Meyanna Jiang, Anisha George, and Holly Batchelor
Three colleagues on growing as a leader, connecting with mentors and “managing up.”
In the December edition of The Glass Hammer, three colleagues at Goldman Sachs delve deep, sharing their best practices for success – ranging from thinking strategically and helping to further their teams’ goals to balancing competing priorities and “managing up.” Meet the interviewees and hear their take:
· Holly Batchelor is a vice president in Securities, based in Hong Kong
· Anisha George is an associate in Compliance, based in Bengaluru
· Meyanna Jiang is a vice president in Controllers, based in New York
Reflecting on your career at Goldman Sachs to date, what advice would you share with individuals just starting out?
· Meyanna: Be curious in your work, and look for ways to keep yourself challenged. I try to do one thing that scares me each week, whether it be public speaking, or volunteering for a project that I might not know much about.
· Holly: The ability to grow and nurture your network is invaluable – you might not realize it now, but the people you work with and get to know at the beginning of your career can be hugely influential and helpful later on.
· Anisha: I have found that projects others were not interested in working on ultimately had the biggest impact on my career. In addition, I would remind others that each individual has a unique journey – everyone’s path to success is different. I have learned to find joy and meaning in my own journey by setting personal goals and working to achieve them.
What actions do you take throughout your day to ensure you’re best helping your team and furthering its mission and strategy?
· Holly: I try to share as much information as possible with my team and keep everyone in the loop. Work is more enjoyable and fulfilling when you know why you’re working on a task, and are aware of the strategy you’re helping to implement.
· Meyanna: When I introduce a new project or task for my team, I aim to provide sufficient context by explaining how this deliverable supports our firmwide or divisional strategy.
How do you allocate time for both strategic thinking and execution in your role?
· Holly: Knowledge is power. Having a sense of what the market looks like and what our competitors are doing allows me to develop a strategy for my team and our plan for execution.
· Meyanna: I like to think of this as “zooming in” and “zooming out.” If the CEO stopped by your desk while you were in the middle of analyzing millions of rows of data and asked, “What are you working on?” how would you respond in a sentence or two? This exercise helps me think strategically.
What recommendations do you have for balancing competing priorities?
· Holly: To-do lists! It’s important to stay on top of priority projects, even as things pop up that require immediate attention. I often use the “big rock, pebble, sand” analogy when thinking about what I need to set aside time for: the big rocks are my major tasks and strategic initiatives, the pebbles are shorter-term tasks of lesser importance, and the sand is minor tasks that aren’t essential to my success.
· Meyanna: Stay organized, whether it’s adding calendar reminders, writing to-do lists, or color-coding emails to help you stay on track. I also remind my team that it’s okay to push back on requests or to say “no” when needed. Unless you speak up, no one will know that you need help.
· Anisha: It’s important to remember that having a fulfilling life outside of work helps your career and your work product. It might seem unrelated, but I think you can bring a more positive energy to the office when you have personal interests that also motivate you.
Any lessons learned on the importance of delegating?
· Meyanna: I’ve learned that the worst thing you can do as a manager is to delegate a task and then take it back, because this demotivates the team and makes them feel like their work is not valued. I’ve also learned that I need to provide “air cover” and give enough space for my team members to fail safely.
· Anisha: I used to dislike delegating because it required me to put in extra time and effort, but over time I realized that I would not be half as successful as I am today if every leader who invested in me had felt the same way about delegating. You can’t lead if no one is following.
· Holly: Delegation gives you the capacity to stretch further to build your business, and it allows you to effectively train and coach the colleagues whom you are delegating work to. Delegating work to others also allows for greater diversity of thought and experience, which often leads to better solutions.
How do you “manage up” with senior stakeholders?
· Anisha: Before meeting senior stakeholders I make sure to always prepare – people want to feel that their time is being valued, and adequate preparation helps shape and inform your conversation. When you have a strong agenda and follow-up plan when connecting with stakeholders, “managing up” just happens.
· Holly: First, you need to identify who your stakeholders are and what is important for them. Then, determine how they like to be kept up to date – do they prefer face-to-face catch ups, e-mail summaries, a full business plan? Adapting your style to match theirs will have much more of an impact.
Do you have a mentor or sponsor? If so, how do you make the most of your conversations with them?
· Holly: I have mentors within and outside of the firm that I often reach out to for advice. I put notes in my calendar to schedule catch-ups with them in order to nurture the relationship, just as you would with a client or stakeholder in your business.
· Meyanna: I have relationships with both mentors and sponsors, and many of these connections have formed organically. Managers can be a great resource, too – they have introduced me to contacts in their networks. Prior to each conversation with them, I write down a few topics for discussion, such as challenges in my day job or planning for the next step in my career.
· Anisha: I have more than one mentor because I value receiving guidance from different stakeholders. My mentors have diverse perspectives and push me to evaluate situations in different ways.
Have you participated in mobility? Do you have any advice for colleagues interested in either switching roles or offices?
· Meyanna: If you are exploring a role switch, raise your hand. Mention to your manager or mentor that you are interested in learning more about a certain business or working in a different location. It is easier for them to help you if they know your interests. In the meantime, continue being a rock star in your current role and look for ways to give yourself exposure to areas you are interested in.
· Anisha: I recently accepted a new role in Goldman Sachs Asset Management and will be relocating from Bengaluru to Dublin in January. The best advice I received when I was considering mobility was to focus on “What?” and “Why?” – meaning, “What do you want to do long-term?” and “Why do you want to move?” Once you have answered these questions, your options will become more clear.
Do you have a personal development plan to keep yourself accountable?
· Meyanna: I recommend writing down your goals. My last set of short- and long-term goals were written on a post-it note stuck to a bar of chocolate. (My team knows I always keep chocolate at my desk.) As I slowly finished the chocolate bar, I found that I was able to complete my goals over time. In addition, I find that it is helpful to share your goals with a buddy, who can help hold you accountable.
· Holly: In the early stages of my career I didn’t have any plan other to absorb as much information as possible. That hasn’t changed, but I now also set career goals with deadlines based on discussions I have with my mentors and stakeholders – incorporating their input is important in order to set realistic goals.
· Anisha: I think about where I want to be in one year and in 10 years, and develop my short- and long-term plans to achieve those goals. It’s necessary to also be nimble and update your goals as your world evolves.
Kate Ulrich Saracene, Partner, Katten
Voices of ExperienceWhile it helps to have goals, trying to adhere too closely to a roadmap can actually make you feel frustrated and overwhelmed. But being flexible can open doors, she finds.
