Stephanie Rader, Partner, Goldman Sachs, Securities Division

Stephanie RaderStephanie Rader, head of the Distressed Sales and Bank Loan Sales Group, is a program co-sponsor of the 2019 Women’s Career Strategies Initiative (WCSI), an annual program at Goldman Sachs that provides high-performing women associates access to training sessions, resources and touchpoints with senior leaders across the firm. Associates are encouraged to develop their leadership skills, identify ways to enhance their commercial impact, evaluate the work-life equation, and manage their careers proactively. In a roundtable session hosted for WCSI participants, Rader reflected on her career at the firm and shared advice with this year’s WCSI class.

A 15-year veteran of the firm who initially began her career at Goldman Sachs as an intern, Rader started by reminding attendees to have the courage and confidence to ‘go for the ball.’

Rader shared: “As Billie Jean King said, pressure is a privilege; if you’re doing well and excelling in your current role, others will inherently begin to give you more work because they know you can deliver.”

She adds, “While being responsible for a significant number of deliverables and leading on projects can be stressful, you need to remind yourself that you’re being given a chance to excel – one that others around you might not receive – and you should take advantage of those opportunities.”

Rader, who joined the firm after graduating from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and economics, was presented with many such opportunities during the financial crisis.

“Throughout, I jumped in and helped out with various clients, because everyone was moving so fast,” she told the WCSI Class of 2019. “I learned an incredible amount during this time period and it helped set me up for success down the line.”

Taking Advantage of Rapid Change

“If you find yourself in a moment in your career where you feel stalled, remember that things can change very fast,” Rader recalled. “Create your own luck by putting in the work and preparation now so you can take advantage of opportunities when change occurs, which it always inevitably does.”

Rader acknowledged that in the absence of change, individuals can identify other ways to present themselves as rising leaders. Her recommendation: “Be vocal in meetings with your questions and ideas, invest time developing the analysts on your teams and be the go-to expert in your space.”

Leveraging Methodical Postings

Rader, who covers both asset managers and hedge funds, also manages a team of 14 sales people. When working in a fast-paced environment, Rader highlighted the importance of ensuring your manager and stakeholders are aware of the internal and external projects you are working on. “Don’t wait until your annual feedback to connect with your manager.” She recommends scheduling a regular touchpoint and sharing a comprehensive list of your completed deliverables and ongoing projects.

“It’s so important for people to know and be aware of the work you’re doing – while we expect our colleagues and our manager to automatically know about our projects, do not assume they are aware of what you are working on unless you post them directly.”

The Work-Life Equation

“At different points in your career you’re going to need different things, whether that’s time to adjust to being a new mom, caring for a parent, or tending to your own health,” Rader reflected. “While it’s good to make plans and set goals, both our professional and personal lives can take unexpected turns. Be flexible in adjusting course, be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

As a mom to a six-year-old and one-year-old, Rader told participants she tries to be fully invested in the present moment in order to maximize her time at work and her time at home: “When I’m at work, I’m completely plugged into the desk and work as efficiently as possible. When I’m at home, my kids are my priority.”

Reflecting on Goldman Sachs’ work environment since she joined in 2004, Rader notes, “Managers recognize now that if you’re happy outside of Goldman Sachs, you’re going to be more productive when you’re at the office – as a result I think our culture has become more flexible and inclusive over time.”

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Imposter Syndrome? Stop Being an Insecure Overachiever

 

imposter syndrome insecure overachieverMy bet is that if you are reading this column you have either googled the words “imposter syndrome” or “insecure overachiever” at least once.

Maybe more than 50% of readers today might identify with all or some of the traits and behaviors that apply to insecure overachievers since people who read theglasshammer are seeking career advice, information or inspiration of some kind.

I can tell you that most of us are driven by something.

Fear of failure comes up a lot amongst highly successful executives and how could it not? The stakes are high and what got you to where you are is an individual mix of skills and behaviors purely contextual to your lived experiences in your organization. The culture that each firm and team embodies varies and evolves moment to moment and person to person but is very relevant to norming overwork as a good thing. But imagine what your life would be like if failure large or small was seen as a learning experience and not a devastating event?

