By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
Anne Izzillo, President of the Financial Women’s Association, believes sincerely in the power of networking – in fact, she said, that’s how she got involved in the group in the first place. “I lived and worked in London for 14 and a half years and I came back in 1999, basically without a network.”
“Everybody had gone to the four winds in the almost 15 years I was away,” she explained. “And somebody I know, a friend of a friend actually, suggested, because I was bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a network anymore… that I join the FWA.”
“You can join and meet some great women and foster some great relationships, or you can actually join a committee and get involved in the organization and that’s what I did from day one.”
On Tuesday, The Financial Women’s Association of New York celebrated its 2011 Holiday Party at the NASDAQ Tower in Times Square with networking and discussion. Hosted by NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifield, the event featured an interview between Greifield and CNBC reporter Scott Wapner.
A new partnership between the FWA and The Daily Beast’s Women in the World project was also announced at the event, whereby the FWA will have a page on the WITW website and partner on events.
Kim Azzarelli, Vice President, New Ventures at Newsweek Daily Beast and President of the Women in the World Foundation, announced the project. Azzarelli, whose background is in corporate law, said the partnership would connect different sectors to benefit women globally. She explained, “If we could connect the dots across all of the sectors, we could really do a lot for women and girls, and connect the dots across the generations as well.”
The partnership is one step in making the FWA a more global organization, which, Izzillo said, is one of her key goals for the next year and beyond. “Eventually, someday I’d love to see the FWA be an international or a global organization,” she said.
Voice of Experience: Carolyn B. Lamm, Partner, White & Case
Voices of Experience“There really is no silver bullet to winning and achieving,” began Carolyn B. Lamm, Partner at White & Case.
“It’s absolutely hard work and maximal effort. It takes a long time to figure out that the way to win a case is working very hard to develop the evidence, analyze the legal issues, and, formulate a winning approach—and convey it with excellent written and oral advocacy,” she continued.
Lamm, who specializes in international dispute resolution, is the former President of the American Bar Association. She also served as the organization’s representative to the United Nations. She is passionate about encouraging more women to take on leadership roles in the profession, and encourages senior women to reach out more to junior women.
“Women are very supportive of each other in a very positive way. If you give one a chance, she usually will perform wonderfully for you,” she said.
Read more
How Will You Measure This Year?
Ask A Career CoachIt’s the end of the year. You’re scrambling to make the numbers, completing performance reviews for your people, finalizing business reviews so plans for next year can be fine-tuned. Sound familiar? For each of the last 20 years of my corporate career, as each year drew toward a close it was a mad scramble to year end. This year as an entrepreneur, I followed some of the familiar steps. Then I had a bit of an epiphany. I was leaving out perhaps one of the most important measures of my future success and fulfillment – how did I do as a leader this year?
So this year I am planning to give myself the gift of reflection during the week between the Christmas and New Year. I hope that each of us takes some quiet time, a journal, and the inspiration to do a “Personal Leadership Review”. Most leadership is fairly unconscious, based on habits and behavior patterns we’ve learned over time. A “Personal Leadership Review” helps us become more conscious of ourselves as leaders and over time we can choose to adopt leadership practices that will help us grow as leaders. According to Emotional Intelligence 2.0, the traits of knowing and managing ourselves and knowing and managing others are highly correlated with our success and fulfillment. On average, those who score higher on Emotional Intelligence earn $34,000 more that those who don’t.
Here are some questions I am planning to ask myself during my “Personal Leadership Review.” What will you ask yourself?
Read more
Movers and Shakers: Anne Izzillo, President, Financial Women’s Association of New York
Movers and ShakersAnne Izzillo, President of the Financial Women’s Association, believes sincerely in the power of networking – in fact, she said, that’s how she got involved in the group in the first place. “I lived and worked in London for 14 and a half years and I came back in 1999, basically without a network.”
“Everybody had gone to the four winds in the almost 15 years I was away,” she explained. “And somebody I know, a friend of a friend actually, suggested, because I was bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a network anymore… that I join the FWA.”
“You can join and meet some great women and foster some great relationships, or you can actually join a committee and get involved in the organization and that’s what I did from day one.”
On Tuesday, The Financial Women’s Association of New York celebrated its 2011 Holiday Party at the NASDAQ Tower in Times Square with networking and discussion. Hosted by NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifield, the event featured an interview between Greifield and CNBC reporter Scott Wapner.
A new partnership between the FWA and The Daily Beast’s Women in the World project was also announced at the event, whereby the FWA will have a page on the WITW website and partner on events.
