

At Goldman Sachs, Pechi is highly involved with two affinity networks. She sits on the steering committee of the Hispanic and Latino network, which provides tools and guidance to Latino individuals to navigate and excel in their careers. She is also co-head of the Securities Division Women’s Network, which hosts monthly meetings, events and a “Strategic Insight” series designed for women to connect with senior management across different divisions. The program has been so successful that other businesses across the firm have expressed interest in replicating it. She is currently in the midst of helping to plan a half-day seminar where network members will have an opportunity to interact with senior leaders of the firm.

She enjoys mentoring other women and recommends to others, “Surround yourself with people who believe in you along each step in your career.” She goes on to note, “Great leaders are innovative, and we will succeed when we realize we can’t all look at the world in the same way.”

Outside of work, Pechi channels her passion for improving her community into Project Art, a program that uses space in public libraries for children in under-resourced areas to meet and make art. The program has spread across the country to become the largest arts-related after-school program in the United States. Since Project Art relies on free public spaces instead of renting pricey classroom space, the majority of funding can go to hiring great teachers and acquiring materials. Pechi, who has a two-year-old daughter of her own, appreciates the chance to offer an avenue for children to stay busy after school and to learn to communicate through the arts.

“Helping communities around me is an important part of my life,” she says.

Another form of art is also important to her — dancing tango, which she learned in Argentina from her grandparents. Two years ago when she was involved in planning efforts for the firm’s Hispanic Heritage Month, she arranged for an external dance team to perform the tango – and even performed alongside them.

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Why We Must Bring Mindfulness To Leadership

thought-leadership

By Aimee Hansen

Leadership today is not crying out for people who are destined to be great. It’s crying out for people who are dedicated to being present.

We don’t need bigger beacons to admire at the top, but human beings who can connect and be here now.

According to Gallup, 85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work. Forbes found that more employees (65%) would rather see their bosses fired than receive a raise. Research reveals a massive chasm between leaders’ self-perception and how their employees see them. One McKinsey study found that 86% of leaders rated themselves as inspiring, but a Gallup survey found 82% of employees see their leaders as uninspiring.

“Around three years ago, we started to see more and more leaders today being overwhelmed, being always on, not being able to keep up,” says Jacqueline Carter, partner and North American Director of Potential Project and co-author of “The Mind of the Leader – How to Lead Yourself, Your People and Your Organization for Extraordinary Results.

“This is equally evidenced by research that shows what we’re calling ‘a real crisis in leadership,” says Carter. In partnership with HBR press, her organization conducted interviews with 250 C-suite executive interviews, assessed 35,000 leaders and reviewed previous studies.

Leadership Begins in the Mind, and With You

“An unmindful leader is someone who is distracted all the time, who has a hard time getting things done, probably not very calm, maybe stressed,” says Carter. Mindfulness develops the ability to say: “Okay, no matter how chaotic it is out there in the external reality, I can maintain a sense of focus and of discipline and of calm in my internal reality.”

But most leaders don’t feel that way.

“The Mind of the Leader” research found that 73% of leaders feel unmindful most of the time and 67% of leaders feel their minds are simply cluttered. Attention itself has been touted as the world’s scarcest resource in the book, “The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business.”

“If we don’t have the ability to understand and lead our own mind, we’re certainly not able to be effective for ourselves,” notes Carter, let alone able to understand our people or the “collective minds of the organization” so that we may lead effectively.

Three Steps to Start Your Own Mindfulness Practice

1) Start a 10 minute guided practice with this app: Research shows that after 14 days, 10 minutes a day, you can actually see the impact of feeling a little more focused, more calm, more clear-minded.

2) Take stock of distractions: Carter advises to take stock of what keeps you from being focused (eg phone on in meetings). Minimize the amount of habits that distract you and create scattered feelings, tension or stress to increase your focus.

3) Stop the multi-tasking: According to Carter, multi-tasking is a myth (the brain conclusively shows we can’t give real attention to two things at once, we just flit between). We can reduce our stress levels by not scattering our attention.