For example, three years ago, she never imagined she would be a practice group leader for a law firm headquartered in Chicago while working remotely from her home in Rochester, New York. In light of the non-traditional path she took on her journey, her achievements shine even brighter.
Forging Her Own Way
What Saracene has found to be beneficial is the flexible work arrangement she has at the firm that allows her to work remotely from upstate New York where she lives with her two teenage children. She commutes to the Chicago and New York City offices a little less than half the time. “While my workday flexes from 6 a.m. to midnight, it has enabled me to be a better parent when I’m home,” she says.
The arrangement has been so successful, and has since attracted another partner to join her team at Katten. “Because the firm has been so flexible, I’ve been able to recruit talented people whom I’ve worked within the past, allowing the group to grow organically,” Saracene said.
As Saracene puts it, her career path from human resources professional to leader of Katten’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice was not typical.
After graduating from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations, she worked for Xerox as a labor relations specialist in Rochester, NY. When she was accepted to law school a few years later, she transferred to Xerox corporate headquarters in Stamford, Conn. and worked part-time as an employee benefits analyst while attending Yale. Once she received her law degree, she joined a law firm as an associate, counseling clients on labor and employment laws and drafting policies for employee handbooks among other responsibilities. Following the birth of her first child, she returned to Xerox for four years in a human resources position, enabling her to work part-time while maintaining a manager title.
Saracene never saw the job switch as a setback in her career; in fact, she believes this stint working in corporate employee benefits has been advantageous for her clients, as she better understands their needs. “I have walked in their shoes and speak their language, and I understand the operational things they need to be aware of and the consequences of my advice,” Saracene said.
She continued to work part-time for 13 years, eventually finding her way back to the law as an employee benefits attorney at her former law firm and serving as counsel advising clients on the complexities of laws and regulations for retirement, welfare and compensation plans. This transition to a tax counseling practice, from her prior legal stint as a labor and employment counselor and litigator, was the key that allowed her to move back to law firm life but with a schedule that was more predictable and manageable while she raised young children.
When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, Saracene became quite familiar with all the regulations, requirements and provisions of the legislation, turning herself into an authority on the topic who was regularly quoted providing legal analysis to national media publications and became a sought-after speaker on the subject. Saracene stepped off the partner track for three years after transitioning back to private practice but asked to be put back on in 2012 and within 18 months was named a partner. She joined Katten in 2017.
And therein lies a key to success that she shares with young associates: One path to moving up is to find a new area of the law where you are on equal footing with everyone else despite their experience, learn it and own it. If you are willing to tackle something new and master it, you can be an invaluable resource to your firm and clients.
Embracing Well-Being in her Personal and Professional Life
Over the years, Saracene has seen the importance of health and wellbeing. After becoming an avid yoga practitioner and then a yoga and meditation instructor, she has found ways to incorporate the benefits of those practices into the legal community.
For example, she is working with the local bar association on teaching mindfulness, where participants can earn ethics credits as she focuses on the brain science behind it and how the techniques can create a more successful lawyer ‘“ more calm and composed, able to think more deliberately and better manage clients and their expectations. “It’s become a passion of mine that I have been able to share with the law community and Katten specifically,” Saracene says.
Saracene has become integrally involved in launching a firm wellness initiative called Katten Well-Being 360 to provide attorneys and business professionals with resources aimed at encouraging greater attention to mental and physical health. She is vocal about the needs of attorneys, and that initiative now brings wellness-related items like aromatherapy stress balls to recruiting events, and she recently led a meditation session at a new partner orientation. “We are trying to work it into the fabric of the culture,” she says.
Regarding other aspects of wellness, she has learned that you have to think carefully about how to commit your time and therefore recommends outsourcing tasks that may not be a high priority or have a direct benefit for you personally doing them. For example, she is happy to have someone help around the house or to run errands, but she’s more reluctant to give up driving her kids to school or activities as that can be important together time.
“It’s always going to be challenging for moms to try to be the best parent possible while still being the best lawyer possible. It requires sacrifice, but the key is to look at things over a long horizon,” Saracene says, noting that there were times when her kids have seen her less because she’s more involved in her career, and times when she’s been less focused on her career because of her children. Her new remote work arrangement has helped her strike the right balance.
And as they get older, she finds new ways to be present in their lives. One of her favorite “escapes” has been combining philanthropy with travel. Volunteering with the International Fund for Economic Development (IFED), she has trekked to remote areas ‘“ introducing after-school programs in Paraguay and helping coordinate efforts to improve conditions at an orphanage in Bali ‘“ through a program championed by a former mentor at her law firm and his wife that they took on as a retirement project. This year, her son plans to join her on an IFED trip. “Everything comes full circle. He helped me build my career, and now his good works are allowing us to give back together.”
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2020: A Look Ahead for Executive Women and Real Change
NewsInsanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. In December, we rounded up the year and the decade and stated that to see real change, we really need to do things differently as a society, as well as in companies. And, as leaders and managers and even as individual executives, we need to understand our personal role in change, collusion and status quo.
In 2020, we are going to continue our “tell your story around the campfire to the rest of the village” strategy. We want women to inspire other women and men for that matter, by sharing their personal and professional insights and experiences. In a world where we know women get written out of history or are statistically less likely to be credited for their achievement and contributions, we continue to dedicate the site to making sure there is a platform from which to talk your truth. Your truth is yours alone, but there are some universal truths that form a pattern that suggests there is much more systemic work to do on gender equity than most people want to admit.
We are still here and more committed than ever to telling your story. We are still committed to providing you with evidence-based solutions as it pertains to navigating and managing your career and life.
However, diversity is a misnomer of a word as it implies that the acceptable baseline is straight white men and the rest of us are somehow different. We are the norm just as much as they are and we are not in need fixing or blending or assimilating. Also, the thought of over half the population being different and somehow therefore needing a solution alienates men from participating fully and many of them do not actually gain from the outdated structures that keep us from being all valued as unique humans.
Let’s commit to getting past these remedial change conversations around unhelpful blame of men and ineffective burden solely on women to supposedly fix 100,000 years of societal dynamics in a coffee chat network format, which, if you stop and think about it, couldn’t be more ridiculous.
In 2020, let’s commit to stop pretending that awareness is enough, that research and facts alone can change deep structures that involve power of groups and individuals who frankly don’t want to give it up arbitrarily to an unknown faceless concept (who would?). Let’s do the work, one person at a time, regardless of who we are biologically, tone of skin, who we love, how we are, where we are from. Being a woman doesn’t make you unbiased against women. Being a person of color or LGBT doesn’t make you automatically a bias-free individual either. We all hold stereotypes ubiquitously; no one is exempt.
