By Cathie Ericson
Larry Hughes “gets it” for many reasons: he knows what it’s like to come from a “diverse” background, since he himself comes from a blue-collar upbringing – not what one might expect from the CEO of a wealth management business. Additionally, he has an ambitious 29-year-old daughter who is much like the up-and-coming women he works with around the globe. But most of all, he “gets it” because a diverse and inclusive workforce makes good business sense.
Hughes has been at BNY Mellon Wealth Management for almost 24 years, holding eight different roles over the years.
And throughout his tenure he has actively championed the business case for diversity. As committee chair of BNY Mellon’s Wealth Management diversity and inclusion committee, he saw the diversity agenda as more than just gender, race, age or religion – he believes it also encompasses social status diversity, a viewpoint he holds due to his background growing up in inner city Boston. The son of a truck driver father and waitress mother, Hughes knows what it’s like to forge his own path. He has held a job every day of his life since he was 10, including working his way through college and his MBA program.
“I value people who are self-made and come from all walks of life; in fact, I consider it an advantage that I didn’t have a privileged upbringing. I had the opportunity to learn so much working my way through school, earning practical expertise that some others may not have.”
Championing Women Formally and Informally
Although he holds an inclusive view of diversity and inclusion, Hughes nonetheless has been a tireless advocate specifically for women’s advancement across the enterprise. He is a keen supporter of a variety of development programs that cover mentoring, rotational development, engagement, internships, career development and career advancement training through an initiative called “Career Talk,” where business leads hold national conference calls that address a wide range of topics focused on skills and capabilities development.
Hughes has mentored talented women over the years both through formal programs and also through informal interactions. “Just today I met with a Wealth Management colleague who worked her way up in the organization from when I hired her as an analyst years ago. I have taken an interest in her development and offer advice whenever I can,” he says. He stresses that each mentorship opportunity teaches him as well.
In fact, that is the goal behind the firm’s Reverse Mentoring program, where he recently spent a day experiencing the challenges of an associate level employee whom he recently spent the day shadowing.
He also holds periodic lunches with a group of a dozen or so relatively entry to mid-level employees, including many women, where he offers career advice, similar to that which he has given his own daughter over the years. “It’s common-sense advice, but, people love it when I share.”
Among the tips are: “Do anything it takes to get the job done; don’t let ego get in the way; working hard still matters – work a little harder than anyone else; and try to understand other people’s objectives and find common ground.”
“One of the most rewarding parts of my job is spending time with employees who are at an early stage in their career, and are so energizing and enthusiastic in a different way than others.”
He also has been a strong advocate for flexible work arrangements. “I am always considering how we can accommodate employees and provide for an inclusive environment,” he says, noting that the issue is important for both men and women, and extends beyond child care to other family care and any case where flexibility might be needed. This is particularly important within Hughes’ business, where the competitive Wealth Management landscape keeps him keenly focused on retaining talent.
Looking Past the Surface
Hughes acknowledges that he has many opportunities to act as a sponsor in his role, because he has the luxury and obligation to step out of the day-to-day viewpoint and look at the big picture. In addition to his role as CEO for Wealth Management, he is also the Chairman for BNY Mellon New England and this provides him the opportunity to influence and help set the tone across business lines and into the broader organization.
“My role is to consider factors like ‘What are we trying to achieve?’ ‘Why is it important?’ I can take the more strategic role as I look at promoting the people who will position our business for success.”
Many times that manifests itself as identifying a candidate who might lack one particular skill but offers leadership potential for the future. Hughes then can figure out how the company can provide resources to coach them around the skill they need to develop. And, at an enterprise level, it also manifests itself in the types of programs and initiatives he supports on behalf of BNY Mellon such as diversity forums and external networking events focused on the advancement of women in the workplace.
Leading by Example
Hughes knows that having a diverse team as direct reports is also crucial. The leaders attend a training program on overcoming unconscious bias and being open-minded about candidates and opportunities. He expects his management team to own and drive the diversity and inclusion agenda throughout their businesses in support of a workplace that attracts and retains diverse talent at every level of the enterprise to support clients globally as a great place to work.
“I make sure I have people on my management team who challenge me, every day,” he says, pointing to his own team which, for example, includes a CFO who is a female African American and is also among other senior women on his management team who bring diverse viewpoints and challenge him differently.