When it Comes to Effectiveness, Mindfulness is a No-Brainer

Mindfulness practice cultivates self-awareness, which is a foundation of good leadership. Mindfulness has been associated with benefits such as enhanced focus and better task performance, enhanced work-life balance, more creativity and innovation, better decision making and problem-solving, more ethical decision making, increased job satisfaction, fewer sick days and more retention.

On a personal level, mindfulness can bring better sleep, enhanced attention, decreased stress, reduced cellular aging, increased emotional intelligence, and also benefits for the immune system, brain, heart and blood pressure.

What is also required, according to Carter, “is not letting our egoistic tendencies drive our behaviors” while “bringing more compassion and kindness into our work places, for strategic reasons, not just because it sounds like a nice idea.”

Why Leaders Need to Watch Their Ego

The research found that when we rise in leadership, it’s incredibly difficult not to develop a big ego. Leaders are listened to, surrounding with people who praise them, paid more and maybe have the fancy corner office.

“There’s all these subtle things that tell the brain, basically, you’re important,” says Carter. “And ego naturally grows.” So, rising into leadership has a tendency towards corrupting our behavior to be ego-driven.

For example, Carter points out, “One of the things about having a big ego is that we’re more susceptible to confirmation bias. We want to see things through the lens of the way we want to see things.”

Mindfulness practice is a way of training your mind to break unconscious biases, to affect how you relate and respond – to stay open, fluid and and respond rather than react.

“We know that we are emotional beings as opposed to rational beings. Too many programs that focus on unconscious bias appeal to our rational approach: ‘Okay, I understand diversity is good’. But we also understand that doesn’t change our behaviors,” asserts Carter. “If we all knew the right thing to do and that enabled us to do it, we’d all be exercising, we’d all be eating well.”

“It’s the same thing with unconscious bias,” says Carter. “The motivation needs to be there, which is the awareness piece, but we also need to train ourselves to be able to overcome those biases that are so unconscious they’re much more difficult to tap into.”

Mindfulness Cultivates Presence and Self-Care

“When somebody is more centered and more grounded (not about being arrogant) but has a strong sense of themselves, you feel that, and you respect them more,” says Carter. “It’s easier for people to listen to those people, because they draw people in.”

The more we cultivate presence, according to Carter, the more we can overcome the cultural addiction to action. More presence means less hustle.

“Being more mindful enables you to set more boundaries, and that was true for all the leaders we spoke to, but certainly the female senior leaders…” says Carter. “It’s a combination of being able to be mindful about what you can do and what you can’t do, and be okay with the fact that you may let people down, but you need to be able to take care of yourself.”

Presence helps us discern what is necessary, what we can put our focus on effectively, and what we can accept and release from our control.

“In our research, it was amazing to see how basically the higher you got in an organization, the higher the level of the executives, they all took time to exercise, they slept well, even despite ridiculous travel schedules and ridiculous scopes of jobs,” says Carter. “It was really clear that if you don’t start taking good care of yourself and setting good boundaries and saying no at an earlier level of your leadership journey, you’re gonna burn out.”

“Presence Pays”

Research shows a direct correlation between a leaders’ mindfulness and the well-being and performance of their people.

“Human beings know when people aren’t present with us,” says Carter. It’s un-motivating, inefficient and costly.

“When you look at how distracted people are, at turnover rates, lack of engagement, you can make a pretty strong business case that being present with people, being kind to people, being about others not about ourselves, it’s not just nice to have,” said Carter. “It’s pretty critical to be successful in business today…we look at it as ‘presence pays’.”

“What we’ve found in our experience of training people to be more present is it actually saves time because if I know that I’m heard, I’ll stop talking. My message got across,” says Carter. When we don’t feel heard, we’ll keep trying to be – we’ll keep on talking.

Presence can be as simple as sticking around for a real answer to “how are you?”. On the contrary, “if you go to a meeting, and half the people are on their devices, you should just get up and leave. Seriously,” says Carter. “You’re wasting your time because of lack of presence.”

Presence, paired with compassion, creates a sense of meaningfulness and connection, and that matters when in inspiring others and earning their trust. Research has shown that a lack of trust ultimately erodes performance and the bottom line.