It is a disservice to not encourage individuals from differentiating themselves as there is no such thing as “all men or all women”. However, we do know there are real group-affiliated benefits from lingering historical power structures.
Let’s work harder to not project our ideals unto people and let them tell us who they are. Value positive behavior (even if that behavior is dissent) and not ideas about who we are due to the body we are born into. This is the future of work and society and we will all gain from it. The Howard/Heidi Rozen case study was twenty years ago whereby Heidi Rozen switched gender on her same paper which was presented under Howard with vastly differing reactions to when she presented it under Heidi. Can we for the love of progress, say that the next twenty years might have men and women evolving past their implicit cognitive biases to not be so laughable about how we judge women on likeability despite the same facts or results being there.
Write less and do more in 2020
We have over 4,000 “how to” articles in our archives for you to read for free. We have discussed and dissected research for 13 years but know that research alone has not moved the needle much. The research has been ignored and often conducted by firms that are, ironically, totally male dominated in their culture and managerial roles and numbers. We have to say no to the false prophets and dead poets trotting out the same old advice without deep structural or behavioral change on the company side. We are in a period of history where people myopically choose their facts and reject other versions, with an extreme disassociation in some cases. But we are still in the same place psychologically with the same neurobiology we have had for a while now, meaning we work within cognitive biases that accumulate from familiar and cultural messages. So, why are we are surprised at the slow-as-molasses progress?
The answer is complex
We have been coaching leaders, managers and executives (women and men) for the past eight years to empower them to design and achieve what they want from their career and life. We have been training inside firms on how to be a change leader, and we have been coaching and consulting with firms on how to create a better workplace. It requires change and those firms and individuals willing to do the work are to be commended.
Coaching humans is what changes the world for the better. Coaching leaders to be fair and at the same time coaching organizations to create the right culture and structures for people to go to work and feel the wind behind the backs for high performance and happy successes is the future.
We embrace working with individuals and organizations to understand where you are at. Then we work on what you want and where you want to be using a method designed primarily at Columbia University and evolved to encompass deeper disciplines, drawn from development and organizational psychology with contextual business models and frameworks, to create the change cognitively, emotionally, psychologically and behaviorally. Because we are individual/organizational psychologists, we know that your situation is very specific to you since your beliefs and behaviors are based on your life experiences and actual personality. We know that development work starts with you, whoever you are and whatever has shaped you. Wherever you work (team, firm, even location) will tone up or tone down certain behaviors because as Kurt Lewin, the forefather of organizational psychology, determined, behavior is a function of both your personality and the environment that you are operating in.
Join us, as evolved people. Be the change you want to see in the world.
By Nicki Gilmour, Founder of theglasshammer.com, Organizational Psychologist and Coach
Coaching is the Best Investment for Your Career and Self in 2020
NewsExternally, there are often barriers and we analyze that using organizational psychology models to understand what levers to pull within our control to overcome obstacles or to understand our own tolerance around staying or leaving a situation, manager, work team or spouse. But, internally there are usually behaviors and self- sabotaging hidden competing agendas in your subconscious that can stop the best of us from doing what we want or say we are going to do. New Year’s Resolutions being a great example of saying we want change and then finding ourselves doing the same old actions despite our best intentions.
Advancing in your career can be a linear vision of one (increasingly more senior) role at a time in the same firm or it could be a less linear picture with different roles, departments, firms and even industries. We work with ambitious women and men in financial and professional services, technology and Fortune 500 and who have three things in common:
We use coaching to meet everyone where they are because each human is a person with a personality which has collected and constructed over time a specific set of beliefs. Simply put, thoughts, with feelings attached to them. We take good, bad and neutral actions all day long, since whatever environment we are in contextually, brings out our behaviors which are amplified by our deep values and our motives to be there in any given situation and of course behaviors, usually the bad ones depend on our stress levels.
The surrounding team or firm (or location) culture matters as there are implicit as well as explicit norms of “how work gets done around here” and we understand how to give you frameworks so that together, we can understand how to get the most from wherever you are and support you in decisions around navigating the next steps in your career.
Individually (or if your company is investing in you), if you want to be coached as an executive manager or leader around being where you want to be behaviorally as a person and in your career (perhaps more sustainably and healthily in 2020), please get in contact with Nicki Gilmour, Head Coach, Founder of theglasshammer and organizational psychologist or book an exploratory call here to see if coaching can help you. We have a network of coaches and can find the right fit for you.
Erica Klinkowize, Managing Director, Global FICC ETF Trading, Bank of America
Voices of ExperienceIn July 2014, she made the leap to Bank of America and continued to work in the Liquidity space within Treasury until April 2019. After almost 20 years into her career, Erica shifted her focus from Liquidity and Treasury to Global Markets at Bank of America.
“I have spent the past 8 months building out the central Fixed Income ETF trading desk. While it was an extremely difficult decision to switch directions as it’s easier to stick with what you know, at the heart of it, this was a, likely, once in a lifetime prospect that I could not pass up. The opportunity to build out a new trading business at a world-class organization does not come along very often. To be offered the opportunity to co-lead the effort was, and still is, an honor.”
She comments that this experience has added a whole new set of skills to her personal and professional toolkit and has reinvigorated her for the challenges that lie ahead.
Learning Opportunities
Klinkowize, at the exact time of the financial crisis, began the Executive MBA program at Columbia Business School while working in the Securities Division at Goldman Sachs. These simultaneous experiences had a powerful impact on her and she comments that the combination of the two during this tough time “further framed my worldview and gave me a lasting perspective as I experienced the crisis at the forefront and, further, saw the crisis through the eyes of my classmates, over 50% of whom did not work in Finance.” During the crisis, Erica was part of the firm’s front line response to raising liquidity, and thereafter, experienced and helped shape the internal and industry change that comes after an event such as this. At the same time, she experienced the perspectives of her EMBA classmates, many of whom developed stark views of the Finance industry as a whole. She says, “Living through this permanently altered how I approach challenges at work, and provided me with a deeper understanding of what it means to manage risks. Further, I am grateful for the diversity of perspective my classmates provided me. While it was challenging to hear many of their views and personal experiences, in the end, it showed me the immense value garnered from consistently incorporating outside viewpoints into a decision-making process.”
Networking Matters
When Erica moved to Bank of America, she made a commitment to herself that she would focus on building support networks at the Bank.
“I am quite proud of the ongoing mentorship and sponsorship relationships I have been able to cultivate since I joined more than 5 years ago. I truly benefit from these consistent interactions, regardless of corporate title. It’s so important for us all to feel supported and connected in the workplace and to have a safe space to go vent, seek advice, or laugh. We can all benefit from hearing about each other’s successes and challenges and realizing other points of view. Through these interactions, we become grounded as humans and are reminded that we have more similarities than differences.”