As he considers his leadership team, he notes that across all their regions, there are more women leading markets than men. “If we don’t have a strong and capable group of women in key positions, we can’t be successful in the business,” he says. “Promoting diversity will feed on itself, as more senior women and people with diverse backgrounds become mentors to others who can then see the path ahead.”
Hughes seizes the opportunity to consider diverse candidates when considering internal mobility or external hiring. He sees it as his job to challenge his team to think differently. It’s not always about the perceived easy answer; it’s important to take the extra time and extra step to get it right. Hughes knows that thinking long-term on decisions being made today is critical.
He mentions a specific search for a leader for the largest market, the New York region. Though Hughes didn’t have a predetermined outlook, he said he needed to see a diverse set of candidates, which took time. Without this established focus at the start of the recruiting process they may not have found the senior leader whom they ultimately ended up hiring.
“That’s the kind of thinking we have to put into practice, insisting on being able to consider candidates who are women, LGBT or ethnic minorities,” he says.
Part of his role is to explain to employees why diversity and inclusion matters.
Every business is different but wealth management is very diverse,” he says. “Clients want to know the organization they are dealing with is inclusive, and that people like them are welcome and can succeed. There are communities where you need to have people who can fit in and socialize, or you’ll never be able to connect with them. Without diversity, you’ll only be successful in certain niches.”
“People readily grasp social justice, but I need them to understand the diversity business case as well.”
Rising Star: Latrisha Whitehead, Project Manager Platform Metrics; TIAA-CREF
Rising StarsNever accept defeat! Those are the words that have propelled Latrisha Whitehead forward in her fast-moving career, spanning a wide variety of companies and industries.
For just over three years, she’s served in her current role as a project manager with TIAA- CREF’s platform metrics group, where she supports and manages the dashboard development for TIAA Today. TIAA Today Dashboard is a tool that provides near real-time Client Systems data to executives, management, IT, operations and the business to inform them about key platform metrics. These dashboards are intended to provide operational insight to current production performance compared to the peak and average.
Prior to that, she held a variety of business analyst positions in industries that ranged from human resources to finance to entertainment. During her stint in entertainment at Twentieth Century Fox, Whitehead’s position had taken her to California, but she was lured back east by a previous manager from Wells Fargo. Knowing the caliber of her work, Whitehead’s manager asked if she would return to oversee the reporting efforts supporting customer relationship managers and wealth managers.
These many moves taught her one of the most valuable career lessons: to value independence. She says that when she initially moved from her home state of North Carolina for a consulting job, she was worried that she would lack support. “My mom has always been my biggest supporter and it was hard to think about her not being close by. But I knew I just needed to get used to being on my own, and once I gained that confidence, I not only survived, but thrived. I began to see myself in a different light.”
Inspiring Confidence in Others
That confidence she found in herself not only shaped her career positively, but it also impacted others’ views of her. Along the way, she’s worked with a wide variety of managers, all with different styles and expectations. But one thing she says they’ve all had in common is their complete confidence in her abilities. “That’s probably what I’m proudest of in my career,” she says, “That in every role I’ve had and every manager I’ve reported to, they’ve never second guessed or micromanaged me. They’ve known that I will see the task through to accomplish the goal.”
Earning Respect
Whitehead says that before she entered the corporate world, she had the impression that women in in the workplace might not earn the respect they deserved. She had heard stories about women who were ignored or spoken over in meetings and had their opinions overlooked.
Fortunately, that stereotype did not ring true in her case. “I don’t know if it was my personality or the combination of my skills and experience, but I’ve found that no one has ever treated me differently because I am a women,” she says. “When they saw that I was dedicated and results driven, they had confidence in my abilities and my opinion on how we could achieve success.”
That respect has come not just from her managers but her peers as well. Whitehead says that she frequently receives feedback from her managers on positive reports from others in the organization. “It makes all the hard work worthwhile,” she says. Since most of her clients are internal, she appreciates that she can make an impact on the external end user customer through the work that she does. “I’m so customer focused that I appreciate hearing that my role has a direct correlation on our company’s success with our customers. Making sure that your internal customers are supported efficiently gives a downstream impact.”
Every Project Offers A Chance for Success
Part of Whitehead’s job satisfaction stems from her ability to find something exciting and fresh in each new project. From each one, she is able to learn more about the company’s business overall, and get a picture of its direction and how her work relates to aspects that don’t directly involve her.