“We are wired to want to fit in and want to feel valued. And when feel heard, when we feel like we matter, and when we then are able to connect with other human beings, it enables collaboration, it enables the right conversations to happen, including tough conversations,” says Carter. “If I give you feedback and I’m distracted, that’s gonna be horrible for you. But if I give you feedback because I really care about you and I really want you to get this didn’t work out well, you can completely receive that. It’s the power of presence to be able to have both tough conversations as well as nice, engaging moments of meeting effectiveness.”

The Lone Leadership Ideal Is Dead

“What has been an iconic idea for a long time of a single, solitary leader – the great leader theory – is really dead.” says Carter. “The pace of change that all of us are experiencing regardless of what industry we’re in – the disruption, the distraction, the pressure – is just too complex and too much for any one individual to have all the answers.”

Nobody, and especially Millennials, want “some great person (often some ‘great man’) on a pedestal they don’t connect with,” said Carter.

Meaning, purpose and connection is what most of us want.

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How to Optimize Your Retirement Savings When Changing Jobs

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Guest contributed by Sarah Landrum

You consider many factors when transitioning from one position to the next.

How quickly will you adjust and pick up new duties? Do you fully understand your benefits? How do you take your old accounts with you?

Reconciling new benefit offerings with old accounts from previous employment, such as an existing retirement, gets confusing when you’re taking in too much information all at once.

The good news: That money you worked so hard to save for retirement belongs to you, wherever you go. Here’s what to do with it.

Look at Your Retirement Goal Status First

Before you consider what to do with your money, now is the time to look at where you are with your retirement goals. Are you working toward a secure retirement? Look at your total retirement goal and potential withdrawals every year and play with projections for your current contributions and new employer matching contributions while weighing your circumstances.

For example, say your current retirement savings is $100,000, and you expect an income increase of 2 percent. You can factor this into your retirement plan along with Social Security benefits and other income to stay on track with your goal. Don’t forget to factor in if you’re married, since adding a spouse affects your Social Security benefits.

Options for Your Existing 401(k)

Here’s where it gets tricky. Your old 401(k) account belongs to the prior employer, but the money belongs to you. Here are the four options you have for what to do with your existing 401(k), as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each avenue.

1. Keep Your Old 401(k)

Look at your existing balance and reread the terms. You may have to move your money since the account belongs to the employer. Otherwise, the old 401(k) usually sits there without contributions from you or the employer. Different rules exist for different employers regarding what’s done with the money, with some automatically cashing out your funds to you or transferring the amount to a new IRA for you. If a check is made out to you, the company automatically cuts out a 20 percent portion to cover taxes. Check with your prior employer and reread the terms.

2. Transfer the Money to the New 401(k)

When your new company offers a 401(k) or other retirement option, consider transferring the money from your old account to the new one. Ask: does the new plan terms accept transfers from prior 401(k) accounts? What fees apply?

Sticking with a 401(k) option over an IRA has its advantages. Money must come out as of age 70.5, but if you’re still working, you can delay distributions with your current employer 401(k) plan until your actual retirement date and maximize your earnings. In the case of bankruptcy, your 401(k) remains protected, but IRA exemption stops after $1,283,025. At age 55, you can also take cash penalty-free from your 401(k) if you leave your position.

3. Move It to an IRA or Roth IRA

Skip thoughts of 401(k) confusion and transfer your balance to an existing IRA if you have one — or open a new IRA. A perk of a traditional IRA is the avoidance of taxes by transferring the money to this type of retirement account, but a Roth 401(k) must be transferred to a Roth IRA. You must look carefully at terms and fees when rolling over to an IRA. Otherwise, you may pay more than transferring to the new employer 401(k). Companies are required to provide reviews of annual investment costs and disclose administrative fees.

Younger baby boomers change jobs about 12 times over the course of their careers, and leaving 401(k) plans behind overlaps multiple funds that may exceed your risk tolerance and age. If you’ve left more than one plan behind, consider rolling retirement accounts into an IRA. Many IRA plans contain lower investment costs and options to invest in exchange-trade funds (ETFs) to reduce costs and risk.

However, mutual funds and ETFs come with expense ratios, which vary whether that’s an IRA or 401(k) — look closely at costs, talk with your broker or ask for the disclosure of fees and ratios yourself. Slowly decreasing your stock investment amounts in your portfolio reduces your risk as you and your portfolio age.