Driven people are driven by something and it is not usually ambition for ambition’s sake, if you think for a second about that. Motivations behind all behaviors can be somewhat simplified by categorizing them into three summarized buckets that Socrates and then Plato spoke of much less concisely in The Republic:

1) Gain, or what’s in it for me?

2) Honor, such as high altruism traits or desire to leave a legacy work

3) Fear, or what will happen if I fail or do not do this

Many successful people in the world are insecure overachievers because always wanting better has given us great products and services and achievements as humans. No matter how you cut it, subjective judgment, and in this case your subjective judgment against yourself to believe there is a better product or version that you can produce next time, fuels innovation.

However, where hardworking, smart people fall under the insecure overachiever definition is when fear is extreme, almost all-consuming, and underlined by a feeling of permanent inadequacy despite having a range of actual significant achievements. “Work harder” is what people who suffer from this implicitly tell themselves. And in a world of more is more for work in many industries the norm is to put in long hours and show commitment, so discovering this issue may be harder than for people who work in very balanced, life- and family-centric societies.

Imposter syndrome fits here too when fear includes a feeling of secret shame of not being good enough and shows up as fear of being found out as a fraud. Usually, this comes with a feeling of needed external validation as the person cannot validate themselves. The person can feel anxious and unhappy no matter how many advanced degrees completed with honors and jobs they have excelled at. No matter how much money they earn or amazing projects they have completed, they can only see the future challenge in future time and cannot enjoy their past achievements or present successes.

If any of this sounds familiar, it is entirely important to get to the root cause of why you feel how you feel. It is usually sitting in your subconscious as a construct or several constructs that have formed into a belief.

Here is what you need to do:

1) Decide if you want to change from a stressed-out, unhappy ?insecure overachiever? or someone who doesn?t belong or deserve their success.

2) Get a goal, such as ?be more content with my work achievements? or ?look at balance of my entire life, not just work? or ?get healthy mentally and physically in 2020.?

3) Work on awareness and making explicit to yourself what you tell yourself when you indulge in some self-deprecation (and not the modest, historically British kind).

4) Read ?Immunity to Change? which provides a great model for practical use around seeing what hidden competing agendas you might be carrying around that are thwarting your goal of being more sustainable and satisfied.

5) Call me and sign up for a coaching pack of 5 sessions to support and facilitate this work. As a coach who has written a paper at Columbia University on how goal setting is derailed by the subconscious, I can help you.

Ready to start? Book your first coaching session here for 90 minutes (pay online) and get started on the mental debris so that you enter 2020 in a new mindset with a real plan.

Or book a free 15-minute exploratory call here to see if this is for you.

 

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Voice of Experience: Elyse Lesley, U.S. Consumer Partnerships and Franchise Development, Citi

Elyse LesleyAdvocacy matters, says Citi’s Elyse Lesley.

“When I started, I placed more of a premium on what I did than the people I worked for, but I have realized throughout my career that ultimately advocacy is the magic that will get you to the places you want to be,” she says. “Your advocates may tell you things you don’t want to hear, but those moments will help you get out of your comfort zone and take the chances that allow you to learn and grow. Those are the people you need in closed door forums, pounding the table for you before others even know who you are.”

A Career Path Built On Diverse Experiences

After graduate school Lesley went into consulting, which she found to be an unmatched experience; as she notes, there aren’t many jobs where you get to experience such a diversified slate of issues and companies and actually sit at leadership tables. “When I worked as a consultant, it was almost as though I was earning a second graduate degree. I learned how to deconstruct problems and talk confidently with professionals who were a decade or two older than I was,” she says.

While she believes it’s a top way to broaden your skillsets, she eventually decided to leave consulting and focus on a career in financial services. Lesley was looking for an opportunity that would allow her to do interesting consumer-facing work while also providing a platform to build out a long-term career.

Over the years she has worn many different hats and taken on varying responsibilities charting overall strategy; helping develop a retail business; offering insight into segment value propositions; building and deploying new product solutions; amplifying the company’s voice in the marketplace; and improving the end-to-end client experience.

“I have led a diverse set of functions over time while remaining close to the consumer, which has been fascinating and rewarding,” Lesley says. She has been with Citi for eight years in various roles and in October took on a new role leading partnerships and franchise strategies at Citi’s US Consumer Bank.

“I really appreciate that the role I have allows me to think about growth and the continued transformation of our industry,” she says.