“My team is always innovating; we have to come up with new and original designs and a fresh outlook for each project.”
She says that a project will often come in two seemingly disparate mockups and her team will pull it together. “It always amazes the clients when we present the finished product, and they find that they can see at one high level something that historically they had to look at in drill-down mode. They think we’ve produced magic!”
Passing it On
Whitehead knows she has been the beneficiary of mentoring along the way, including groups that TIAA-CREF hosts, such as its Women’s Employee Resource Group and a Lean In circle. She actively participates in both, and has found it particularly uplifting to hear and see how other
women are breaking the proverbial glass ceiling.
Over the years, she has seen the benefits of having both mentors and sponsors. She says that it has been impactful to see other women in leadership roles which might have historically been male dominated.
She passes on her valuable experience through her volunteer work with a girls’ mentoring group called Dynamic Youth Mentoring Program where she works with girls, ages 13 – 18, which she knows is a critical time in their development. She and other mentors meet with the girls in group settings, and then one-one-one once a month to do something either fun or educational.
She reports that her current manager is one of the best she has ever reported to, due in large part to the support she receives for both her professional and personal life.
But she looks even farther up to identify a professional role model – none other than First Lady Michelle Obama. “She advances her platform so effectively, but it’s clear that she is comfortable in her own skin.
You can tell that she’s not giving false appearances but is true to herself.”
Running Toward Success
Off the job, she devotes her free time to healthy pursuits. She has completed a half marathon and is currently training for another one and has completed a sprint triathlon as well.
She is involved with a women’s running group called Sole Society that focuses on women’s health, from eating clean to exercising to helping ward off the diseases that attack women.
“We have so many roles, from wife to parent to worker that we need to focus just on ourselves sometimes.”
Her professional success is intertwined with her running, since with both she makes sure to make measurable and attainable goals, and review them often to ensure she is progressing toward them. “I strive for continuous improvement, and beating myself each time, whether it’s in the office or at a race.”
Career Tip of the Week!
Career Tip of the Week!Who is in your network? Who do you eat lunch with?
Do a network audit- is there only one type of person in your network? If this cuts along the lines of social identity (gender, ethnicity, LGBT status, class, nationality etc) or even functionality (department and teams) then make a conscious effort to go to lunch with someone different to you. If you only eat lunch with women, ask your male colleagues out for lunch to talk about a business issue.
Welcome to Career Tip of the Week. In this column we aim to provide you with a useful snippet of advice to carry with you all week as you navigate the day to day path in your career.
By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Voice of Experience: Stephanie Smith, Managing Director, Global Head Credit Operations, Goldman Sachs
People, Voices of ExperienceSmith joined Goldman Sachs in July 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom. Though her background was in marketing, she was drawn in by the interesting work that Goldman was doing in e-commerce and spent five years developing strategy for the business. Then, in 2004, she leveraged the many internal relationships she had formed through networking to pursue a new opportunity in the firm’s Operations Division.
While Operations was not necessarily an expected career change, she was immensely curious about the space. Smith was offered an opportunity to join the Client Onboarding team, which is responsible for creating new accounts for clients across all products traded by the firm. “I was quickly catapulted from being a team member working on projects to leading a team of 20,” she recalls. “I was out of my comfort zone, but loving every minute of it!”
Her next “yes” was to the Credit Operations group. “Again, I had no background in this specific industry but was curious about the product and the business. I realized that even if I didn’t have direct experience, I was highly motivated to learn and excited to dive into the opportunity to try something new,” Smith says. “Ultimately I felt supported by the firm that if it didn’t work out, they would redeploy me. Trying something new was 50% fun and 50% challenge.” She soon rose from her initial regional oversight to managing the global team of over 400 people.
In her current role, Smith is excited to be constantly challenged to learn new regulatory rules, partner with her peers and team to develop implementation strategies and develop ideas that will build operational efficiency in the support of fixed income and derivative products.
She relishes a role that enables her to think strategically about issues such as how the firm should build its technological architecture, what consortiums it should join, and what its response should be to proposed rule changes. “We are working with industry partners and leaders internally on how to scale this business and what technological infrastructures we should put in place to help us in the future.”
She says that many of the current changes are driven by the changing regulatory environment and also because of client demand. “Our clients are looking for more creative ways of generating and preserving revenue, and at Goldman Sachs we continually challenge ourselves to develop solutions that meet their needs.”