Kim Azzarelli, Vice President, New Ventures at Newsweek Daily Beast and President of the Women in the World Foundation, announced the project. Azzarelli, whose background is in corporate law, said the partnership would connect different sectors to benefit women globally. She explained, “If we could connect the dots across all of the sectors, we could really do a lot for women and girls, and connect the dots across the generations as well.”
The partnership is one step in making the FWA a more global organization, which, Izzillo said, is one of her key goals for the next year and beyond. “Eventually, someday I’d love to see the FWA be an international or a global organization,” she said.
Read more
Movers and Shakers: Karen Wimbish, Director of Retail Retirement, Wells Fargo
Movers and ShakersKaren Wimbish, Director of Retail Retirement at Wells Fargo, refers to herself as a “second half champion.” Having been in the industry for over 35 years, and worked in several functions, she saw her career pick up significantly after her kids were high school age – and she said, women in particular can benefit from a new, more flexible vision of the workplace.
She explained, “The old notion is that you have to sky-rocket up through the ranks. You can actually do it a little later.”
At a time when people are living and working longer, Wimbish said, women shouldn’t feel locked into a particular career path. “I never managed anyone besides my part time assistant until I was over 40. I was always an individual contributor. But now in the second half of my career, I manage hundreds of people. I don’t believe in career paths – I believe in opportunities.”
Read more
Boosting Your Career and Personal Resilience
Expert AnswersResilience, or the ability to flex and bounce back from setbacks, is a central characteristic of business leadership and living full and challenging lives. So what are some of the key psychological and physiological processes behind understanding and improving resilience?
Resilience in the face of significant challenge is an adaptive capacity. It is a process rather than a trait. As human beings we’ve evolved to heal ourselves. It’s not only about self-confidence, as outward confidence can be disguising inner worries and anxieties. It’s more about optimism, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and keeping one’s head when under pressure.
The pace of change in organisations continues to accelerate. Coupled with this, studies such as one published in June by ForbesWoman and TheBump.com have found that 92% of working mothers felt overwhelmed by work, home and parenting responsibilities. Only about 15% of working parents now have a stay-at-home partner.
The rise of the dual career couple is here to stay, adding to the pressure on work, family life and relationships. We all feel squeezed. In the UK, for example, at any time around 20% of the British workforce reports being affected by stress, with 77% of these also reporting problems with relationships at home caused by stress at work.
Read more
Women in Law Firms: Why is Progress So Slow?
Industry Leaders, LeadershipHow do law firms distribute billing origination credit and how does the distribution affect compensation and the advancement of women lawyers to positions of real power and influence in their firms? What steps can law firms take to develop fair and equitable compensation, origination credit, and client succession policies that will help women lawyers to advance and succeed?
As women lawyers become more senior, they experience an increasing shortfall in income compared to male attorneys, and higher attrition rates. Despite the commitment by firms to advance women lawyers, women represent only 16% of equity partners nationwide. These lawyers hold an ownership interest in their firms and occupy the most prestigious, powerful and lucrative positions.
The under-representation of women among law firm equity partners means fewer women on the compensation committees. According to the 2010 American Bar Association survey study “New Millennium, Same Glass Ceiling” [PDF] of nearly 700 women law firm partners, about half of the respondents had one woman on the committee. One-fifth had none. Another fifth had two women. When women are not part of the dialogue and the decision-making body that charts the future direction of firms, the chances are greater that the policies and practices implemented will be less responsive to the career needs of women lawyers.
Read more
Our Research Shows Women in Technology are Eager to Advance
NewsThe Glass Hammer is pleased to announce the publication of our first ever research paper, “Women in IT: Ambition and Advancement,” produced in conjunction with our sister site Evolved Employer. We polled readers who work on technology teams to find out how they feel about the next level. And not surprisingly, the vast majority of our respondents were actively planning to move to the next phase of their careers.
In fact, four out of five respondents (80.23%) agreed or strongly agreed that promotion is a top priority for them.
But what may surprise you is how fast they plan on moving ahead. Almost half (41.86%) said they intend to change jobs in the next year!
The study also revealed that while these women had big plans for advancement, many of seemed uncertain about the nuts and bolts on how to get there.
Nicki Gilmour, Founder and CEO of The Glass Hammer, explained, “There are many moving parts when it comes to advancement, and it would be prudent for companies who want to best manage female talent in technology to ensure that programs are visible and appropriate to truly serve the purpose of creating opportunities for under-represented groups.”