As clients become more comfortable with opening an account and servicing it online, Lesley is currently spearheading efforts on how to scale the franchise through digital channels. She is also exploring ways for Citi to continue to build deeper relationships with its clients by leveraging data to provide personalized services and offerings that clients are looking for.

“Banking is an exciting industry especially as physical and digital continue to converge and how banks evolve to make a difference in clients’ lives and reward their loyalty. We are helping to create new product and distribution solutions that allow Citi to scale and encourage our clients to have a lifelong relationship with Citi,” she says.

An Attitude of Mentoring

When considering all of her various contributions over the years, the work Lesley is most proud of is seeing the individuals whom she has mentored subsequently achieve their professional goals. “I take intense pride in the people I have worked with over my career who are now in impressive roles. It feels good to have been part of a chapter in their career that got them to that point,” she says. “I am deeply invested in helping the people I hire and working with them to achieve their aspirations.”

Lesley sees that one of the biggest challenges in the financial services industry as a whole continues to be representation. “We need to have more women at senior levels of organizations in every industry to ultimately build the gender balance we need,” she says. “While we are making progress in financial services broadly, it is slower than I would ideally like to see.”

Lesley is a proud member of Citi Women, a community of female employees at all levels working to help one another through skill-building and advice sharing. Besides encouraging internal networking, it also includes elements of training and leadership development that allows women to hone their self-advocacy skills. “I believe the knowledge we are imparting here will translate into positive outcomes for years to come,” she says.

Lesley offers several pieces of advice for women, most importantly to know what’s really important in a day, week, month or year and stack their time accordingly. “You get credit for transformative wins, but the little tasks can crowd that out. Know what matters and make that your focus.”

With three daughters and a son between the ages of 11 and three—Lesley says her current hobby is her family. “I choose to do two things well: to make a difference at Citi and achieve my career aspirations and to raise some really good human beings. For now with four young children, that’s my version of balance.”

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Voice of Experience: Tatiana Segal, Head Of Risk Management, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Tatiana Segal
Don’t underestimate the importance of the company culture when making a decision about your career choices.

“Make sure the company’s values and philosophy are aligned with yours.” says Segal. “You need to be assertive and understand your options, and then put yourself in a position where you can leverage your skills to the highest possible degree,” she says.

A Career Rooted in Seizing Opportunity

Segal has a wide-ranging experience with both buy-side and sell-side firms. She started her career as an intern at BlackRock while earning her degree in economics at Columbia University and then joined full time as an analyst, a position she held for three years before moving to Goldman Sachs.

After having two children, she began looking for a healthier work-life balance and moved to Banque Nationale De Paris and from there to Nomura Securities. Ultimately she sought experience with alternative investments and went to Citi to assume a risk oversight role for the liquid portion of Citi Alternative Investments.

Segal left for a prestigious hedge fund launch, which ended up not getting off the ground as seed commitments evaporated in the midst of the 2008 crisis, and she found herself looking for work during the downturn. Segal joined Cerberus Capital Management as their first-ever head of risk management and built out both a risk team and risk capabilities to support both private equity and hedge funds. In 2011 she joined SkyBridge Capital as the head of risk management. In August 2019, she joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management as Head of Risk Management. Tatiana is enjoying the global and dynamic nature of the role and is looking forward to living up to Morgan Stanley’s four core values: Doing the Right Thing, Putting Clients First, Leading with Exceptional Ideas and Giving Back.

Understanding Your Worth

In addition to her impressive career Segal prioritizes her family—as mentioned earlier, she made choices based on the desire to have more time with her kids. “In the late ‘90s, the expectations of face time were immense, which could conflict with your desire to be with your children. It is astonishing to me that at many firms face time is still used as a measure of productivity. I believe that successful firms will be the ones that nurture more flexibility.”

Segal feels that the younger generation has been more likely to understand early in life that balance is important. “Rather than just living to work, they tend to prioritize spending time with friends and family,” she says.

In fact, Segal encourages women who are coming up the ranks to realize they need to stand their ground; it’s important to be assertive or you can end up unfulfilled. “Know your worth and your value, and be objective about what you can offer the company—that’s how you will earn respect and eventually flexibility. You need to put yourself in a position where your supervisors understand you can be equally effective without spending long hours at the office.”