4. Withdraw the Balance

It’s best to wait until you reach age 59.5 to withdrawal your retirement balance, or you face paying on the withdrawal as taxable income. Plus, you experience the joy of the 10 percent penalty due to the withdrawal of your balance and your funds won’t grow.

Most advise against withdrawing retirement balances unless you’re facing an emergency you need to pay a significant amount of money toward quickly. What you consider an emergency may not be worth it in the end, such as buying a house, paying credit card debt or helping your kids offset unplanned college costs. For example, it’s better to take an approved IRA distribution for college costs than to face the 10 percent tax penalty for withdrawal. You can slowly replace the distribution over the years but paying thousands in a tax penalty hurts your take-home income and drastically reduces your retirement earning benefits.

In the end, you selected the retirement strategy that best-suited your long-term goals but changing jobs and emergency life situations arise that prompt you to take another look at your approach. Multiple accounts are difficult to manage and rolling over everything into a single account or Roth IRA outside of your 401k may reduce fees and boost your earnings in the long-term. You’ve come this far and likely know what you want to invest in. Go with the plan that best meets those needs, and if that means transferring funds to the new employer’s 401(k) — do it. If you have or are taking on significant debt, go with a plan that protects your assets and reconsider any emergency needs. Then, update your retirement plan with a strategy that optimizes your savings.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer

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High Stakes: Changing Careers at the End of Your Long Career in Financial Services

By Nicki Gilmour, CEO and Founder of theglasshammer.com and resident Executive Coach

What do you do if you really feel that you need a change?

First of all, talk to a coach to make sure that you don’t just need a vacation.

Coaching to stay in the game is often a lifesaver as it can give you some strategies to delegate work or navigate the inevitable politics in a way that doesn’t drain you. But, at face value let’s say you are ready or at least ready to think about making a change.

The first thing to do is look at where you are at in your life? Here are things to consider if you are in the “last 2-5 years” of your current fast pace, Fortune 500/financial firms work stage and now want to do something more meaningful with your time and energy for the next chapter. It is not retirement we are talking about here, it is about transition. This column is about the very specific transition of high flyers who have slogged under the boomer and generation X structures of facetime and fitting in, into their next chapter of purposeful, less rigid work.

What do you want to do with your time and energy for the next five to fifteen years?

If you are like many of the senior level, talented, smart and well-paid women who work in financial services and who hire me to work on how to do something other than the massive role they are currently doing, then think about these factors:

1. Is it really about the money?

The money is keeping you in to a degree and creating some inertia around change. It’s hard to take a pay cut and it’s hard to think about walking away from a pile of vested equity (and there are ways to not do the latter) but nobody is saying leave tomorrow and getting a plan is key. If mortgages are nearly or already paid and the kids are in college or are set up for that experience financially, it is possibly not entirely about the money.

2. Is it about your identity?

When you have worked so hard and built an identity around the job, people are often worried about the loss of that identity in various ways (from actual self- concept change and the psychological effects of that, to status and to relating to others).

3. Is it about a fantasy?

So, you may have come to the conclusion, that you do not want to be CEO or on the Exec Committee. You might be C- level, SVP level, or Managing Director level and you might be ready to declare this the pinnacle of corporate life and guess what? Giving yourself permission to do what you actually want to do is actually pretty important. The trick is to explore what you really want to do next (and that could be making it to CEO also). Look beyond the fantasy and allure of running away and opening a Bed and Breakfast, north, south, east or west of where you live now! If it’s a business, great then let’s see how serious you are about doing the business plan and figuring out that landscape for real. Really testing your assumptions about what you want to do next, whether be your own business or a non-profit gig or even running for office, it is good to consider in detail (viability check) what that will look like with a coach while safely cashing in on the (big) day job from a comfortable office with a view.

Work with Nicki Gilmour as your Executive Coach- book a complementary exploratory call here or email her on nicki@evolvedpeople.com – the sister coaching business to theglasshammer.com

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Voice of Experience: Shveta Verma, Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion, PwC India

Shveta VermaBy Cathie Ericson

Over the years PwC’s Shveta Verma has found that that the local culture can make it more challenging for women to develop the confidence to speak up and ask for what they want and need and trust their own voice.