When asked what is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting your career? She offers,
“I wish had known how to consistently return to a sense of serenity within the chaos, and that sometimes silence and observation are more powerful than words.”
She goes on to say how her start in finance was somewhat briefly detoured: she had secured a dream job working for Deloitte Consulting doing systems and business consulting right out of college but received a call that the company was pushing back the start date of her analyst class to January of 2002 due to the economic downturn that occurred as a result of the tech start-up meltdown of that era. She decided to take advantage of that time and worked at a job that still resonates with her. She relays,
“I ran the front desk of my dad’s dental office for a month. I never would have had that opportunity had Deloitte not given me some extra time and money. Almost 20 years later, and I can still remember details of the experience which I am sure have altered how I interact with people working in customer service.”
The decision to take a different path is very poignant as, later that year, the tragedy of 9/11/2001 struck and, she shares that if she had started at Deloitte on the original date, she would have been at the World Financial Center when the planes hit. Instead, she was sitting in her apartment in midtown, having moved in the weekend before. She comments,
“I believe that was the first time I truly understood how much of our careers and our lives are beyond our control and that we should look for the lessons in each experience, even if it takes decades to find them.”
When asked what advice would you give to young women entering this industry? Erica candidly answered that she advises young women to create support networks as soon as possible within the bank.
“Join Bank sponsored networks and seek out mentors immediately. Keep the consistency of these relationships no matter how busy you are with your day job. Take on a little bit more work in one of these organizations or do a favor for a mentor. You will not only feel more connected and supported as you go through the ups and downs of your career, but you will also likely gain sponsors who are critical to your success.”
She added that advice for her peers is exactly what she reminds herself to do as well.
“Seek out camaraderie, friendship, and support at work and give it back as much as you can. Remember to find laughter. Don’t be afraid to hold people to your high standards.” She continues,
“Don’t be afraid to continue to try new things and learn. Ask questions when appropriate. Try not to be so hard on yourself to have it all, all of the time. Remember to drink water and exercise. Take deep breaths. And remember to be compassionate to yourself the way you would be to a friend.”
Upon reflection around the career navigation journey, she believes that having a true sponsor is the key to getting promoted quicker, or even helping get back on track when one’s career takes a detour. She states,
“Once I truly understood what it meant to have sponsors and how to maintain sponsorship, I was able to more easily navigate difficult situations at work leveraging these relationships, and I was surprised at how beneficial they became when I was looking to make transitions. It’s critical to have senior people who will proactively support you when it comes down to a management decision about your career.”
For the past five years, Erica states she has been fortunate to co-lead a group of 10 women as part of a grassroots effort at the company that aims to connect women across the organization and provide ongoing support throughout their careers. She mentions that the success of these groups is dependent on the commitment of the leaders and the members to show up on a monthly basis. The interactions are in person and entirely confidential. Each group takes on its own format and agenda as needed, but there is a central repository for groups to share a myriad of discussion topics. She enjoys the group and finds that within a few months, the groups form their own identities which garners natural commitment from its leaders and members.
She adds, “My prior group maintained the same core group of women for 4 years and we provided each other with consistent and honest personal and professional support, and we became committed to each other’s successes.”
Year End Review 2019: Diversity and Inclusion in 2020 Must Be Done Differently
Year end reviewNeuroscience and behavioral science have the answers to the (lack) of gender equity issue. The questions are, do people want the answer? And are they prepared to what it takes to get there? The term “the glass ceiling” was coined 41 years ago by Marilyn Loden who argued that the “the ‘invisible glass ceiling’ – the barriers to advancement that were cultural not personal – was doing the bulk of the damage to women’s career aspirations and opportunities.”
To that point, 41 years later, companies are still doing one thing wrong when addressing the issue of gender. What is this core truth? It is written concisely in the London School of Economics editorial in Forbes and is as simple as this: we focus too much on the role of the individual in perpetuating or solving these issues. Resulting in blaming men and burdening women.
Why is progress so slow? The decade in review
First of all, progress is slow. The decade started with a flurry of great research from Catalyst and Sylvia Ann Hewlett offering strong answers like sponsorship over mentorship and increased pipeline attention for women in crucial moments. This was good work, helpful and even hopeful but lacked the much needed shift of work from individuals to systemic answers despite knocking on that door. Progress was derailed in my opinion by 2013 by the unwitting false prophecy of “Lean In” with a misleading mantra which distracted leaders and diversity people from the real work as this false single fix was what people wanted to hear. More work for the women, everything else untouched. This is a prevalent theme with employee networks and training courses this entire decade. The most recent episode in the news was the EY training asking women to act nicely around men course leak which someone finally recognized as worth a whistleblow.
Even “Lean In” has the conclusion in 2019 that the sane academics and theglasshammer have been suggesting all the while, which is that you do what you have to do to get the system to lean in as well in order to truly succeed. The book was useful as it sparked the beginning of the discussion around privilege, and Ann Marie Slaughter’s counter piece on the system was a way to introduce what systemic barriers meant for people entering the discussion. Sandberg’s later work with Adam Grant on was excellent as we know she personally did the work but the people who made her the poster child only heard the message of “its on the women to do more”. The brightest spots for me in this era of 2013-2018 were Herminia Ibarra’s Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader with act-first-internalize-later theory but in conjunction with the inside-out approach of challenge – whose beliefs you are running around with? – of Kegan and Lahey’s work Immunity to Change. Finally, there is Cordelia Fine’s book called Testosterone Rex stating that behavioral differences are cultural, not biologically natural, to debunk the faux brain science of the two thousand and mid-teens. I won’t name names, but even if you believe men are from Mars and women are from Venus (which I don’t), we are all conditioned by earthly norms developed from cultural (societal and inside whichever family you lived) messaging.
Legal Structures Do Matter Also
The World Economic Forum at Davos in 2018 proclaimed in their “Global Gender Gap Report” that at this rate it will take between 106 and 400 years to achieve gender equity. The US is ranked 51 in the global index, which includes economic participation, heath and survival, education and political (legal) empowerment. Iceland is ranked number one, with the Nordics filling the top four spots of getting there and UK sitting at number 15 in this global study. Guess what? Strong social fabric with less machismo, a safety net and laws that protect women seem to matter for gender equity. What we can learn from this report is that legal and policy support is fundamental to a gender equal society. The Equal Rights Amendment was still not ratified in the USA this decade, so women are technically not legally equal to men. Worth watching the documentary Equal means equal.