Segal is part of 100 Women in Finance group where she co-chairs the risk peer advisory group. She believes it’s important to network with her peers, compare stories, and share views.

Segal carries on this mentoring spirit in her personal life, as well. In fact, one of her most impactful roles is as a board member for the Tenement Museum, which shares the hard stories about immigration history for the various groups who made America the “melting pot” it is today.

“There were women who couldn’t have their fingerprints taken because they had literally worked their fingers to the bone,” she says. “The museum did a remarkable job restoring the tenement building, and looking at where we came from—to really see the strides we have made—is both humbling and life-affirming,” she says.

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How to Be Present and Gain Greater Power in Communication

Power in CommunicationWhat comes to mind when you think about being present in business? Is it having razor-sharp focus, paying attention to every detail, anticipating every possible flaw or problem, looking people in the eye when they talk to you?

We are taught that focusing on one aim or purpose in life or business to the exclusion of everything else is how to be present. What if that actually keeps you from being present and therefore being able to authentically engage and have greater power in communication with others? Being present doesn’t mean being single-minded. Being present doesn’t mean putting blinders on. In fact, focusing on one thing or person requires you to cut off everything else around you.

What if you could be aware of everything that is going on, being said and happening around you? That is being present.

So why would you do that?

Abraham Maslow said, “The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.” The quality of your life depends on your presence in the moment and that is the key to gain greater power in communication as well.

Being in the moment does not require effort if you allow yourself to expand and give up being single-minded. You lose focus is because you’ve learned to hone in on one thing and if something else is getting your attention, you don’t know how to be present with everything.

Rather than being caught up in conclusions or decisions of what is required right now – trust your knowing, your inner voice, your intuition, which often leads you in a direction throughout the day that you might not have thought of or been able to plan. Would you be willing to have that trust in yourself?
What prevents a lot of people from following their knowing or their inner voice is their reluctance to be open to the unknown, which is sometimes uncomfortable but can stretch your life to greater possibilities. Get comfortable being uncomfortable – that is where change happens, and you become greater. Your presence will increase, and you will become unstoppable.

Here are five tips to total presence and gaining influence:

1. Asking questions

A question always opens up new possibilities. Ask to be present as then it becomes something you be and not something you do.

Another question: what requires my attention right now? If I allow myself to be present with everything what do I know here? What action could I take next?

2. Be interested not interesting
To gain greater power in communication a vital element is to listen and be interested in the other person. This is a way to make the other person feel worthy and helps them open up to you.

3. Exercise

Be aware and get present with three points of your body. This is a great way to bring you back to yourself. Whenever you have the feeling you are everywhere and nowhere, and therefore you are not able to be present with what is going on in the moment, recall this exercise. You’ll experience for yourself how easy it is to get centered. Just try!

4. Lower your barriers

The next time you start getting defensive or feel like you need to forcefully put forward your side of the argument, stop, breathe and just imagine pushing your walls or defenses down.

How does it work? Ask for your barriers to lower in any moment of your life. Practice it in your daily life so that you get a sense for what occurs.

Barriers separate us from each other, and true presence is not possible with them. You always will be hiding behind walls, which does not allow you to fully engage with the moment.

What creates the ability for other people to judge you or oppose you is when you resist and react or when there is something to bounce off.

Whatever people throw at you it is not real, it’s just their point of view.
The other person will be stuck with their judgment, not you, when you have your barriers down. Lowering your barriers will free you.

Being totally present and pulling down all of your barriers and having no point of view of what they may or may not think of you disarms every person and changes the situation. This is the space of allowance that is possible when you are without barriers and walls.

5. The key to being neutral

Choosing to function from what some would call a neutral or open-minded perspective, so as not to hold on to any point of view, gives you more choices and flexibility. Holding on to a point of view keeps you from having power as it limits you within right and wrong/good and bad parameters. A key element of gaining power in communication is not holding on to any point of view, but to have the freedom of all choices in the moment and the willingness to receive any information.

How many thoughts about you and being present do you have that are filled with judgments? By living them over and over again, you continue to attract more of them. This way of thinking takes you away from the presence that is possible and fuels the fight against you.