“Women here are brought up being told that they are embodiment of love, care and sacrifice; with all this conditioning, everything else around them supersedes their own interests and what they want,” she says. With that in mind she urges younger women to take charge of their careers and make decisions that matter to them.

“Never give the reins to anyone else to steer the direction or acceleration of your career,” she says. “There will be times where family and children take priority and work takes a back seat or vice versa, and this is natural and shouldn’t cause guilt. Above all else, love yourself immensely and choose to be happy every day of your life.”

Finding her Niche by Helping Advance Others

Over two decades in the human capital function, Verma has spent time in a variety of roles from a beginner to a leader. Her longest stint has been at PwC where she has spent almost 15 years, currently overseeing the diversity and inclusion function for both India and PwC Global.

In fact joining PwC is the professional achievement she is most proud of, a journey that began when she was working in the human capital function of Jaypee Hotels at Agra, a hotel that was a regular offsite destination for PwC. “I still remember that afternoon in 2002 very vividly… I was admiring the quality of people and at that moment I silently prayed to be a part of PwC someday,” she says, adding that she hails from a small town in India where no female from her immediate or extended family had ever gone out to work. “I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to step out and be able to attain professional fulfillment. I believe that my joining PwC was the biggest turning point of my life.”

While there she has seen multiple highs and lows, mergers and demergers, but her biggest moment was in April 2012 when she took on a new role as India human capital transformation leader. With no existing role model in place, she carved out the function herself, aligning with the global network which enabled her to focus on developing and implementing a variety of initiatives for the diversity office, including focuses on generational differences, flexibility and social responsibility.

In her current role, she finds that being part of the global team offers the ability to influence change through the length and breadth of the organization and across territories; at the same time being exposed to the multifold nuances that come to play when implementing policies, such as local legislations, cultural dynamics, workforce profile, leadership commitment, organization maturity and many more. One of her most exciting projects this year has been helping create pay equity and inclusive recruitment policies.

Overseeing a Sea Change in D&I

Her role is an exciting one because she sees a huge shift in the mindset towards D&I in India. While a lot of Indian organizations are still struggling to really understand what it means and where to start from, she finds there is an increased realization and energy to focus on creating policies and nurturing an environment that creates inclusion. This focus may lead to a variety of changes concerning D& I, including organizations defining what it means for them and then aligning their diversity strategy with how it impacts the business performance by bridging talent and skill. She also sees an increase in the use of technology and AI at every stage of talent decision-making to remove bias and then deploying analytics to create a diversity strategy and plan, assess key diversity metrics and create accountability.

While there have been many advances for women in India, she finds that there are still few powerful examples of women role models in workplaces. She urges her peers to focus on creating an enabling environment within their teams for younger women to progress and then mentor and guide them. “Let them know that someone is watching over them; there is sufficient space for all of us to move forward.”

PwC India is spearheading a number of initiatives designed to counteract this low representation of women in leadership positions. Special programs designed to prepare them for leadership roles include Reach Out, a networking and mentoring program created in partnership with four other organizations. They also connect newer professionals with high-performing senior women employees to provide them the right enablers to promote growth to leadership positions. “Towards Leadership Program”, which prepares the participants (including men and women) by providing them with key skills, to take on leadership roles.

“As the workforce of the future becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative that we tap into the potential of our women employees, especially at the mid-management level,” she notes. This can happen by creating an environment for women to achieve their full potential, in both their business and personal lives, and thus reduce attrition.

That was the impetus behind the “WoMentoring program,” introduced for women managers to be mentored by senior leaders of the organization at this critical level where talent is experiencing personal life cycle changes and professional aspirations which impact their career decisions to stay or leave the organization. “We believe that our ability to support and mentor our managers in these stages will go a long way in retaining them and providing a nurturing and developing environment,” Verma says.