Just Say Yes
Smith’s advice, especially for women, is simple. “You have to take a chance and speak up, ask questions and expand your network.” Smith says women have a tendency to opt themselves out – after achieving academic success in school, they tend to withdraw when surrounded by a team of smart people. This manifests itself in staying quiet if you don’t have the perfect answer or know 100 percent about a product or solution.
“I was guilty of opting out early in my career, but by working with mentors over the years I’ve learned that we’re all just trying to figure it out,” Smith says. “The beauty of success is harnessing the power of the team — I bring something to the table, you bring something and collectively we develop an answer.”
And that is the advice she believes young women need to hear as they start their career: to jump in with both feet; take risks; and say yes.
“Even when I didn’t know all the details of what I was asked to do, I trusted my managers and said yes, in spite of the butterflies in my stomach. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it.”
This “yes” mentality, combined with her curiosity, is what has led Smith up the ladder.
Along the way, she has learned valuable lessons about perspective and pivoting. Each success and setback is part of a broader journey and should not be evaluated in isolation.
Smith acknowledges she had roles in which she performed well but didn’t feel sufficiently motivated. However, she notes, “I learned something through every experience that led me to my next step, whether it was because I met new and interesting people or learned about a new line of business.”
She says she is most proud of her opportunity and ability to change course in her career. Smith remarks, “I joined the firm in the Securities Division headed in one path, then pivoted to Operations where I was heading down the path of being a strategic individual contributor, and then I pivoted again to management. That’s the beauty of Goldman Sachs — it doesn’t matter where you start, you have the ability to remake yourself multiple times throughout your career.”
Mentoring Emerging Leaders
Smith is active in the firm’s Emerging Leaders Program, which identifies up-and-coming diverse leaders within the firm and offers a network where they can receive coaching and establish informal and formal mentoring relationships.
While she is now able to speak about successfully navigating the firm, she didn’t arrive understanding the rules of the road, some of which she attributes to her background as a first generation immigrant.
“I didn’t know what to expect or how to navigate Wall Street,” she says, adding that although she worked extremely hard during her first couple of years and achieved success, her exposure and impact were limited because she kept her head down. “I assumed that if I worked hard, someone would recognize me, but it wasn’t until one of my managers challenged me to be more vocal and develop my network that my career took off.”
Smith is sure to share her advice across the spectrum of diversity found at Goldman Sachs, be it racial, gender, sexual orientation or cultural. “By celebrating our diversity, we create a more cohesive firm that makes us more effective in our day jobs.”
Goldman Sachs also values diversity outside of work. The firm sponsors and partners with several successful organizations that promote the development of diverse talent. Smith currently serves on the board of one such organization, Council of Urban Professionals (CUP). Founded in 2007, this non-profit’s mission is to connect, empower and mobilize the next generation of diverse business and civic leaders in financial services, legal, media, entertainment and both non-profit and public sectors.
“I love CUP because it allows us to supplement our leadership development as a firm. We can create networks and informal connections between Goldman Sachs professionals and our peers in the industry.”
Outside of work, Smith spends time with her husband and two sons, whom she says keep her grounded and focused.
Men Who Get It: Justin Gmelich, Global Head of Credit Trading, Management Committee Member; Goldman Sachs
Men Who "Get It", PeopleThe father of six, including four daughters, Gmelich is intimately familiar with the dynamics of diversity. He understands the opportunities and challenges ahead for his own daughters in the workplace, drawing from his personal experience and the insight from his wife, a former mortgage bond trader, and sister, who also works on Wall Street.
“This awareness definitely weighs on how I think about the world and what I’d like to see happen on Wall Street in general, and at Goldman Sachs in particular,” Gmelich says.
“Building a better framework to get the most out of the organization requires a different viewpoint around diversity. I’m keenly aware of the dynamics at Goldman and committed to working to bolster our culture and atmosphere to allow all our people to succeed.”
Starting Them Young
As part of Gmelich’s passion for education, he and his wife have invested both time and energy in creating the next generation of leaders.
They developed a scholarship program in their son’s name to fund private education for at-risk kids through high school. The program has resulted in more than three dozen graduates around the country.
These philanthropic endeavors migrated into the development of a need-blind STEM high school, Trinity Hall in Monmouth, N.J. Their oldest daughter, a sophomore, is part of the inaugural class.