These points of view can really lock up and limit your life, your business and your reality. So, the key to freedom is, “Everything is just an interesting point of view,” as this starts to unlock the limitations defined by the point of view.
Here’s how it works: every time you get into a mind spin where you are circling around a point of view you can say to yourself, “Interesting point of view, I have this point of view.” Repeat this ten times and sense the freedom that opens up. You will gain more clarity and create ease in your world.

You can feel fully alive or miserable in any moment. It is the choice you make that creates your influence and impact with every conversation you have. Stop resisting the present. Instead engage with every moment and make your choices towards being present and gaining greater power in communication by using these tools and never give up.

Guest Contributed by Doris Schachenhofer

About the Author

After completing her social work studies in Vienna, Doris Schachenhofer worked with children, homeless people, delinquent teenagers and prisoners transitioning back into the real world. Today she travels the world teaching and supporting people to be more of themselves. Follow Doris here and on Instagram.

The opinions and views expressed by guest contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of theglasshammer.com

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Voice of Experience: Kelly Hutchinson, Special Counsel, Katten

Kelly HutchinsonKelly Hutchinson cannot stress enough to young professionals the importance of networking with their peer group.

“I tell young people that there is a counterpart to your role across the table, and you should get to know them because they will rise in their careers as you do in yours,” she said. As Hutchinson, a member of Katten’s Government and Public Finance practice group, points out, “You might not have a connection to the director but you might have one with the analyst, and eventually he or she will become the Managing Director, or Issuer, and you will have a great relationship that you forged many years ago.”

She also believes that employees at a junior level should realize the value they can bring every day. For example, a supervisor might not have time to read a wide variety of articles related to their industry, but more junior staff members often do have time, so they should so that they can educate themselves and contribute valuable insight to the discussion.

Finding Opportunities in Down Times

Hutchinson attended Pomona College in Southern California where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media studies. While in college, she attended the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College’s Business Bridge Program, a four-week immersive summer program with experiential project-based learning and personalized coaching and career development. The experience set Hutchinson on a career path that led her to become an investment banking analyst in the oil and gas industry.

A few years later, Hutchinson enrolled in Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. But the year before she was set to graduate, the disastrous Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, forcing her to flee the city and the university to close for months. Hutchinson returned to Chicago where she finished classes as a visiting student at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

While in law school, Hutchinson started working for a financial advisory firm and coincidentally found herself at Katten, working with attorneys there, on her first day. After graduation, she stayed on with them for more than 10 years, advising large municipalities on bond financing and eventually serving as director and chief compliance officer.

During the financial crisis, Hutchinson found that opportunities were available to really dig in and become known as a problem solver. She was offered the chance to work for the State of Illinois as director of capital markets to manage debt issuances and the debt portfolio. That was in 2015, during a time when the when the state was in the midst of an unprecedented budget impasse. Hutchinson found herself in the right spot to navigate complicated problems that were similar to others she had handled in previous positions.

“I believe the best time for public service is when your expertise will be valuable,” she says. “Every day I could go in and add value.”

Her first year in that role, Hutchinson conducted seven public market transactions totaling nearly $3 billion right before she gave birth to her first child. All in, she spent 3-1/2 years with the State, managing $30 billion of debt and raising over $10 billion of debt in the capital market. In May, she joined Katten, where she is familiar with many of its attorneys in the municipal bonds market and can leverage her transaction experience, making for an easy transition to this, her next chapter. “I decided it was time to try another spot at the table, providing counsel from a different perspective,” she explains.

Control Your Destiny

All those experiences have shown Hutchinson that the only thing you can control is what you do—you can’t take ownership of how people see you and want to interact with you, but you can take charge of how you present yourself and live according to your values.

Part of that is merely showing up and taking advantage of opportunities, she says. “As a minority, you’re taught to put your head down and work hard, but you also need to take that extra step of making an effort to be present at meetings and social events and getting out to know your clients,” she says.

She predicts a long career, given that her late great uncle was an attorney who didn’t stop going to court until he was 95 years old. For now, Hutchinson enjoys her time with her 3-year-old son, especially appreciating the times that they travel together. “I want him to be a citizen of the world so we take one international trip a year,” she says.

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Review Last Year’s New Year’s Resolutions Now!

Nicki GilmourIt may sound crazy and slightly anxiety-inducing at a time when you have enough to fit in to your busy life, but it might just serve you well to review last year’s goals now.