Throughout her busy career, Verma finds that her fitness regime keeps her going. A marathoner, she is also training to be a triathlete. In addition she loves theatre — although she finds it more challenging now to find the opportunities to indulge, she won various awards for her acting skills during her college days. “My best way to beat stress now is cooking with my 12-year-old son and going for my long runs,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Debra Stabile, Managing Director and the Chief Risk Officer for Citi Retail Services

Debra Stabile

By Cathie Ericson

Don’t be afraid to take risks, especially when you’re young, says Citibank’s Debra Stabile.

“The world is changing so fast that being willing to try new things, even those outside of your comfort zone, is the key to continuing to move forward,” she says, recommending that you stay curious and always open to challenging yourself.

“It is easy to access materials that can help you self-educate on any topics you want to explore, but people also love to talk about their own areas of passion so connect with others whenever you can,” she says.

That, along with being open to candid feedback, can help propel your career. “Asking for feedback is vital – ask at the right time, and seek input from your peers as well as your boss.” For example, she suggests inquiring if there was anything you could have done better in an important meeting. “If they really care about you, they are going to give you constructive feedback to help identify blind spots,” she says. And then, she adds, accept the comments without rationalization and learn from them to always be improving your career.

Building Teams and Solving Problems Keeps Her Engaged

A willingness to try new things underscores a career path that Stabile calls “interesting and fulfilling,” encompassing fields from consulting to government and finance. Each role presented new challenges and insights; she appreciated her experience in consulting firms for the birds-eye view it gave her into a wide variety of companies, and her early experience with the City of New York made her a better citizen as she realized that you really can make a difference even in a city as big as New York. For the past 20 years she has been in financial services, 13 of them at Citi.

Despite all her professional success, she says the achievement she’s most proud of so far is the teams she’s built and the people she’s worked with. “When you look back at what matters, it’s not only about making a difference in your job, but also about enjoying the people you work with every day. I’ve been very fortunate to build and nurture successful teams and launched many of them to bigger roles and seniority in their respective organizations,” she says. In certain fields, she notes, such as being a teacher or doctor, you know you’ve made a difference, but it might not be as obvious in a corporation until you realize the impact you have. “You don’t impact just your employee, but also their families, and if they can come to work and feel respected and successful, you can feel that you’re contributing in a larger role.”

With a background in math and economics, Stabile loves problem solving so she finds it an amazing time to be in the industry, where analytics and quantitative methods have become even more foundational to everything they do in risk management. She says the environment today is a quantum leap from where they’ve been before, with the access to a more granular and diverse set of data — a plethora of information about consumers that enable them to make better decisions in real-time.

Stabile and her team at Citi Retail Services leverage these data sources to develop advanced analytic models and other capabilities to more effectively identify, assess and manage risk for their retail partners and customers.

Women Supporting Women

As more women enter the industry, Stabile hopes that the focus on STEM fields will continue to help make women today more comfortable and eager to take advantage of this vibrant career path. “It’s critical at all levels for women to support each other and share opportunities when they see them – to be inclusive,” she says. “Women are becoming much more proactive in recognizing we need to pull each generation up.”

Stabile has benefited from the Citi Women’s Leadership Development program which is attended by middle and upper management and provides coaching by external career development experts as well as internal senior executives. She has also been fortunate to be part of a supportive women’s network outside of Citi — the MIT Sloan Women of New York. A board member since its inception, she has helped organize a number of women’s events, including the first MIT Sloan Global Women’s Conference which was held in New York last October.

With three daughters, two of whom are engineers and one an economist, there is no doubt Stabile is doing her part to help build the female pipeline. The family loves to travel, especially to areas that have a historical or cultural bent.

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8 Tips to Get Success in Your First Interview

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People waiting for an interview

Guest contributed by Susan Saurel

First round interviews help employers select a smaller pool of most qualified candidates for their open job positions.

For this reason, they’re typically less thorough than the second or third interview rounds. Still, your job of preparing for the first interview isn’t any easier. Your goal is always to make a terrific impression and to perfectly convey why you are the best fit for the job they’re trying to fill. Good, solid preparation is key to success, so here are our tips on how to make sure you always bring your A-game:

1. Do Your Homework. Know Who You Talk to

Not knowing enough about the company you’re interviewing for is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in a job interview. Company research is a critical part of the preparation process.