Gmelich says that the goal of the high school is to change the way our society teaches girls about their job opportunities. “There’s some cultural bias that steers young women away from rigorous quantitative career paths,” he says, adding that Trinity Hall focuses on coding, physics, math and other skills needed to succeed in STEM careers.
Mentoring at Work
This allegiance to raising up the next generation of successful women is complemented by his current work at Goldman Sachs. “I wear the hat at work and at home,” he says.
To that end, he is active in a program at Goldman Sachs called the Women’s Trader Initiative, which he says is meant to demystify the trading function, as well as provide support and sponsorship for women traders in a department where there are fewer female role models.
He says that his goal as a mentor is to be involved in people’s careers by acting as a sounding board. “The best traders are those who can learn from other people — if you’re an effective mentor, you’re trying to prevent your mentees from making the same mistakes you might have made. I think it creates empathy when you share your own war stories of how best to navigate the job.”
Over the years Gmelich has found that one secret to career success is to embrace the tough conversations and seek appropriate feedback. “Many of the most successful people in the organization are the ones who want to spend 55 minutes of a 60 minute feedback session knowing what they can do better. That’s what makes people grow and develop.”
He says that it’s the obligation of mentors to offer that feedback through the lens of constructive criticism. “We can disagree but we don’t have to be disagreeable.”
Gmelich knows that the best way for leaders to advance those conversations is to underscore the importance of communication and accessibility “You have to use the type of mitigating language that lets people know they can speak their mind, by setting up a communication system where people are comfortable coming to you early and often.”
One way to nurture that feeling of trust is for leaders to show vulnerability and empathy, so that colleagues can see that even if he has a senior role, he’s overcome challenges in his career like anyone else.
“There’s a lot of humanity around that,” he says. “Empathy really matters and whether the recipient agrees with your perception or not, they appreciate that you are trying to give visibility to their career – someone is thinking about how to help them succeed.”
Diversity Must Be Omnipresent
Gmelich doesn’t believe in the common perception that the benefit of diversity advocacy goes to those who receive it. “We mistake the beneficiary,” he says. “With socioeconomic leveling I believe those who benefit equally are those who are getting the exposure to different viewpoints when we open the door.”
He says that when you look around Goldman Sachs, the decision-making process is strengthened when diverse groups actively participate and bring new approaches and perspectives to solving traditional problems. “It’s critical for any organization to realize that.”
As Gmelich demonstrates through his personal and professional life, diversity isn’t a switch you can flip on and off. “You have to practice what you preach in every aspect of your life.”
He advocates that those who want to expand their world spend time volunteering, whether at a high school or another non-profit that speaks to them.
“The more you do it, the better you get,” he says. “When I think about the interplay between my diversity work at Goldman Sachs and my philanthropic endeavors, you could say I’m a believer, both on and off the job.”
Mover & Shaker, Gina Love, Counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP
Movers and Shakers, People“I literally started counting people of color – especially women of color,” recalls Love, a counsel at global law firm Shearman & Sterling. Of those she met, several were from New York, so Love and her new acquaintances came up with the idea of organizing a get-together of people with diverse backgrounds as a networking opportunity when they returned to convention the following year. Their outreach was decidedly grassroots – emailing people they knew and handing out fliers — so they were stunned that word had spread so fast that they were joined by nearly 200 people.
“We knew we were on to something so I started organizing it as an unofficial event at ICSC every year, securing sponsors, inviting speakers and raising money,” says Love, adding that Shearman & Sterling has been unequivocally supportive over the years. For 11 years, Love kept the event afloat on her own time, which though laborious was extremely rewarding. “It’s amazing to see the room clogged with people, many of them telling me that they come to ICSC’s convention primarily for this event,” she says. Eventually, though, she realized the reception needed to be self-sustaining, and ICSC agreed to officially take it over.
Today, the ICSC’s Diversity Reception is attended by anywhere from 600-850 people and has a long list of impressive financial sponsors and speakers from throughout the real estate industry. At the 2014 event, the ICSC announced the creation two scholarships: the “Retail Real Estate Diversity Scholarship” to offer tuition assistance to graduate students entering the retail and real estate industries; and the “Love Scholarship for Diversity,” named in Love’s honor to offer tuition assistance to sophomore, junior and senior university students belonging to an underrepresented minority group. “The whole thing started so innocently, and it was amazing to watch how it grew,” Love says. “It was really wonderful to see that my decade of work to increase diversity in the real estate industry was honored and appreciated by the leadership of ICSC, and I am delighted the legacy will go on.”