Why? Firstly, you can review how you did against those espoused goals. If the answer to that is “not great” then you have a massive opportunity to ask yourself “What matters now?”

You can start to work towards a 30-day plan to really address whatever you still care about.

Secondly, before entering the season where you can feel as tired and pushed and possibly partied out as any other time in the year (referring to entertaining family more than swinging from the chandeliers), give yourself mental room to think. Even if that only means that it gives you a head start on thinking what will make it into 2020’s goals. A plan for the plan if you will. Reflecting before formulating those January 1st ideas might give you the mindfulness you need to get what you really want.

Think holistically, what do you need for every area of your life to feel good in 2020? So many of us reading this site (and writing it) are hard-charging overachievers. Work and career is front and center. Take a moment to think about how you would like your life to look a year from now. How will you have spent your time? What will have changed? What will you have done more of? And less of?

What worked this year and what have you simply outgrown? What will it take to let go of that habit that isn’t serving you? Ask yourself: what do you have to gain by spending your time/energy/sanity/money elsewhere?

If you would like to go into 2020 with a coach on your side, we are offering a coaching deal of five (60 mins) sessions for the price of four (phone/video), if you sign up between now and thanksgiving to start in January. Book with Nicki Gilmour and start making your 2020 a year that changes everything.

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Leadership Advice for Women – Actionable Items to Implement

Latina

Guest contributed by Tricia Benn

Over the past century, women have made enormous strides — gaining access to the vote, educational opportunities, military service, executive roles, and other aspects of modern life.

In spite of these advancements, there is plenty of work to be done in order to achieve parity.

Studies have shown that women tend to fall behind early on in their careers and continue to lose ground as they progress, despite the fact that women are earning a majority of college degrees. According to research from McKinsey and LeanIn.org, women make up 47 percent of entry-level hires but are 18 percent less likely to be promoted to managerial positions.

The c-suite is no exception.

A New York Times report stated the number of women leading companies in the Fortune 500, grew to 6.4 percent in 2017 – up almost 3 percentage points from a decade earlier. At this rate, parity would take over a century. In 2018, the number of female chief executives declined 25 percent, according to Fortune’s 2018 list of Fortune 500 companies.

While the number of CEOs continues to decline, the position of the Chief Financial Officer currently has a higher female presence, with almost 13 percent. Still woefully less than the population and graduates with finance degrees would lead us to conclude there should be.

These numbers indicate that there is a clear systemic problem that still sees women executives falling off the corporate ladder — despite, many reports that show women outperforming men in several key competencies like self-awareness, adaptability, and teamwork.

Here are six things that need to be addressed in order to help bridge the gender gap.

Systemic Bias.

Systemic bias is defined as “prejudice, bigotry, or unfairness directed by health, educational, government, judicial, legal, religious, political, financial, media, or cultural institutions of an oppressed or marginalized group.” It’s inevitable to look at a problem, make it personal, feel defensive, and feel the need to justify some decisions. Here are some examples:

Women have to make very difficult choices when it comes to having a family. They have to choose between parenthood or career advancement; whereas their male counterparts don’t have to make that choice. At times, career advancement translates to working longer, or more, hours which also exacerbates itself with finding affordable, and adequate, child care.

While this issue isn’t applicable exclusively to women, the reality is women bear the brunt of the decision-making when it comes to daycare. In a 2018 survey by the Center for American Progress, mothers were 40 percent more likely than fathers to say they personally felt the negative impact of child care issues on their careers.

Of course, these are simplistic examples of systemic bias, but no less effective in making the point.

Think choice sets. Life isn’t binary.

There is no one solution to any problem or any silver bullets. It’s no secret the burden on parenting has typically been more geared towards one parent than another, but the idea that either parent should be sacrificed by working 80 hours a week and being responsible for the family and home while their spouse advances in the workplace is simply wrong. Historically it has been the mother in this role (although there are some great stay-at-home dads), however, women got it right. They earned post-graduate degrees, put in the time, made sacrifices and they still failed to advance. The end result – work got ‘greedy.’

The same argument can be made for stay-at-home dads.

