Marked by an infectious enthusiasm, Katherine LaVelle, is a managing director at Accenture Management Consulting who leads that practice for the firms’ North America capital markets clients. She is an expert in leading corporate workforces through mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the financial services arena. “I’m passionate about anything and everything that makes people more effective in their jobs,” she said.
Eighteen years ago, after obtaining her B.S. from Arizona State University and then an MBA from Georgetown, LaVelle learned about Accenture’s nascent change management practice – and knew she wanted to work there.
It’s been the right fit, said LaVelle, referring to both Accenture and particularly to her work in the financial services industry. She explained, “It’s an industry structured around two things: people and technology. To build the most effective workforces, companies have to invest in those two things – and that really appealed to me.”
Last year’s unprecedented surge of M&A activity is not expected to slow down, she said. And according to LaVelle, who has worked on some of the world’s largest (and longest) global mergers, M&A is as much a people-issue as it is a financial one. She explained, “Companies that have not produced a clear picture of what their culture will look like rarely meet their financial targets in the first year after a merger.”
She continued, “A deliberate and defined plan for how you will build effectiveness into your new team is really important, and cannot be bypassed.”
LaVelle shared her wisdom and tactics on maximizing effectiveness while blending cultures – for senior leaders, managers, and employees going through an M&A transition. Here’s her advice.
Men Who Get It: Mark Chamberlain, Head of Diversity, Americas, Deutsche Bank
Men Who "Get It"Mark Chamberlain, Head of Diversity for the Americas at Deutsche Bank, said the best piece of advice he received actually came from his grandmother. He explained, “In the early part of the 20th century, women weren’t supposed to go on to higher education, play sports or work outside the home – and she did all that. She said, ‘Only you can make your life interesting. Go out and do it.’”
He continued, “You have to take charge of your life.”
Chamberlain, whose interest in diversity issues started during his time with the Peace Corps working in Mali, now leads Deutsche Bank’s efforts in the Americas to attract and retain diverse talent. The other piece of advice Chamberlain said has impacted his life came from his father. He said, “He told both my sister and me, ‘No matter what you do, do it well.’”
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Building a Better Wall Street: Training Female Traders
Featured, Industry Leaders, LeadershipWhy is there such a paucity of female traders on Wall Street? Why are they difficult to find? Why don’t they apply for hedge fund jobs? Renée Haugerud, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Principal of Galtere Ltd., asked these questions when she discovered the difficulties of hiring female traders.
Though the hedge fund industry is a $2.5 trillion industry, a mere three percent of the assets are managed by women, according to Lauren Templeton, hedge fund manager and founder and principal of Lauren Templeton Capital Management and Maximum Pessimism, LLC. Wall Street is predominantly led by men, but what would happen if there was a better balance of men and women on Wall Street?
Haugerud thinks it would make a better Wall Street. “We need more balanced and more diversified trading desks,” she said. “Only a diversified portfolio management team will produce truly diversified portfolios. When I try to hire women I have a difficult time finding them. I have to actively search. A trading desk should represent all nationalities, ethnicities and maintain a gender balance as well.”
That’s why Haugerud, founder and chief investment officer of the commodities-focused asset management firm Galtere Ltd. donated $1.5 million to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) to establish a new program with an initiative on trading from a female perspective. The program, Finance for the Future, focuses on female investment bankers and exposes all attendees to what Haugerud refers to as the female/right side of the brain of the trading business.
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Voice of Experience: Denise Diallo, Partner, Banking and Capital Markets Practice, White & Case
Voices of Experience“I definitely think work/life balance exists,” said Denise Diallo, Partner in White & Case‘s Banking and Capital Markets Practice at its Paris office. “It can be difficult at times, and you have to be willing to adapt –“ At this point in our conversation, Diallo started laughing.
“I’m laughing because my daughter is actually here in my office today,” she said. “My nanny wasn’t able to pick her up from school, so I did. It just illustrates that not everything goes the way you plan. But it doesn’t mean you don’t have work/life balance.”
“You just have to be adaptable,” she explained.
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Four Expert Tips on Personal Finance for Executive Women
Expert AnswersEverything I ever needed to know about becoming financially independent, I learned from my grandmother’s one-sentence motto. I can still hear her thick Hungarian accent repeat, “You can always live on 90% of whatever you make, and save the difference.” That’s it. Really! It’s that simple. Makes you wonder what all the self-help, get-rich-quick books are about.
Yes, accumulation is simple. It’s the keeping it that is tricky. Fortunately, everything I ever needed to know about preservation, I learned from Steve Henningsen, my business partner. Once it’s accumulated, everyone wants a piece of it and there are more ways to lose it than self-help books at Barnes and Noble. In my grandmother’s day, at least it could all safely be put into bonds. Not so today.
Even more complex, what if you were born “accumulated” – i.e., you inherited enough that you could afford to skip that long, drawn-out accumulation phase? The library of potential losses is many times greater than the likelihood for one who has spent decades accumulating because you have to preserve your accumulation for a lifetime, rather than the typical retirement years. That provides many, many years of opportunity to make mistakes. What can you safely do under those circumstances?
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The Mommy Penalty Hits MBAs Hard
Money Talks“The Career Cost of Family,” a study written late last year by Harvard economics professors Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, found that women with MBAs suffer the largest percentage “mommy penalty,” while those with medical degrees suffer the lowest proportionate loss. Findings were based on a survey of Harvard College graduates from 1969 to 1992, a study of MBAs from the University of Chicago, and a nationwide survey of various professions.