Does systemic change influence attitudinal change?
Yes, but only to the extent to which people can dissect their feelings around their thoughts. If someone has a strong belief system (say the implicit patriarchy and its schema of how society is constructed and run with normed and formed gender roles in this case of “diversity”) then it is harder for them to have attitudinal switches. However, if people have no feelings or the switch supports their feelings (and arousal such as fear is a common feeling) they are very easy to change their minds. Change in the status quo terrifies most people.
Also, we tend to have fixed ideas on the way it is and the “who is it.” This shows up as stereotypes, positive and negative, as we often forget how we naturally authorize men and deauthorize women all day long – and both sexes do it. We have written about how people hold stereotypes ubiquitously as many women have so much internalized sexism that they enjoy a massive benefit-of-the-doubt exercise on talent and competence as much as the next guy. Just this week Michelle Obama talked about not being so quick to defer and to resist a man’s presumption of power. Interestingly, if you read social media or onlne newsletter’s comment boxes, after a statement like this, someone (it is inevitable) says not all men, defensively of men, or worse, something personally dismissive (subconsciously racist) about Michelle Obama as a person. Observe your feelings and reactions as it is exactly this type of cognitive awareness that enables us to make choices such as language and nomination of the most talented person and get away from the binary of good or bad categorization that prevents you from uncovering biases and preferences. I mean literally Boris Johnson, said and did everything Theresa May had already done, but society and history will never remember that. This happens to women in meetings all day long.
It is not a battle of the sexes as that is a race to the bottom and we lose so much by generalizing all women or all men. Working on where cognitive process meets social conditioning is what the future of diversity needs, not HR compliance work on drinks parties or even panels (we have stopped holding them and ours were pretty groundbreaking). It is not Noah’s Ark with two of everyone and even if it was that, we have failed there too to gain real parity and have created all the wrong conversations.
It is costing everyone money by not changing. Possibly you personally. Practice forgiveness starting with yourself because we are all on a journey to evolve ourselves, our teams and society at large.
Awareness first, then doing the work to understand the very unique ways that each person needs to make the behavioral changes that creates success, sustainability and happiness is what we help leading women ( and men) in financial services and Fortune 1000 companies do with our coaching work. If you want to book a complimentary chemistry call with me to discuss if coaching could help you in 2020, book here.
We wish the readers of theglasshammer a happy and safe festive season. See you in January.
The “Big Rock, Pebble, Sand” Analogy – and Other Tips for Success
Rising StarsMeyanna Jiang, Anisha George, and Holly Batchelor
Three colleagues on growing as a leader, connecting with mentors and “managing up.”
In the December edition of The Glass Hammer, three colleagues at Goldman Sachs delve deep, sharing their best practices for success – ranging from thinking strategically and helping to further their teams’ goals to balancing competing priorities and “managing up.” Meet the interviewees and hear their take:
· Holly Batchelor is a vice president in Securities, based in Hong Kong
· Anisha George is an associate in Compliance, based in Bengaluru
· Meyanna Jiang is a vice president in Controllers, based in New York
Reflecting on your career at Goldman Sachs to date, what advice would you share with individuals just starting out?
· Meyanna: Be curious in your work, and look for ways to keep yourself challenged. I try to do one thing that scares me each week, whether it be public speaking, or volunteering for a project that I might not know much about.
· Holly: The ability to grow and nurture your network is invaluable – you might not realize it now, but the people you work with and get to know at the beginning of your career can be hugely influential and helpful later on.
· Anisha: I have found that projects others were not interested in working on ultimately had the biggest impact on my career. In addition, I would remind others that each individual has a unique journey – everyone’s path to success is different. I have learned to find joy and meaning in my own journey by setting personal goals and working to achieve them.
What actions do you take throughout your day to ensure you’re best helping your team and furthering its mission and strategy?
· Holly: I try to share as much information as possible with my team and keep everyone in the loop. Work is more enjoyable and fulfilling when you know why you’re working on a task, and are aware of the strategy you’re helping to implement.
· Meyanna: When I introduce a new project or task for my team, I aim to provide sufficient context by explaining how this deliverable supports our firmwide or divisional strategy.
How do you allocate time for both strategic thinking and execution in your role?
· Holly: Knowledge is power. Having a sense of what the market looks like and what our competitors are doing allows me to develop a strategy for my team and our plan for execution.
· Meyanna: I like to think of this as “zooming in” and “zooming out.” If the CEO stopped by your desk while you were in the middle of analyzing millions of rows of data and asked, “What are you working on?” how would you respond in a sentence or two? This exercise helps me think strategically.
What recommendations do you have for balancing competing priorities?
· Holly: To-do lists! It’s important to stay on top of priority projects, even as things pop up that require immediate attention. I often use the “big rock, pebble, sand” analogy when thinking about what I need to set aside time for: the big rocks are my major tasks and strategic initiatives, the pebbles are shorter-term tasks of lesser importance, and the sand is minor tasks that aren’t essential to my success.
· Meyanna: Stay organized, whether it’s adding calendar reminders, writing to-do lists, or color-coding emails to help you stay on track. I also remind my team that it’s okay to push back on requests or to say “no” when needed. Unless you speak up, no one will know that you need help.
· Anisha: It’s important to remember that having a fulfilling life outside of work helps your career and your work product. It might seem unrelated, but I think you can bring a more positive energy to the office when you have personal interests that also motivate you.
Any lessons learned on the importance of delegating?
· Meyanna: I’ve learned that the worst thing you can do as a manager is to delegate a task and then take it back, because this demotivates the team and makes them feel like their work is not valued. I’ve also learned that I need to provide “air cover” and give enough space for my team members to fail safely.
· Anisha: I used to dislike delegating because it required me to put in extra time and effort, but over time I realized that I would not be half as successful as I am today if every leader who invested in me had felt the same way about delegating. You can’t lead if no one is following.
· Holly: Delegation gives you the capacity to stretch further to build your business, and it allows you to effectively train and coach the colleagues whom you are delegating work to. Delegating work to others also allows for greater diversity of thought and experience, which often leads to better solutions.
How do you “manage up” with senior stakeholders?
· Anisha: Before meeting senior stakeholders I make sure to always prepare – people want to feel that their time is being valued, and adequate preparation helps shape and inform your conversation. When you have a strong agenda and follow-up plan when connecting with stakeholders, “managing up” just happens.
· Holly: First, you need to identify who your stakeholders are and what is important for them. Then, determine how they like to be kept up to date – do they prefer face-to-face catch ups, e-mail summaries, a full business plan? Adapting your style to match theirs will have much more of an impact.