This article’s purpose is not to say it’s wrong for women, or men, to choose to have a full life of family and home care if that is their choice. One could venture to guess that this would be a small percentage, and even smaller still, if we consider the time after the children leave the home.
There are many choices to be made, life isn’t binary by any stretch of the imagination. Why are we treating it as such? Our personal and business lives are (or should be) integrated. We have to step away from thinking about work life and home life as separate, black-and-white issues. They’re not.

Bring the right people on your journey.

People are one of the biggest, and most important, assets for personal and professional advancement. Who you surround yourself with has a direct impact on your bottom line. For example, it’s critical to align your overall team, along with the individuals within the team, with the overall strategic goals. This allows for everyone to know where they fit and be on the same page in order to create the cohesiveness needed to move the team forward.

Your team should be the people who are on the same mission as you – those same people that feed your madness and fuel your drive. These people are aligned directly with you, making it easier to navigate the bumpy roads in business and offering some leeway in supporting what would otherwise be considered sacrifices. It does take a village.

Never stop learning.

Knowledge is something that we all must acquire continuously – regardless of where we are in our careers. It’s a grave mistake to think that a few years, or decades, of professional experience under our belt means we’ve learned everything we need to know. Learning never stops.

When you stop learning, you cease to be relevant. While it’s natural to fear the unknown, it’s crucial to get out of that frame of mind and be open to expanding your horizons. As professionals, we must be willing to embrace change and accept risks made easier by continued learning. Adapting those new skills and experiences in the workplace is only going to advance the marketability of women in their current roles, when higher positions need to be filled.

Make a difference.

Most people think ‘making a difference’ involves donating to a charitable organization. The reality is there are many ways we can make a difference every single day, even while doing business. Everyone has the capability of being a hero – getting up every single day and doing something that takes willpower, fortitude, and effort. For example, if your team sees you putting the maximum effort day in and day out, you’re making a difference for them. You’re setting the tone for how you conduct business. It is bound to be emulated. People are indeed watching.

Becoming a mentor to a younger employee, especially younger females, makes a difference. Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright famously quipped, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.” While she called that particular moment an “undiplomatic moment,” there’s truth in that statement. Mentoring younger executives helps that next generation of professional women climb higher than our generation. That is what we want in order to bridge the gender gap.

Also, be authentic in everything you do including making yourself vulnerable. Great leaders need to foster trusting environments by being upfront with their team. Sharing your humanity puts everyone, not just women, on a higher plane that is capable is sharing, building, creating, and innovating.

Make a difference by rewarding results and judge contributions by the same standard of performance you would anyone else. In fact, that’s one of the principles of The Hero Club – making a difference. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture or volunteering either in order to resonate with whom it’s impacting.

It’s easy to dismiss corporate America as being uptight and part of the problem instead of the solution. There are plenty of problems in corporate America; however, there are solutions to problems there, too. Part of the solution is the lens being used to view the world that surrounds us.

As leaders, we need to take an active role in adapting and leading with conviction. In doing so not only will there be an increase of female leaders in mid-to-senior-level positions, but workplace cultures and structures will change for the better across all industries. There is no doubt that the rate at which women are representing management and c-suite roles can go going up. The business savvy capabilities and drive women embody are unmatchable, and it’s only a matter of time before the ratio of men to women in leading business roles is as it should be – equal.

About the Author

Tricia Benn is the Executive Vice-President of the C-Suite Network and General Manager of The Hero Club, an invitation-only membership organization for CEOs, founders, and investors. As an executive within both organizations, her mission is to build a platform and community that accelerates the success of c-level executives. She is a leader in creating an executive community of collaboration, based on integrity, transparency, and measuring success beyond the numbers alone – ‘The Hero Factor.’

This approach has driven her more than 20-year track record of industry disruption in building new businesses, revenue streams, and delivering double digit, year-over-year growth.

Learn more at www.c-suitenetwork.com and https://heroceoclub.com/ or connect on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

The opinions and views expressed by guest contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of theglasshammer.com

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Krista Goryl, Regional Manager and Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Advisors

Krista GorylAlways build your skills for the next job, suggests Krista Goryl, regional manager at Wells Fargo Advisors.

In fact, she added that one of the best options is to look at a job description for your ideal job to identify the traits that are needed and then then begin to both develop and showcase them to others to position you for that next opportunity.