Real Estate Roots
Love chose a career in law because she felt it offered a way for her to showcase her strengths in writing and research. She preferred the business-oriented classes during law school and though she did a rotation in litigation, Love gravitated toward a specialization in real estate. Her family had built a background in various facets of real estate – from her aunt who was a broker and real estate investor to her grandfather who had built a residential development and construction company in Jamaica, W. I. , where she is from – so it was an industry with which she was quite familiar. And she has not been disappointed by her expectations of a career in law. Ever since her initial stint as a summer associate, she viewed the field of law as one with multiple challenges, but also extremely rewarding moments.
Recently, Love experienced one of those moments when she helped close a key phase of a complex international deal she had been working on with her Shearman & Sterling counterparts in Germany, along with Mexican counsel. “There were cultural differences to navigate but we had a solid team and it was very satisfying work,” she says. “That kind of international transaction is a real focus for me and for our firm.”
That is part of the appeal of the real estate specialization for Love – the constant diversity. For example, she is also representing a high-end luxury fashion client that recently received a significant influx of capital and is opening stores around the US.
“One of the reasons I really like real estate is because I feel as though it’s one of the only segments of law where you can see the creative result of your work,” she explains. “Real estate attorneys in New York can walk around this city and see visible, tangible signs of what he or she has accomplished — We aren’t the architects or the developers, but as lawyers, we do a lot of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work to make it happen. Sometimes law is hard to explain to others, and I find the real estate specialty to be one of the few where you can really show people something you had a hand in creating.”
Mentors Helped Her Succeed
Love knows that mentors and sponsors have had a major impact on her career. At her former firm, Nixon Peabody, she knew of at least four partners in the real estate practice area whom she said were extremely supportive of her career from the beginning. “I would say that they really guided, guarded and watched over my career,” she recalls fondly.
Now, she has mentors both inside and outside Shearman & Sterling. At Shearman & Sterling, she says she has been guided and supported by real estate practice leader Chris Smith, who has been particularly helpful in the areas of networking, developing client relationships and deal work.
She also has an ongoing mentor relationship with a former colleague at Nixon Peabody, Elizabeth Moore, who is now General Counsel at Consolidated Edison. She says, “We were drawn to each other because she also has Caribbean roots, and we just related really well. It’s fascinating to talk with her about the different facets of her career, since she has had so many completely different roles. She was in State government then became a labor and employment law partner before becoming the GC of Con Ed. We talk frequently about how to deal with specific professional situations, but also just in general how life is going. Our relationship has been very valuable.”
A Clear Plan for Growth
When Love reflects on the qualities that have set her up for success, her method is simple but effective. “I set my goals, chart my plan and start working toward it,” she says, noting that it’s imperative to have multiple plans of action to address eventualities that might come up. She says this approach is something she learned from her father, her biggest role model, who worked as a chemical engineer but also earned a business degree. “You have to adjust periodically to what isn’t working anymore and take personal responsibility for what you do.,” she says. “The road might not always be smooth, but you can get there with a clear but flexible plan.”
How To Negotiate Effectively: A Winner’s Guide
Guest ContributionGuest Contribution by Molly Fletcher
For nearly two decades, I worked as one of the only female sports agents in the industry, negotiating contracts and marketing deals for a client list of top athletes, coaches and broadcasters. I left my career as a sports agent to start my own company because I believed there were lessons I learned within the sports environment that could help people in the business world become more productive. One of those lessons—how to negotiate effectively—inspired my most recent book, A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating: How Conversation Gets Deals Done.
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How To Negotiate Effectively: A Winner’s Guide
Career Advice, Guest ContributionFor nearly two decades, I worked as one of the only female sports agents in the industry, negotiating contracts and marketing deals for a client list of top athletes, coaches and broadcasters.
I left my career as a sports agent to start my own company because I believed there were lessons I learned within the sports environment that could help people in the business world become more productive. One of those lessons—how to negotiate effectively—inspired my most recent book, A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating: How Conversation Gets Deals Done.
My advice applies to anyone who wants to be a good negotiator, but is geared specifically towards executive women. Research has shown that there is a social cost for negotiating that is statistically significant for women and not for men. Instead of examining all the complex reasons why that is the case, I focused on how women can be more effective when they enter their next negotiation.