Do you have a mentor or sponsor? If so, how do you make the most of your conversations with them?
· Holly: I have mentors within and outside of the firm that I often reach out to for advice. I put notes in my calendar to schedule catch-ups with them in order to nurture the relationship, just as you would with a client or stakeholder in your business.
· Meyanna: I have relationships with both mentors and sponsors, and many of these connections have formed organically. Managers can be a great resource, too – they have introduced me to contacts in their networks. Prior to each conversation with them, I write down a few topics for discussion, such as challenges in my day job or planning for the next step in my career.
· Anisha: I have more than one mentor because I value receiving guidance from different stakeholders. My mentors have diverse perspectives and push me to evaluate situations in different ways.
Have you participated in mobility? Do you have any advice for colleagues interested in either switching roles or offices?
· Meyanna: If you are exploring a role switch, raise your hand. Mention to your manager or mentor that you are interested in learning more about a certain business or working in a different location. It is easier for them to help you if they know your interests. In the meantime, continue being a rock star in your current role and look for ways to give yourself exposure to areas you are interested in.
· Anisha: I recently accepted a new role in Goldman Sachs Asset Management and will be relocating from Bengaluru to Dublin in January. The best advice I received when I was considering mobility was to focus on “What?” and “Why?” – meaning, “What do you want to do long-term?” and “Why do you want to move?” Once you have answered these questions, your options will become more clear.
Do you have a personal development plan to keep yourself accountable?
· Meyanna: I recommend writing down your goals. My last set of short- and long-term goals were written on a post-it note stuck to a bar of chocolate. (My team knows I always keep chocolate at my desk.) As I slowly finished the chocolate bar, I found that I was able to complete my goals over time. In addition, I find that it is helpful to share your goals with a buddy, who can help hold you accountable.
· Holly: In the early stages of my career I didn’t have any plan other to absorb as much information as possible. That hasn’t changed, but I now also set career goals with deadlines based on discussions I have with my mentors and stakeholders – incorporating their input is important in order to set realistic goals.
· Anisha: I think about where I want to be in one year and in 10 years, and develop my short- and long-term plans to achieve those goals. It’s necessary to also be nimble and update your goals as your world evolves.
Change Leader: Deborah Lorenzen, Managing Director, Head of Enterprise Data Governance, State Street
Thought LeadersNicki from theglasshammer (NG): Deb, we have profiled you before and you have attended as a panelist some of our career events over the years. I have always held you in high esteem as someone who walks the talk when it comes to helping other women and as a change leader for systemic issues. What lessons have you learned from 2019 and this decade generally to take into 2020 and the next decade?
Deb Lorenzen (DL): If you really want it you have to keep after it, even when it is hard. You just have to keep turning up for the fight. That said, if you are not having fun anymore, quit. That might sound blunt, but honestly, if you aren’t finding joy in what you spend much of your life doing you won’t be successful. So stop, regroup, and find the thing that gives you joy.
From a job title perspective my career path looks non-linear. I’ve always been curious about the next challenge. The strong thread that has held it together is executing on strategic change programs, whether that was acquisition or divestiture, global operating model changes, launching a new product or service into the market or closing down something that wasn’t successful, as well as the inevitable regulatory change. Diving into these change opportunities has provided the chance for me to live and work around the world, provided value to the firms and people who have been part of these efforts, and fed my own leadership journey into how operating models and organizations work.
NG: What excites you about 2020?
DL: In January 2020 I will begin teaching my first MBA course, an elective titled Executing Strategic Change at Providence College. Having spent much of my career driving major change programs it is exciting to pull all of those examples back out to consider what made them successful, and what I would do differently in hindsight. I’m looking forward to the exchange of ideas with a group of future thought leaders. Preparing the course has also been a good reminder of how much has been accomplished during my career.
NG: What trends in your industry are of particular interest to you?
DL: Right now, my focus is on Data Governance and how we help long-standing firms make the shift from application-oriented architecture to properly data-driven architecture. This is the classic example of a strategic change program where we are trying to change the engine and the tires of the bus while still driving down the highway. Fortunately, we have a fantastic team who are all focused on getting this done, and we have leadership in place who both understand what we need to do and are driving resources into place to support our goals.
NG: What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting your career?
DL: There are so many things I wish I had known. Having grown up in a rural environment with more cows than people, there were very few accessible role models for working in the global financial markets so I couldn’t even have articulated that was what I wanted to do. In hindsight, I wish I had known all of this existed much earlier than I did. These days I spend as much time as I can mentoring new entrants to the financial world on how things work – how you manage salary and benefit negotiations, which lines of business or functional roles give you the most opportunity, how you find out what they are saying about you when you are not in the room so you can do something about the perception. There is no rocket science inherent to these lessons for readers of Glass Hammer, just value in remembering to ‘each one – reach one’ whenever we have the chance.
NG: What, if any, are the main barriers to success and/or challenges for women in your industry?
DL: I used to say that in New York there is so much competition they will take you out for any excuse they can find. I still believe that is true today, and not just in New York. The thing we have to keep working at diligently is making sure the successful excuses aren’t based in gender bias. Ensuring leadership understands inclusion also helps; tying compensation to actual progress is useful but imperfect. Putting daylight on hiring practices, promotion processes and open opportunities is useful as it forces leaders to think through their decisions in a different way.
NG: What advice would you give to young women in the industry or thinking about entering the industry?
DL: For new entrants I would tell them to just go for it. They shouldn’t listen too long to the stories from my generation because the rules ARE actually different now and they shouldn’t get bogged down in our histories. Newer entrants should use the network available – those of us who have been at it for 20+ years – as for the most part we’ll tell you anything you want to know about how the industry works. If we were to change anything we should simply dedicate more support to the next generation. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants ourselves, and we should give the next generation a hand up.
NG: What bright spots are there for gender equity at work?
DL: Working in the finance I learned long ago to ‘follow the money.’ On that front, the movement of institutional money toward Environment Social Governance (ESG) over the past few years is hugely gratifying. The impact is being seen right now in movement toward gender inclusion on Boards as well as investment in firms that reflect ESG goals and inclusive teams. The leverage available by focusing Institutional funds – pension plans in particular – toward ‘good’ goals is helping to make meaningful improvements in the marketplace.. At State Street we are helping to lead the move toward ESG by providing knowledge and infrastructure.
More locally, State Street has a group of ‘Leading Women’ made up of Executive Vice Presidents. They have been doing a great job of being visible and offering their wisdom and experience through lunches and speakers series. They represent a fantastic group of role models and the activities they are driving are helping to inspire a new generation of leaders.
NG: Outside of work, what is ‘sparking joy’?
