By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Reflecting on her career, Julie Sweet, General Counsel at Accenture, says her path was shaped by a drive to do the unexpected. “One thing to note is that I didn’t set out early in my career to be the general counsel at a big company.”

She explained, “Sometimes early in their careers, young people think they have to have it all figured out. But I think it’s important to leave your life open to unexpected opportunities.”

Sweet began her career at the global law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and spent ten years there after making partner. In 2010, she made the leap into the corporate space at Accenture. “At each stage of my career, I’ve really focused on doing something that others haven’t done – I call that exploring uncharted territory,” she said.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Sue Rissbrook, UK Partner at PwC, says her advice to professional women is “being true to yourself, being who you feel you truly are, and supporting others.”

She recently moved to PwC’s London office after working in the smaller Birmingham office mainly partnered by men, and was pleasantly surprised by what she found. “I’ve now walked into a diverse set of partners. I see far more of my peers are female and I see them being very supportive of one another, which impacts positively on all partners and the team.”

“We’re supportive, creative, and entrepreneurial, and I think that’s fantastic for people to see,” she added.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Angela Raitzin, Managing Principal and Head of the New York Office of Morton Capital, says she is dedicated to encouraging women to join and stay in the financial industry.

“I think, particularly as a more senior woman, you have to make time for mentoring. At multiple points in my career, I made it a point to recruit and encourage women to consider financial services and investment banking in particular as a career. Encouraging women to join is the first step but encouraging them to stay, and getting them over the hump from the VP or Director and Managing Director levels is also crucial, “she explained. “Starting over 10 years ago Wall Street made a big push to hire more women and I have seen many positive signs in the past 5 years that they are now making strides to retain these same women.”

She is particularly enthusiastic about the benefits of working in financial advising. As an active recruiter of students from her business school to New York, she says emphasizing the entrepreneurial spirit and the flexible hours associated with financial advising is key. “Both are important to the advancement and retention of women.”

She continued, “For one, you can cast a wide net in terms of your clients. And second, there is much more flexibility to your schedule. In my own case, I didn’t have that degree of flexibility earlier in my career and I think it’s a huge positive.”

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Nancy Reyda, Managing Director and COO of Global Technology Business Solutions at Deutsche Bank, being a leader of change requires a delicate balance between vision and awareness.

“There’s an art to leading transformational change that requires both passionate vision, undying confidence, and the resilient belief that you will achieve that vision – coupled with a deep humility for the complexity of change, and why people may be resisting it,” she explained.

Reyda, who described her career path as unique, started out as an engineer working on the oil fields of California. She’s now a Wall Street executive immersed in the business of transformation.

“In my early days, I’d say I was an enthusiastic leader, but I’ve learned that when you really master the art of the craft is when you have coupled that enthusiastic leadership with humility. People who get that graceful balance are truly able to lead transformational change,” she said.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Joyce Ulrich, Chief Information Officer at Legg Mason, is still learning to get comfortable with her position as a role model. “Some women in the firm have said to me that ‘you are a role model,’” she explained. “A role model is someone whose behavior you emulate, and I had never thought of myself in that way.”

Ulrich, who has spent her entire career in financial services, and all but three of those years in technology, has developed a clear perspective on how women can thrive in the field – and how companies can help them achieve a leadership position.

She encouraged women with less career experience to enter technology, and to figure out what they’re passionate about. “Be a geek. Find your passion for the technology and exploit that. Be flexible and open to learning new things, and don’t be afraid to approach different territory. And especially don’t be afraid to approach new territory that is currently dominated by men.”

As for advice for women who are more senior, she continued, “As I survey the landscape, I’m not sure that as women we’re necessarily good at playing by rules of the old boys’ network.” So we have a choice: we can learn to play by these obscure rules, or not, but what I would really prefer is for the rules to go away altogether.”

“I want to lead by example,” she added, “I have always tried to lead an honorable life. I hope that is what makes me a potential role model.”

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