Set the Stage
Setting the stage refers to gathering all types of hard data and marrying it with qualitative information to create a compelling case. When clear standards for negotiation exist, women actually negotiate at about the same rate and just as effectively as men—so the more data you can arm yourself with, the more confident you can be in your ask. It’s also about 360 degree awareness. You have to get clear on the goals, needs, gaps, values and fears of the other side. What do they value? How do they define success? Is this the right time to make the ask?
Add value
The best thing you can do to put yourself in a successful position to negotiate is to find ways to add value. Most negotiations don’t happen in one meeting. They are built over time, through conversations and relationships. The more you can do to add value to these partnerships, the higher your chance of success when you make your ask. Put yourself in the shoes of the other person and determine what gaps exist and how you can be a solution.
Build relationships
Ask yourself, do I have someone within this organization who is willing to go to bat for me? Be intentional about building strong relationships and find someone who you can trust to advocate for you. Some of the most important conversations about your future happen when you aren’t present. Having a senior leader advocate for you is like having an agent negotiating on your behalf.
Be authentic
Too often, women feel pressured to become somebody else when it comes to negotiation. As I share in my book, effective negotiation isn’t a battle between wills, it’s a conversation between people. Approach the negotiation as you would an important conversation. People respond better to consistency and you will be more comfortable with the ebb and flow if you are in your own comfort zone. Use your own strengths to your advantage instead of copying what you perceive to be as the most effective negotiating styles.
The greater good
Research has also revealed that women who negotiate on behalf of others are generally perceived in a positive manner. That’s why it’s particularly important for women to take a big picture approach when negotiating on their own behalf. Frame up the negotiation from the “we” perspective. How is what you are asking for going to benefit the organization as a whole? How have you contributed in ways that have added overall value? The more you can get into the head and heart of the other side, the better you can frame up the conversation as a win-win. Demonstrate that you understand their perspective, and aren’t approaching this conversation from your own self-interest.
Why is negotiation so important for women? First, it’s a small but important piece in closing the wage gap. The importance of negotiation, however, goes beyond just money. When women don’t negotiate, they sacrifice more than just money. They sacrifice opportunity—for training, growth, leadership, recognition and promotions. It becomes a cycle, because in order to change the stereotypes and expectations about women negotiating, we must have women in leadership positions. This was a huge part of my motivation for writing my book—not just to inspire individuals to ask for what they want but to spark a greater conversation that leads to change.
Career Tip of the Week!
Career Tip of the Week!Look for your own blind spots and address them.
Many women are sexist against other women and sometimes it is on a very unconscious level. Examine how you treat the men and women in your team and what behaviors you expect from both genders. Are you stereotyping jobs and types of tasks based on gender?
Welcome to Career Tip of the Week. In this column we aim to provide you with a useful snippet of advice to carry with you all week as you navigate the day to day path in your career.
By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Men Who Get It: Larry Hughes, CEO BNY Mellon Wealth Management
Men Who "Get It", PeopleBy Cathie Ericson
Larry Hughes “gets it” for many reasons: he knows what it’s like to come from a “diverse” background, since he himself comes from a blue-collar upbringing – not what one might expect from the CEO of a wealth management business. Additionally, he has an ambitious 29-year-old daughter who is much like the up-and-coming women he works with around the globe. But most of all, he “gets it” because a diverse and inclusive workforce makes good business sense.
Hughes has been at BNY Mellon Wealth Management for almost 24 years, holding eight different roles over the years.
And throughout his tenure he has actively championed the business case for diversity. As committee chair of BNY Mellon’s Wealth Management diversity and inclusion committee, he saw the diversity agenda as more than just gender, race, age or religion – he believes it also encompasses social status diversity, a viewpoint he holds due to his background growing up in inner city Boston. The son of a truck driver father and waitress mother, Hughes knows what it’s like to forge his own path. He has held a job every day of his life since he was 10, including working his way through college and his MBA program.
“I value people who are self-made and come from all walks of life; in fact, I consider it an advantage that I didn’t have a privileged upbringing. I had the opportunity to learn so much working my way through school, earning practical expertise that some others may not have.”