Start with the company’s website; study their About page, their mission and top executives; get to know their products and services; and read current press releases to stay up to date with what’s going on in the company now. You can also “google” the company, check their blogs, social media, and read reviews from clients, current and former employees to get a feel of “who” the company is and how you can embody a similar personality during the interview.

2. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses for this Particular Role

Take time to analyze the job posting, the in-depth position description, the required set of skills, knowledge, professional and personal qualities that the employer considers critical for success at the workplace. Then, do your best to answer the question “Why am I the perfect fit for this job?”. Identify the unique qualities about you, including your expertise, relevant certificates and professional qualifications, as well as specific examples for when you’ve gone above and beyond to solve a problem, or accomplish what no one else has managed to do.

3. Google Yourself

Great resumes and cover letters are at the tip of your fingers with the help of essay writing help. But that’s not enough these days. Employers are also interested in your online personal brand.

Find out ahead what Google says about you, and make sure to manage and optimize your appearance online so it won’t hold you back from that dream job you want. If there’s anything negative about you that you cannot fix, you’ll be able to have a ready response that clarifies employers’ concerns. Try not to get too defensive though, but simply respond and move on to the next question.

4. Prepare Answers to The Most Common Interview Questions

Industry giants like Google, Bain & Co., and Amazon, are known for surprising their applicants with unusual and confusing interview questions. However, most of the other companies will generally stick to their lists of common questions, like the dreading “Can you tell me a little about yourself?”, “What do you consider to be your greatest strength, and weakness?”, and “Why do you think you will be a good fit for this position?”.

Prepare good answers to a list of most likely questions. The “tell me about yourself” part is just a warm-up, so don’t waste your best points on it; just briefly cover your early years, education, work history, and most recent career experience. When you talk about your weaknesses you want to have a positive twist to it. Mention something you struggle with but work on improving, like taking on leadership roles to tackle the fear of public speaking.

5. Write Down a Few Smart Questions to Ask at The End of the Interview

Interviews are two-way conversations. By the end of it you’ll get a chance to ask your own questions, and gain better understanding of the company you’re about to join and your particular role in it. This is a great opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation and show your interviewer that you care about the position.

Write down two or three thoughtful, open-ended questions, to make sure you end the interview strong and differentiate yourself from the rest of the candidates. Some great examples include:

  • What do you like best about your job and working for this company?
  • How would you describe the work culture at the office?
  • What is the typical career path for someone in this role?
6. Practice Makes It Perfect!

Now that you have your questions and answers ready, it’s time to practice them to perfection. This doesn’t mean learning them by heart, but rather keeping in mind the important bullet points so you can stay calm and not scrambling for an answer while in the hot interview seat.

Do mock interviews with a friend, colleague, or a career coach, and practice speaking clearly and concisely, listing your most relevant skills, experiences and achievements. Answering the question “What can you bring to this position?” will be a lot easier if practiced then when doing it the first time.

7. Dress for Success!

First impression can make or break a business, and your outside appearance is a large portion of it. Prepare a professional looking wardrobe that fits the culture of the organization. For men the dress code is usually pretty straightforward; a suit and a tie is always a sure thing. Women can wear a dress, a skirt and a blouse, or some elegant pants with a shirt. Keep accessories, jewelry and make-up to a minimum. Make sure your outfit is clean and ironed, your hair is tidy, and your shoes are shinning.

When you look your best you also feel your best, and feeling good about yourself helps boost your confidence, which is crucial for nailing an interview.

8. Arrive Ready and On Time, Get Comfortable, and Stay Positive

Prepare extra copies of your resume, samples of previous quality work, a reference list, and some paper and pens to jot down notes. Make sure to always arrive on time, or at least 15 minutes before the interview to allow yourself some time to settle, and possibly observe the dynamics of the workplace you’re about to join.

Practice calming your nerves and getting relaxed before the interview, as this will improve your confidence in the eyes of the hiring manager. Remind yourself that not getting the job is the worst thing that can happen.

Oftentimes the first interview will not be your last interview. After the first round companies will follow up with a second or even a third interview round to get to their best candidate. Stick to these basics, prepare well, and you can be sure that all your interviews are a success.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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