DL: One of my joys is sitting on the Advisory Board for Global Female Leaders, an annual economic summit in Berlin where we join leading women from around the world representing politics, business and philanthropy to discuss the geo-political landscape and economic trends. Not only do I get to spend one long weekend each year surrounded by some of the most amazing women I’ve ever met, but I’ve also developed relationships that have provided insight and opportunity, as well as the confidence, to extend my life’s work in new directions.
On the personal front, our house is incredibly active right now, with three school-age children and all of the activities that brings, feet in two countries (my husband is Danish and I’m from California), and a full-time career. Teaching in the Providence MBA program will keep my mind active in the Spring. Beyond that I’m coaching 5th grade travel basketball as well as sitting on the Board of the travel program, and I’m co-leader of a Junior Girl Scout Troop. We are, at the behest of my eldest, fostering dogs for a rescue program here in Massachusetts, and have three puppies we began fostering at 7 days old thriving in the corner of her bedroom.
My hopes for the coming decade are to watch my children’s generation finish their education and enter a workforce that is more inclusive than we have today, with a set of clear rules for the game that are the same for everyone – a big ask, I know. For my part, my shoulder will still be on the wheel, mentoring, teaching, working, speaking truth to power about how it still is and what needs to change. And if culture can be defined as ‘how you get things done around here,’ I’ll continue driving for the continuous improvement of an inclusive culture.
Mover and Shaker Q&A: Alpa Lally, Vice President of Data Business, Experian
Movers and ShakersTGH (theglasshammer): What are you working on right now?
AL (Alpa Lally): I oversee the products and scores at Experian. I feel lucky to be helping people access the credit they need while helping lenders make smarter decisions. We recently launched Experian Lift, a new scoring model that helps lenders score credit invisibles and people with a limited credit history. For the 40 million people who are currently viewed as unscoreable to a lender, this is a big deal. People who are new to this country, just getting their financial feet wet, or are recovering from a significant life-changing event may not have the traditional credit history typically used to assess creditworthiness and Experian Lift is our latest example of our commitment to help them get access to the financial services they need.
TGH: Where does your passion for this topic come from?
AL: My passion for improving financial access really comes from my own personal experiences and challenges that I have faced with credit access. I’m originally from Canada and immigrated to the U.S. When I moved, none of my positive credit history came along with me, so I had to start building my credit history from scratch. Proving you are a good credit risk to a lender when you have no traditional credit history is a real challenge and it’s a reality many people face.
Later in life, I also went through a major life-changing event: I got a divorce. This meant I was removed from joint credit accounts and was facing a lot of new debt. Because of these major life events, there were times that I had to rely on alternative forms of lending with high interest rates since I did not qualify for traditional, more affordable credit. My experiences fuel my passion to help people get the financial services they need when they need them.
TGH: What is the biggest challenge you face in your mission?
AL: One of the biggest challenges we face in the mission to improve financial health is that there is still a certain level of hesitation people have in sharing their own data. From where I sit, I’ve seen the benefits sharing data can have on a person’s ability to access many of the things we take for granted in life, such as qualifying for a loan for a new car.
As our technologies continue to evolve, I am able to see firsthand how sharing additional data has impacted many of the one million customers who have signed up for Experian Boost since we first launched six months ago. With this new product, for the first-time people have the opportunity to contribute information directly to their credit report. I’ve seen how many have boosted their score instantly by adding their positive cell phone, cable, utility and mobile phone payments to their report. As this trend continues and we see new tools like this creating a meaningful impact, I think more and more people will understand the value sharing data can create in their own lives because it not only has the potential to increase your credit score, it can allow consumers to get better access to credit for things they might need, like a car or personal loan.
TGH: What is your most recent success?
AL: I’d have to say my role in helping launch Experian Lift and its go to market strategy and the continued support of Experian Boost are my most recent successes. I feel good about these initiatives because an individual has never been able to directly impact the information included on their credit report until Experian Boost. Being a part of this groundbreaking tool was a proud moment for me both personally and professionally. Because it was such a new concept, there was a lot at stake, and we were unsure how people would respond. The results we’ve seen to date confirm that when we put financial health the heart of what we do, we have an opportunity to make really amazing things happen for people and businesses.
TGH: What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting this endeavor?
AL: It is okay to stumble, and you will. No launch, pitch, or new innovation goes off without a hiccup or two so your ability to push forward is vital. To achieve this, you need to have constant feedback and a team that is in it together.
TGH: What is your advice for other women who have a challenge they wish to pursue?
AL: Go for it! I think as women we tend to overanalyze and overthink our actions. There’s never going to be a perfect time to pursue a challenge or a new endeavor. Women should also feel empowered to look for mentors and successful professionals in the industry and ask their advice. I’ve gained a lot from being mentored and mentoring others. In either situation, I always have key takeaways that I find help me both personally and professionally.
I also recommend getting actively involved at your organization. At Experian, we celebrate the diversity of ideas and backgrounds across our company. I have actively embraced our Employee Resource Groups and participated in events and initiatives such as International Women’s Day, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride and Veterans Day, among others. These employee groups are a great place to feel a sense of belonging and connect with people across the company with different backgrounds. It can be really beneficial to have these networks and relationships in place throughout your career as some of these people will be the ones you go to when you hit roadblocks and need help or advice.
Juggling Work and Kids? Yes, You Can Have It All
Guest ContributionGuest Contributed by Marissa Evans Alden, Co-Founder and CEO of Sawyer
Recent research shows that more than one in three working parents have missed a significant event in their child’s life due to work commitments.
Current standards can be very high standard for parenting, much higher than what existed when we were growing up. There’s this big feeling that you need to be present at all times – which just isn’t possible, because the other expectation is that you’re working and career-driven. Something has to give – and the challenge is which one is it? It’s something we’re all still figuring out.
It Takes a Village
There’s often this illusion that some women seem to be able to do it all but the truth is, if you’re doing it well, you’re not doing it alone. Having a solid support system in place is crucial. Being able to lean on a supportive spouse who understands what 50/50 really looks like or having a network of friends and family members close by is very helpful during periods when you need to travel for work or when you can’t be around outside of normal business hours. Also, a flexible nanny, babysitter or au pair is invaluable when it is crunch time.
At the same time, having a great business partner, as I do in Stephanie Choi (my former Rent The Runway colleague and now Sawyer co-founder), makes life a lot easier for when you need to leave the office for a doctor’s or school appointment. Being able to lean on your “village” really is critical.
