Intrepid Woman: Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulos on the Journey to Leadership

GIANNAANGELOPOULOSBy Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulos, Vice-Chairman of the Dean’s Council of the Harvard Kennedy School

In May 2000, I received a call asking me to take over the Athens Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Three years earlier, I had led and won Athens’ successful bid for the 2004 Olympics. Now I was being asked to rescue an operation so far off its tracks that the president of the International Olympic Committee suggested publicly that the Olympics might be taken away from Greece.

Host cities are given seven years to prepare for the Olympics. We now had four. I had to build and lead an organization the size of a Fortune 200 company. The entire world waited, watching to see whether I would fail or succeed in this Herculean challenge.

I had always wanted to serve my country. As a child, I dreamed of being an ambassador, because it seemed to me that ambassadors had mysterious, glamorous jobs that impacted the fates of nations. When I confessed my dream, I was reminded that I had no family connections, no diplomatic lineage, and, besides, there were no women ambassadors at that time.

When I was born, Greek women were still two years away from winning the right to vote. Growing up on the island of Crete, I had two strikes against me: I came from very modest means, and I was a woman in a male-dominated culture. Fortunately for me, I had a father who was very progressive. When other men would ask him if he was disappointed to have two daughters, he would say: “I don’t need a son, I have Gianna.” He convinced me that I could do anything a man could do.

But to compete on an equal playing field with men required breaking glass ceilings, being bold, and being persistent. At almost every stage of my life, this is what I had to do – and did.

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Movers and Shakers: Marilyn Nagel, CEO, Watermark

MarilynNagelBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“There are so many things I know now that I wish I had known when I was younger,” Marilyn Nagel said with a laugh. Nagel, CEO of Watermark, continued, “I think the biggest thing I wish I had known is that who is in your network is just as important as the work you deliver. I had a belief that a company was more of a meritocracy and my work would stand on its own.”

“But the truth is, doing excellent work is table stakes. Having a network to support you is what is going to help you and make you successful in the long run.”

That view fits nicely with the work Watermark is doing to connect powerful professional women. “I think that we have to continue to refine our offerings and what we do. We want to help women make their mark in and for their careers, their companies and their communities.”

The group organizes networking events for professional women, development programs, and advocates for diversity, particularly in the boardroom. “I think we are at an inflection point,” she added. “Women are still facing inequality in pay, despite strong data showing that companies are do better when they have a strong gender mix. Open positions are still being filled with people who are already known and that just perpetuates the status quo. But I think pay equity and better board balance will change that.”

She added, “I feel very privileged to lead Watermark, an organization that fits with my values and passion around making a difference. The women I work with are just a treasure.”

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Voice of Experience: Carolyn Vardi, Partner, M&A Practice, White & Case

carolynvardiBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Carolyn Vardi, M&A Partner in White & Case‘s New York office, says one of the primary challenges for women in the legal profession is the relationship between time and family responsibilities. “The practice of law is based fundamentally on time: the time you spend with clients, the time you spend on deals, the time you spend on cases. It’s a kind of war on time in how you allocate those hours,” she said. “For women, the question is how to maximize the efficiency of your time.”

Vardi continued, “How do you devote enough time to your career, your families and friends, and anything else of interest? Balance isn’t the right term – there never is a balance. It’s all about where you allocate time at any given moment so you’re most fulfilled.”

“It’s really hard to fit everything in on any given day. That’s true for anyone in the industry, but can be uniquely true for women,” she added.

So what is Vardi’s advice? “Taking ownership and actively managing my time. No matter what your seniority level, it’s never too soon to take ownership over what it is you are doing. As soon as I began taking ownership over my work and career path as well as my personal goals, my picture became clearer and my goals more defined. Without a doubt there are challenges left and right, but when you take ownership over your time, managing everything seems a bit more feasible.”

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Intrepid Woman: Rupali Deshmukh on Remaking Veteran Transitions

Accenture Helps Military Vets in CharlotteBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week, Accenture launched a new online Military Career Coach tool for veterans transitioning from military roles to the private sector. Rupali Deshmukh, Military Sourcing Lead at Accenture, considers the tool an extension of one-on-one coaching she has been doing for veterans. Now, she says, the online tool will be able to reach many more men and women who are transitioning to work in the private sector.

