Spotlight on: Erin Callan, CFO of Lehman Bros.

164271111_69fa367db7_m.jpgOne week after Zoe Cruz was let go as President of Morgan Stanley, Erin Callan was appointed CFO of Lehman Brothers. And thus, the torch was passed to the new highest ranking woman on Wall Street. She has since proved a force to be reckoned with, bringing her unconventional management style (and note-worthy sense of personal style) to corner office on Wall Street.

As documented in a recent profile in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “Lehman’s Straight Shooter,” Ms. Callan has eschewed the “fly below the radar” model of other Wall Street CFOs. She has made the most of her fashion-forward and outgoing image by appearing frequently on television and making bold predictions about the future direction of markets.

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Where are the Women Business Gurus?

By Bailey McCann

2401674702_8d2928ec1c_m.jpgRecently, the Wall Street Journal released its ranking of top business gurus, compiled by Babson College professor Thomas H. Davenport. The top 20 included household names like Bill Gates, as well as several authors currently featured the business section at your local bookstore. The one thing missing was women. Only one woman made it onto the list in 2003 and this year’s update saw none get added to the list. We weren’t the only ones to notice – several other sources including New York Magazine and Independent Street, one of the Wall Street Journal’s own blogs, have commented on the dearth of female gurus in business. The lack of women on this list begs the obvious question, where are we?

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Gender in Politics and Business – The Clinton Legacy

837481204_c32a33e794_m.jpgLast night, a speech to his supporters in Iowa when he announced that he now had a majority of pledged delegates in the Democratic primary, Barack Obama said of his adversary, Hillary Clinton, “We have had our disagreements during this campaign, but we all admire her courage, her commitment and her perseverance. No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.”

While it is certainly true that Senator Clinton’s historic run for the White House has changed the way that Americans think about the idea of a female Commander in Chief, it is easy to be gracious when you are winning. By now, most media pundits and political experts agree that there is mathematically no way that Senator Clinton can garner the requisite number of delgates. Still, as her campaign almost surely is drawing to a close, whether she acknowledges it or not, what legacy will her bid for the presidency leave for women?

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Rising Stars Series: Interview with Ani M. Vartanian, VP of Rockwood Capital

Contributed by Heather Cassell

What a fascinating and dramatic world we live in, at least from Ani M. Vartanian’s perspective. With the credit crunch, Bear Stearns crumbling, foreclosure crisis, historical election year, political scandals, and the year hasn’t even hit the halfway mark yet.

“It’s better than reality TV,” said Vartanian, 32, vice president of the acquisition and asset management team of Rockwood Capital, a $6.2 billion private real estate investment company.

Vartanian likes to keep her finger on the pulse of the intersections between politics, business, and public policy, which has helped her rapidly climb the investment real estate ladder.

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Techleaders: Power and Influence

A two day workshop designed to increase your power and influence as a technical woman.

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How To Get Ahead in IT

Our presentation will be hands-on and interactive, teaching you how to build constructive confidence, professional excellence and visibility management.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Do Recruiters Read Their Mail?

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

308123041_46b64decf7_m.jpgThis question came up at a recent workshop which I led about what happens behind-the-scenes during the hiring process: Do recruiters read the cover letters, thank-you’s and all the other time-consuming materials that jobseekers are supposed to send?

If you ask ten recruiters the same question, you may hear up to ten different answers. For example, I do not care about getting thank-you letters from interviewees. However, some of my recruiting colleagues will not consider candidates if they don’t send a thank-you letter. I barely read cover letters. Some other recruiters place more importance on the cover letter than on the resume. With so much dissension among recruiters themselves, how do you know what protocol to follow?

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Madeleine Albright has a Message for All Women

Contributed by Heather Cassell

Albrightmadeleine.jpgAt a recent event which gathered women business leaders together, former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright demonstrated that she is quite a story teller with a dry wit and many fascinating experiences to share, especially about women in the world.

At the Professional Business Women of California Conference in San Francisco last month, Albright told more than 6,000 attendees about how she has observed and participated in a century where women have rapidly advanced to leadership positions in government and business. Within 100 years women have gone from not having a voice in business and politics to the 21st century where “there have only been women and a black man” serving as United States Secretaries of State.

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Connecting On-Rampers With Financial Services Industry Hiring Decision Makers

Dream Jobs Inc. has announced that it is partnering with top tier players in the financial services industry to deliver a unique recruiting event for professionals in the NYC-area who have off-ramped from their careers and are interested in re-entering the workforce.

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The Downside of Flex-Time

Contributed by Bailey McCann

2110827945_3f3ce68993_m.jpgWe all work too much, that’s a given. But in our quest for work-life balance are we actually causing our own balance problems? For example, my firm is more flexible than most when it comes to telecommuting and other flexible work solutions. I enjoy these options as much as our working parents do, even though I don’t have kids. I can wait for the plumber or the UPS man and not have to coordinate days off. But I am also beginning to notice the trade-offs that go along with the pervasive quality of flex-time. The separation of “office hours” and “off hours” is becoming smaller and smaller.

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