Prioritize and Plan Ahead
Prioritizing what’s most important and what you are willing to compromise on helps set boundaries. I personally feel okay about missing bedtime two nights a week but I will draw a line there. The time between work and bed is a really sacred time for my daughter and me, so I like to make sure we use it well.
It does mean having to plan evening events religiously and prioritizing what to say yes to, regardless of whether it’s a night out with your spouse, a work event, or seeing friends. One equitable solution could be going home before bedtime or heading out after the kids are asleep. Plan whatever feels right for you and make that the top priority. Energy is required.
Create a Fulfilling Schedule for Your Kids
Balancing your kid’s free time and more structured time is something to be very mindful of. It’s important to strike a balance in order to facilitate well-rounded development. Ideally, a child will have a mix each day. There’s no one size-fits-all approach when it comes to the number of extra-curricular activities a child should or shouldn’t be involved in but I’m a fan of diversity – my daughter Blake does a mix of solo and team activities, physical and mental. For example, Blake is enrolled in three classes each week – theater, music and soccer – and then plays with friends and also goes to the playground, so there’s lots of socializing with other children in different settings. That seems to be a really good fit for her but each child is different.
Don’t Make Allowances at Work for Being Pregnant or Having a Family
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in business is the difficulty of raising funds as a female founder in the male-dominated venture capital industry (only 2.2% of VC funding in 2018 went to women). Many times when we did the pitch circuit either Stephanie or I was pregnant. It didn’t stop us from successfully raising the capital we needed to jump start our business though. My advice to other women is simply don’t ever see being pregnant or having a family as an obstacle between you and your goals.
Juggling it all
No one has ever said that juggling a career and making time for your family is easy, especially if you’re in a leadership position. Mom guilt affects many working mothers I know, but the good news is, according to research from Harvard Business School, kids of working mothers grow up to be just as happy in adulthood as children with stay-at-home moms.
While it can be a daunting task to try and “have it all,” with the right planning it is possible. Do set yourself work/life boundaries, don’t be afraid to ask for help, surround yourself with a solid support network, and don’t ever allow being a mother and having a family get in the way of your career goals.
About the Author
Marissa Evans Alden is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sawyer, the innovative online marketplace that offers a convenient, all-in-one booking experience for parents looking to discover enriching experiences for their children. A leader in the consumer products industry, Marissa is known for her ability to strategize and develop successful platforms throughout a range of industries.
A seasoned technology entrepreneur, Marissa received her BS in Human Development at Cornell University, followed by an MBA degree at Harvard Business School. Known for her proven ability to tap into the consumer market with a fresh eye, Marissa founded Go Try It On in 2010, a consumer fashion application that was acquired by Rent the Runway in 2013. She then joined Rent the Runway as Head of Radical Innovation, General Manager, where she lead the way for new product development and all things related to the growth and loyalty of the brand’s eCommerce. In 2015, Marissa and Rent the Runway co-worker Stephanie Choi co-created Sawyer.
The opinions and views expressed by guest contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of theglasshammer.com
Voice of Experience: Madelyn Caple, Head of Wholesale Partnerships and Business Development, Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management
Voices of Experience“It’s important for senior female leaders to continue to mentor and coach,” she says. “It can be lonely and competitive in this industry, and women tap out because they think they can’t do it all. But I am so glad I stuck with it. Sometimes it was hard to be there to chaperone a school field trip, but in the end, I know I made the right decision.”
She says that she is most proud of is where she is today, having raised two children and achieved balance. “Sometimes it was hard to be there to chaperone a school field trip, for example, but in the end, I know I made the right decision. It was as important to me to be a mom and wife as to be successful in my field.”
Moving For New Opportunities
For the past three decades, Caple has served in client-facing positions with Wells Fargo and its legacy companies. Since being named to the role of Head of Wholesale Partnerships and Business Development in August, Caple has been focused on talking to different stakeholders in Wells Fargo and understanding what’s important to them and their clients. “You have to always keep the client at the center of what you’re building, because they expect us to be collaborative and show up together,” she says.
Prior to this appointment, Caple had served as Regional Managing Director for the Carolina West Region of Wells Fargo Private Bank, based in Charlotte, where she moved after several positions in Florida with the bank. While she moved frequently early in her career, it helped propel her to opportunities that she otherwise wouldn’t have had. “Being curious and willing to take a challenge can separate you from others,” Caple says. Although once she arrived in Charlotte in 2004, she realized that the opportunities were plentiful, and there she stayed.
She started in the corporate bank, but recognized that the newer wealth segment was a good fit for her skills and interests. “I realized I liked dealing with personal situations and helping my clients find solutions,” she says. To augment her B.S. degree in Finance and Real Estate from Florida State University, Caple earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional designation.
One of the lessons Caple has learned is the power of networking. Given her tenure with the company, she had the advantage of having a strong network of contacts. As she says, you never want to burn a bridge, since what goes around comes around. “Ten years later you might find yourself sitting together on the same side of an opportunity or even on different sides. You have to always do what’s right and show respect for people.”
That collaboration shouldn’t stop as you climb the ladder, either, she says, adding that it’s important to continue to support one another outwardly. If someone puts an idea on the table, offer constructive feedback and try to move it forward with colleagues.
Finding Meaning In Philanthropy
An active volunteer, Caple finds her philanthropic work to be incredibly fulfilling. She participates in many organizations, and her passion is in public education and its role as an equalizer. With both of her parents from rural Mississippi, she saw firsthand how an education allows you to distinguish yourself. She sits on the board of Central Piedmont Community College and recently was recognized by the United Negro College Fund as a 2019 Maya Angelou “Women Who Lead” honoree, someone whose footprints positively influence the community.
The reason for her passion is simple: “To whom much is given, much is expected. Giving fills my cup,” Caple says. “There are a lot of positive things happening in Charlotte,” she says. The bank encourages team members to volunteer their time to causes that are important to them and recently changed its matching gifts program to match volunteer time with dollars, in accordance with how today’s younger generation often prefers to donate.
Success is a Family Affair
Along with a keen sense of dedication, Caple says it’s vital to have a partner who supports your career and family ambitions. “You can’t have a full-time job in corporate America and a full-time job at home,” she notes. With one child in college and one recent college graduate, she and her husband have always loved to travel as a family. During spring break they typically took educational trips to Washington, D.C. or the Grand Canyon and still aim to find one thing a year that the four of them can do together.
In her free time, Caple loves to cook and entertain casually. Nothing is more precious to her than being in the kitchen and having her kids and their friends come in and talk about their lives and what they’re thinking about. “Now that my kids are young adults, I’m still seeking ways to continue to be impactful to them,” she says. “I feel fortunate to be at this point in my life where we’re all in a good place.”