Championing Women Formally and Informally
Although he holds an inclusive view of diversity and inclusion, Hughes nonetheless has been a tireless advocate specifically for women’s advancement across the enterprise. He is a keen supporter of a variety of development programs that cover mentoring, rotational development, engagement, internships, career development and career advancement training through an initiative called “Career Talk,” where business leads hold national conference calls that address a wide range of topics focused on skills and capabilities development.
Hughes has mentored talented women over the years both through formal programs and also through informal interactions. “Just today I met with a Wealth Management colleague who worked her way up in the organization from when I hired her as an analyst years ago. I have taken an interest in her development and offer advice whenever I can,” he says. He stresses that each mentorship opportunity teaches him as well.
In fact, that is the goal behind the firm’s Reverse Mentoring program, where he recently spent a day experiencing the challenges of an associate level employee whom he recently spent the day shadowing.
He also holds periodic lunches with a group of a dozen or so relatively entry to mid-level employees, including many women, where he offers career advice, similar to that which he has given his own daughter over the years. “It’s common-sense advice, but, people love it when I share.”
Among the tips are: “Do anything it takes to get the job done; don’t let ego get in the way; working hard still matters – work a little harder than anyone else; and try to understand other people’s objectives and find common ground.”
“One of the most rewarding parts of my job is spending time with employees who are at an early stage in their career, and are so energizing and enthusiastic in a different way than others.”
He also has been a strong advocate for flexible work arrangements. “I am always considering how we can accommodate employees and provide for an inclusive environment,” he says, noting that the issue is important for both men and women, and extends beyond child care to other family care and any case where flexibility might be needed. This is particularly important within Hughes’ business, where the competitive Wealth Management landscape keeps him keenly focused on retaining talent.
Looking Past the Surface
Hughes acknowledges that he has many opportunities to act as a sponsor in his role, because he has the luxury and obligation to step out of the day-to-day viewpoint and look at the big picture. In addition to his role as CEO for Wealth Management, he is also the Chairman for BNY Mellon New England and this provides him the opportunity to influence and help set the tone across business lines and into the broader organization.
“My role is to consider factors like ‘What are we trying to achieve?’ ‘Why is it important?’ I can take the more strategic role as I look at promoting the people who will position our business for success.”
Many times that manifests itself as identifying a candidate who might lack one particular skill but offers leadership potential for the future. Hughes then can figure out how the company can provide resources to coach them around the skill they need to develop. And, at an enterprise level, it also manifests itself in the types of programs and initiatives he supports on behalf of BNY Mellon such as diversity forums and external networking events focused on the advancement of women in the workplace.
Leading by Example
Hughes knows that having a diverse team as direct reports is also crucial. The leaders attend a training program on overcoming unconscious bias and being open-minded about candidates and opportunities. He expects his management team to own and drive the diversity and inclusion agenda throughout their businesses in support of a workplace that attracts and retains diverse talent at every level of the enterprise to support clients globally as a great place to work.
“I make sure I have people on my management team who challenge me, every day,” he says, pointing to his own team which, for example, includes a CFO who is a female African American and is also among other senior women on his management team who bring diverse viewpoints and challenge him differently.
As he considers his leadership team, he notes that across all their regions, there are more women leading markets than men. “If we don’t have a strong and capable group of women in key positions, we can’t be successful in the business,” he says. “Promoting diversity will feed on itself, as more senior women and people with diverse backgrounds become mentors to others who can then see the path ahead.”
Hughes seizes the opportunity to consider diverse candidates when considering internal mobility or external hiring. He sees it as his job to challenge his team to think differently. It’s not always about the perceived easy answer; it’s important to take the extra time and extra step to get it right. Hughes knows that thinking long-term on decisions being made today is critical.
He mentions a specific search for a leader for the largest market, the New York region. Though Hughes didn’t have a predetermined outlook, he said he needed to see a diverse set of candidates, which took time. Without this established focus at the start of the recruiting process they may not have found the senior leader whom they ultimately ended up hiring.
“That’s the kind of thinking we have to put into practice, insisting on being able to consider candidates who are women, LGBT or ethnic minorities,” he says.
Part of his role is to explain to employees why diversity and inclusion matters.
Every business is different but wealth management is very diverse,” he says. “Clients want to know the organization they are dealing with is inclusive, and that people like them are welcome and can succeed. There are communities where you need to have people who can fit in and socialize, or you’ll never be able to connect with them. Without diversity, you’ll only be successful in certain niches.”
“People readily grasp social justice, but I need them to understand the diversity business case as well.”
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