She knows first-hand the kinds of challenges members of the military face in making that adjustment. Deshmukh, who moved to the United States in 1999, was stirred to action after the September 11th terrorist attacks, and joined the Army as an HR administrator. In 2001, she joined the Army Reserves, and after a tour of service in Kuwait, and two more as a contractor, she came back to the US looking for a civilian job. Eventually, in 2011, she was hired as a military recruitment expert at Accenture.

She said, “In the 8 years of my career with the military, as well as with Accenture and other companies, my proudest achievement is the workshop I created for my candidates. We provide them with a resume and tools to help them get hired with us or someone else. When I get those emails thanking me and saying they’ve been hired – it’s pure joy.”

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Voice of Experience: Jody Hrazanek, Head of Portfolio Implementation and Management, ING U.S. Investment Management

JodyHrazanekBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Jody Hrazanek, Head of Portfolio Implementation and Management at ING U.S. Investment Management (ING U.S. IM), has a suggestion for senior women executives: build stronger working relationships with one another. “As women we focus so much on our individual careers that it’s easy to forget about building a support network with other women. If we could find more ways to stay connected, we would all benefit,” she says.

In addition to networking events or participating in online networks like The Glass Hammer, Hrazanek envisions greater success for women who collaborate more in the day-to-day business environment. She commented, “Committing to events after the workday isn’t always easy for women so we need to find effective networking opportunities in our daily interactions too.”

Hrazanek suggests looking for collaborative projects or seeking out the support of female peers when possible. “These things seem to be much more common among men.” She continued, “I think strong networks would develop naturally” as a result of these connections.

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Intrepid Woman: Silje Vallestad Discusses Her Journey from Idealist to Innovator

siljevallestadBy Michelle Clark (Keene, New Hampshire)

Silje Vallestad did not major in technology, nor did she ever plan to make her mark on the tech industry as Founder and CEO of the mobile app development company, Bipper. Yet here she is, a successful entrepreneur blazing trails in an industry where women are not heavily represented in leadership positions.

So far, Vallestad has developed and launched two mobile safety apps – Mobilekids and bSafe –which have experienced incredible success in the European market. Now, Vallestad is working on establishing Bipper’s headquarters in Silicon Valley while continuing to raise brand awareness for her company in the United States. How is she doing it?

According to Vallestad, the success of her mobile safety products, Mobilekids and bSafe, stems from the fact that she developed them from a different perspective than the typical tech industry innovator. Instead of trying to push the limits of digital technology, Vallestad set out to offer a simple solution to what she considered to be a common problem for parents. That is how to keep young children safe when using mobile devices.

“I was certain there had to be some sort of mobile phone service for kids, but I couldn’t find anything,” said Vallestad. “When this wasn’t available, I decided I had to develop it myself.” So that is exactly what she did. In 2007, while on maternity leave, she decided to pursue her idea of a mobile safety service for children by submitting her proposal to a business plan competition called Venture Cup in Norway. At the time, she had no financial backing and no employees, but she was determined to turn her vision into a reality, which isn’t anything new for Vallestad, who was already starting up volunteer projects and NGOs at the young age of 14. “I knew at an early age that I had the ability to make my vision come true and turn ideas into reality,” she said.

Vallestad explained, “I had the vision, but I had no idea if it was technically possible.” She soon discovered after being chosen as the winner in the business plan competition, that not only was her idea feasible, but the judges of the competition clearly identified a market and a need for Vallestad’s service. Aside from gaining praise and attention for her mobile safety service idea, Vallestad also gained access to start-up capital and business mentors who provided her with the advice and guidance she needed to continue moving forward with her idea.

In fact, if it wasn’t for a mentor who told her that no one would invest in her idea if she ran her fledgling company like a hobby or a side project, Vallestad would have probably been content accepting the comfortable job in the financial industry she was offered around the same time as she began seriously thinking about pursuing her tech venture full time. “It took two years to raise enough cash and hire the first person who knew anything about technology,” Vallestad said. But finally, in the spring of 2008, Vallestad finally received her first seed investment and hired her first employee.

After dodging the devastating blow of the Great Recession that crippled the economy in late 2008, Vallestad launched BipperKids, her first mobile safety service in 2010 with two European operators. One year later, Vallestad introduced bSafe, a mobile safety app for women, to the market, fully realizing her dream of making the world a safer place.

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Voice of Experience: Renee Haugerud, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Galtere Ltd.

ReneeHaugerudBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Renee Haugerud, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Galtere Ltd., issued a challenge for young women in the investment space. “It really is an industry where you have to be a self starter. So dare to be bold. Dare to have a view point. Take everything you know and make a decision. Put your money where your mouth is and dare to start a company.”

Haugerud founded Galtere 15 years ago, and she is enthusiastic about increasing diversity in the investment space. She believes it will strengthen the entire industry. That’s why she and her husband founded the Galtere Institute at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga – to encourage women to go into trading, to examine the gender differences that have made the industry the way it is today, and to examine how it can evolve in the future.

“If we can teach men a more female-centric view of trading, and we can teach women a more male-centric view of trading, we’ll have the best of both worlds,” she said.

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Voice of Experience: Suzanne Muir, Global Client Partner, Capco

suzannemuirBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Suzanne Muir, a Global Client Partner at Capco, a financial services consulting firm, women would benefit by reaching out to one another more often. “We don’t collaborate enough. I don’t see enough women keeping up with peers. Women need to stick together and I really encourage a lot of that.”

In fact, she is helping launch a new mentoring circle initiative at her firm. “We launched our executive women’s network about two years ago, and over time it’s really gelled into a great group of women at all levels. Now we want to add that mentoring component.”

Each circle will include a senior woman and nine to ten junior women with the goal of attracting and retaining high performers. “The junior women will lead and facilitate the circles and bring ideas and thought leadership forward to create their own community of interest. They are still looking for their best fit in their career, and giving them a sense of community will enable them to feel comfortable. I think that’s important.”

She continued, “Our future leaders are those women, and it’s incumbent on us to provide that path forward.”

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Voice of Experience: Maureen L. Beshar, Managing Director, Head of Institutional Sales, ClearBridge Investments

MaureenBesharBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Maureen L. Beshar, Managing Director and Head of Institutional Sales and Consultant Relations at ClearBridge Investments, believes strongly in the importance of building self confidence.

She said, “For women in any business – but especially a male dominated business like this – just believe in yourself. Your talents and qualifications are the reason you are sitting in the seat. It’s because of what you offer.”

Having spent three decades in the investment business, Beshar has the experience to know what propels women to the top. “I think women don’t always have the same amount of confidence as our male counterparts. We need to value ourselves more than others value us. That way we can push things forward.”

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Thought Leaders: Ranji Nagaswami on Leadership, Investing, and Managing Your Career

Ranji Nagaswami“I am very concerned and alarmed at issues of financial integrity,” began Ranji Nagaswami, former Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York when asked about what institutional investors see as the important issues facing the buy-side.

Nagaswami spent over two decades successfully climbing the ranks of the investment management industry in the private sector. Then, in 2010, she took a job with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in the City of New York (NYC), where she would work on solutions to one of the administration’s biggest challenges: pension funding and managing investment risks of the NYC Retirement Systems’ $120 Billion plus in pension assets.

She was tasked with illuminating the administration and NYC Pension Board’s understanding of the drivers of the current pension crisis and successfully persuaded various stakeholders (with contentious mutual relationships to say the least), to restructure New York’s pension investments policy with an eye toward better balancing the long term risks. Having seen the buy-side from the unique vantage points of a manager and an institutional investor, she sees the need to change the tone of leadership in the investment industry as a whole as critical to furthering the interests of beneficiaries and shareholders – who, she says, “after all we are all in the industry to serve.”

“For over a decade now there have been deep issues surrounding our conduct as investment and financial services professionals. It is not just the conduct of the few who epitomized the worst behaviors during the accounting / insider trading / mortgage lending / leverage induced scandals, I am talking about all investors – research analysts, portfolio managers and financial advisors who bear our share of responsibility through our collective complacency in failing to enforce higher standards of due diligence and fiduciary behavior,” Nagaswami said. “We need to set a higher bar, a far more robust code of conduct for the asset management industry that sees improving end-investor outcomes as its ultimate mission. But to build a higher ethical culture we need leaders in the asset management industry who hold themselves accountable on this dimension. Thinking through standards to create accountability is deeply linked to the future of finance.”

“We need leaders who have the right values and prioritize integrity over asset gathering and profits.”

She added, “These may sound like easily said platitudes, but to many thoughtful investors it is very real and goes to the core of rebuilding confidence in the US financial system.” Nagaswami sits on the CFA Institute’s Asset Manager Code of Conduct Committee, but also uses her many public speaking opportunities to drive this issue home.

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