To download a copy today, click here.
Why Asking for Help Can Move Your Career Forward
Next LevelWhen was the last time you asked for help at work? If you can’t recall, or if the answer is never, you may be very comfortable in your position and are confident in the work you produce. But there’s more to your career than being good at your job. Don’t be afraid of appearing incompetent or unqualified or putting others in an awkward position. If you haven’t sought out help regarding career progression, dealing with staff, dealing with managers, managing work-life issues, exploring career paths, or any other topic of importance, you’ll need to let that mindset go. Asking for and accepting help can mean career advancement. Here’s why.
1. Asking for help shows you want to do the best job possible.
If you have given a good shot on your own, but want to ask someone for their input on a challenging task, you’re just being thorough. It isn’t incompetence if you’ve already put in a solid effort. Good, insightful questions show you are paying attention and you are informed.
“I believe that, ultimately, career advancement comes from getting to a good answer, getting the work done, and getting the work done right and on time,” says Rhonda L. Lessard, FSA, MAAA, Head of Medical Cost Analytics at Aetna. “If you need to get help to do so, then it supports that goal. If avoiding help means that a poor answer results, or that the work is substandard or late, then failure to ask for help has indeed impeded your career.”
If you are producing good work in a timely manner, it will advance the department and your career development. Consider the alternative: not asking for help when you should be “can be very unfortunate when it stands in the way of producing good work,” says Lessard, who oversees a staff of nearly 100 and answers many career-related questions on a regular basis. “We can’t all know everything, but we all know something and have certain skills that can be, in essence, traded with those around us for the knowledge and skills that they have.”
Read more
Voice of Experience: Elle Kaplan, CEO & Founding Partner, Lexion Capital Management
Voices of ExperienceElle Kaplan moved to New York City with no job, no apartment, and $200 in savings. She is now the CEO and Founding Partner of a leading independent private bank, Lexion Capital Management. “It has been a fun and often unpredictable journey,” Kaplan said.
With a background in English literature and chemistry, Kaplan’s entrance into the finance industry was not automatic. She began her career by temping, applying to every financial firm that she could think of. But she had missed the recruiting cycle and was initially rejected by every bank she tried. “I contacted headhunters, and they looked at my English and chemistry degrees and said I would never get a job on Wall Street,” Kaplan said. “However, I always think of a ‘no’ as someone’s opinion, nothing more. So the rejections did not alter my plans.”
Kaplan’s big break came during an interview to be a receptionist at a private equity firm. During the interview, the team noted her ‘A’ average and expressed concern that she would be bored answering phones. Kaplan agreed and asked whether there were any openings for analysts. Four days later, she had landed an analyst job. “That was my biggest ‘sale!’” Kaplan said.
During her career, Kaplan has worked as a private banker at JP Morgan Chase, as a derivatives specialist at a British investment bank, and as a Vice-President and financial advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management. Along the way, she earned an Executive MBA from Columbia University. She recommends the degree to those who work full-time.
“One great thing about getting an Executive MBA is you put your classroom management lessons into action right away versus waiting until you graduate,” Kaplan said. “You can also advance faster in your career choice because you don’t have to take off time for school. Instead you are doing it all at once.”
Read more
Leadership Redefined: Discover Your Inner Leader Inside and Outside the Workplace
Expert AnswersLeadership today demands a very different type of leader. As women, we have been indoctrinated to lead from a place of traditional masculinity – power, aggression, and agenda. Particularly in male-dominated fields, there has been little room for the nuances of a female leader. This is not a judgment of “better” or “worse” – it is simply a fact of how things have been in traditional business scopes and how the Zeitgeist of leadership is under major (and I would argue – necessary) upheaval. What was once sustained by targets, technology, and bottom lines now demands an entirely new leadership toolkit: consciousness, strength management, and intuition.
I want to clarify something of utmost importance. When I say “leadership”, I mean it in the most raw and unfiltered denotation of the word.
Whether you are a CEO leading hundreds or a woman wanting to better lead her own life, leadership is not something external. It is the quintessential essence of you. Living leadership is showing up each day in the world aligned with your purpose and passion. It is coming back to the most authentic part of you where nothing can sway you. When you lead your life and others from this place, change is not only possible, it is guaranteed. A deep shift in you creates a ripple effect that then affects all of the lives that your touch. Idealistic? Maybe. True? Absolutely. Necessary? An undeniable and resounding YES. How? Let’s begin:
Read more