The study’s most crucial findings revealed that female MBAs who take 18 months off from their career to have children earn 41 percent less than male MBAs. Female Ph.D.’s earn 33 percent less than male Ph.D.s for taking the same amount of time off, while female lawyers earn 29 percent less than male lawyers, and female MDs earn 16 percent less than male doctors.
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Ask-the-Career-Coach: How to Get the Experience You Need to Land the Job You Want
Ask A Career CoachDear Career Coach,
I would like to reinvent my life! I graduated with a degree in management four years ago at the age of 50. I spent more than 10 years reaching my goal of completing my degree while working full-time and raising two amazing daughters. I am grateful to have a job in this economy, but I find I am unable to advance due to lack of experience. I need some direction, and I would be grateful for any suggestions you may offer.
Thank you,
Mary
Dear Mary,
First of all, congratulations on your success so far reinventing your life. What you’ve achieved is an inspiration to us all.
I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have come so far and then find that “lack of experience” is getting in your way. It’s a paradox that many of us encounter at some point: We need experience to land that new title, but how do we get that experience without the title?
Here’s how, in three steps.
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Thought Leaders: Accenture’s Katherine LaVelle on M&A Culture Transition
Thought LeadersMarked by an infectious enthusiasm, Katherine LaVelle, is a managing director at Accenture Management Consulting who leads that practice for the firms’ North America capital markets clients. She is an expert in leading corporate workforces through mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the financial services arena. “I’m passionate about anything and everything that makes people more effective in their jobs,” she said.
Eighteen years ago, after obtaining her B.S. from Arizona State University and then an MBA from Georgetown, LaVelle learned about Accenture’s nascent change management practice – and knew she wanted to work there.
It’s been the right fit, said LaVelle, referring to both Accenture and particularly to her work in the financial services industry. She explained, “It’s an industry structured around two things: people and technology. To build the most effective workforces, companies have to invest in those two things – and that really appealed to me.”
Last year’s unprecedented surge of M&A activity is not expected to slow down, she said. And according to LaVelle, who has worked on some of the world’s largest (and longest) global mergers, M&A is as much a people-issue as it is a financial one. She explained, “Companies that have not produced a clear picture of what their culture will look like rarely meet their financial targets in the first year after a merger.”
She continued, “A deliberate and defined plan for how you will build effectiveness into your new team is really important, and cannot be bypassed.”
LaVelle shared her wisdom and tactics on maximizing effectiveness while blending cultures – for senior leaders, managers, and employees going through an M&A transition. Here’s her advice.
Read more
Lead with Confidence: Four Ways to Develop Your Leadership Style
Expert AnswersA common belief is that leaders are born not created. Today, our society believes anything can be achieved with enough dedication and commitment, and this is true for leadership. I see success all the time in my work as a leadership trainer. Leaders can be developed, yet it can be confusing to figure out how to go about it. Where do you start? How do you learn? And how do you determine what works within the culture of your organization?
Build Confidence
In a recent cnn.com article, Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, was quoted at the TED Women conference, “Women systematically underestimate their own abilities.” She is right. We often lack the confidence to give the credit we deserve. A key ingredient to great leadership is self assurance. One of the best ways to boost it is to speak up, and I mean everywhere. Every time you go to a meeting, go in with something to say. Don’t have something prepared? Ask a question, and be the first person to raise your hand and ask it. Don’t wait. Giving time and space to communicate your ideas will actually build confidence. You will also enhance your visibility, credibility and communication skills all at the same time. Establish presence by dressing the part of senior women. One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my career was to dress the part of the next level up. Rather than adhering to the business casual norm, wear a suit every day. It will help you and others see yourself in that next more senior role, reinforcing your confidence.
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Changing Perceptions: One More Reason We Must Not Ignore Men
Office PoliticsA recent survey by Opportunity Now, a UK-based group working as part of the non-profit organization Business in the Community, showed that men are seriously in the dark about the challenges women face in the workplace.
Helen Wells, Acting Director of Opportunity Now, said, “The percentage of women at the top has not changed – and in fact 21% of FTSE Boards have zero women on them. We wanted to see why this might be.”
“The main takeaway from this research was that the vast majority of male line managers just couldn’t see the obstacles that women are dealing with,” she explained. “It’s quite important to understand that men and women had different perceptions of the same workplace.”
Wells explained that cultural assumptions were a key culprit in the slow pace of progress in terms of getting women to the top. She said, “Success will require engaging men in the dialogue around culture change.”
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Sun Tzu’s The Art of War—What’s In It For Women?
Office PoliticsThe Art of War. If you’re like most women in business, you haven’t read it. It probably never appealed to you. In fact, if you’re like many smart and accomplished women I’ve met, you may believe it to be completely contrary to your nature.
There are certainly women who’ve read The Art of War and applied it to their lives and their businesses. But if you’re like most, you may wonder how you can possibly adapt the wisdom of a Chinese military strategist from 500 B.C. to your daily business challenges.
That’s a fair question.
The answer is in an approach to business and life that is both time-tested and innovative. Sun Tzu’s classic has had profound influence the world over. It’s shaped Eastern military and business thinking, and in the West, its popularity continues to grow as managers and leaders apply its principles to their business challenges.
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