“You have to articulate your career goals explicitly and surround yourself with people who can help guide you on that path. I have been fortunate to benefit from extraordinary managers and mentors that continue to challenge me and advocate for me when I meet those challenges,” she says.

Goryl says that she was recently inspired by a speaker who offered an interesting viewpoint: When presented with something that might be outside your comfort zone, don’t dwell on the potential negative, but instead ask yourself, “What is the best that can happen?” if you were to take the risk.

Developing Talent from Outside and Within

Goryl began her career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs, but soon relocated to the West Coast where she joined Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor (FA) before joining Wells Fargo Advisors (WFA). She became a regional manager for the company’s Western region in 2016, which she says is the role she’s most proud of so far because she is able to share best practice and help shape the culture of in her region. Not only that, but when she accepted the position, she had a toddler and a newborn—proving not only her ability to balance work and life but also that WFA was a place that valued its team.

As a regional manager, she particularly enjoys helping managers to recruit experienced advisors to the company. “WFA provides an unprecedented choice and flexibility for FAs and their clients through distinct business channels supported by established products, services and technology,” she says. “The breadth of resources—such as lending, philanthropic services and real estate asset management, for example— offered at WFA really resonates with advisors that want the ability to provide all wealth management solutions to their clients locally.”

Goryl is also an active member of the women’s recruiting committee, which focuses on hiring more female advisors, as well as attracting female clients as there continues to be an incredible wealth transfer to the hands of women.

The need for new talent is also crucial as approximately one-third, or 32,000, are likely to be retiring in the next 10 years, across the industry. WFA’s Next Generation Talent program is helping to address that.

Since its start, the program has brought new career opportunities to more than 1,800 team members, enhancing the WFA team with increased diversity in age, sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity. “I love coaching them and seeing them use their training to help clients create successful financial plans,” Goryl says.

While WFA is a woman-forward firm, Goryl finds that it’s still often necessary to overcome the feelings of intimidation that women can face in a male-dominated industry, particularly as their career level rises and the female representation dwindles. For example, according to global research and consulting firm Cerulli Associates, of the 310,504 total advisors across the industry—48,631 or about 16 percent—are women. “If we socialize the benefits of our industry, we can bolster its reputation as an ideal career for women,” Goryl says.

And she believes that women in upper levels have a responsibility to sponsor future female leaders. “We have the opportunity to create a brand that underscores that our company, and industry as a whole for that matter, are female-friendly,” she added.

Goryl suggests that a great way to do that is by getting to know the women who are climbing the ladder in your organization and advocating for them, adding, “Challenge the way things were always done with a fresh alternative. Women can be excellent at effecting change.”

One program she has found particularly meaningful over the years is WFA’s Women’s Best Practice Forum, which provides the opportunity for female finance professionals to convene and build a supportive network and discuss practice management ideas. Since the forum’s launch eight years ago, the company has hosted 75 events around the country.

Encouraging Balance

Goryl finds that the ability to juggle roles as a manager, spouse and mother is only possible if you create a village of people to support you—such as family, friends or babysitters. And she says coworkers can play a role, too. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t minimize the importance of self-care, particularly in this fast-paced, always-connected digital world,” she advises.

She and her husband took that advice before having children and embarked on a six-month trip around the world, covering 43,000 miles and visiting 16 countries.

While spending time with her family and on her hobbies helps replenish her enthusiasm and commitment, Goryl also appreciates the opportunity to give back through WFA’s volunteer program. Currently, she helps to recruit veterans to WFA and serves as a liaison between the company and Camp Pendleton, a nearby military base.

When Krista isn’t working, she enjoys traveling, spending time at the beach just a mile away from her home and one favorite hobby: as a dancer for a popular San Diego band.

“I’ve always been passionate about dancing and was very active in high school and college,” Krista says. “Four years ago, I was at an event and was watching the band when I noticed one of the dancers was a woman I’d worked with at a brokerage firm years ago. She helped me land an audition and now I perform with the band multiple times a month. I’m so proud to be a part of the Atomic Groove experience.”

“I had a corporate coach who endorsed the idea of maintaining a hobby 100 percent. I learned to prioritize and to say “No” to things that were unfulfilling and to say “yes” to things that helped me grow as a person like this,” Krista says. What matters is that it’s rewarding and fulfilling—like my career.”

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