By Cathie Ericson
In the workplace, many women don’t know the right questions to ask, but the more questions you ask, the more you’ll learn. “At first it might seem negative to others, but it won’t be long before people will value that spirit and curiosity,” Bickford says.
She has benefited from her exposure to cultures, having lived all over the world. “When someone would say, ‘this is the way it should be,’ I would wonder why and in the end, these questions would have great strategic value. By asking questions, I saw opportunities that others didn’t,” she notes.
Finding Ageless and Timeless Career Success
You could call Bickford’s successful career path a bit delayed. She didn’t have her first paying job until she was 38, and at age 70, is still working. “I just got a late start to work,” she says, noting that she had two daughters by the age of 23, so she spent the first years of her adult life as a housewife and volunteer. She took those roles very seriously, working at them as though they were a paying job, which helped pave the way for her future political and corporate life.
Her first paying job was in the Koch Administration, and she then went to the consumer services group of Citibank, where she says she got fired within nine months. As part of the bank’s outplacement services, she took a battery of tests, and found out she was a natural-born investment banker. She was transferred to Citibank investment banking group, left to join Dillon Read’s investment bank and when Dillon Read was bought by Travelers she was designated a key employee. With her bonus she opened up her own firm in asset securitization which at the time was a new industry.
She sold her firm to Rothschild in 1994 and joined them at Rothschild Inc. as the only female global partner in the United States. She cites this as one of the professional achievements she’s most proud of since investment banking is a tough field and very few women have excelled in the business. In fact, she was so focused on helping other women get promoted that she was dubbed “Head Girl” for her efforts.
In 2009, she retired, and, as she says, “flunked retirement.”
She returned to the investment world at GenSpring, where she created the women in wealth educational template for wealthy families across the United States. After, she left to join Evercore Wealth Management where she became a partner and wealth advisor. She says:
“If they recognize your talent, and feel you can make a contribution to the organization, it doesn’t matter your age,”
Volunteer Work Guides Her Path
Over the years, she has also served on more than 30 non-profit boards. This volunteer work in partnership with her business has been good for her mental health and also for building friendships and networking opportunities. She noted, “being the only woman in many work situations can be lonely, and my volunteer work helped, as much of it was focused around helping women.”
One notable appointment was serving as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the founder of the Council’s task force studying the role of women in economic and political development in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “Women are well suited for conflict resolution and stabilizing communities in the developing world,” she notes.
Helping Women Achieve Their Goals – Financial and Work-Related
Currently, at Evercore Wealth Management, she enjoys working with families. Since women live longer than men, often much longer, they try to prepare women to manage their finances so they will know the right questions to ask their financial advisor and only select products that will help women achieve their goals. Women will control 14 trillion dollars of assets in the near-term future. “A revolution is occurring, but most people are unaware that women tend to use their money to achieve their goals,” Bickford says. Whereas a man will typically ask about performance, a woman has never asked that in the first meeting. She says they want to know about risk, if they can maintain their lifestyles and what they can do with the money around goals and values.
Whereas she’s found that in the investment banking world men don’t see women as the “man for the job,” the wealth management industry is much more user-friendly for women, as a lot of the natural skills women possess, such as insight and nurturing, dovetail well with the skills needed. At Evercore, they have several female portfolio managers and wealth advisors. Bickford notes, “it isn’t lonely at all.”
They also excel in dealing with complicated issues, such as how money is equated with love, especially in blended families, making it an excellent field for women to pursue.
Overseeing “Paradigm for Parity”
This December, Bickford helped launch this coalition, which she says is part of the continuum in bringing men and women together who are committed to achieving a new norm in corporate leadership. While the ideas for unearthing unconscious bias and sponsorship aren’t new, her group is going about it a new way, she says. They have developed a five-point action plan to hand to a CEO or diversity officer and when implemented concurrently, the steps will reinforce each other.
“If they commit to implement the points all at once, they will see vast progress in a thorny situation,” she says.
The steering committee boasts CEOs from many top companies and Bickford says the fact that the plan and the measurements for success were developed by people within the very companies that need the change will help ensure it will succeed.
Bickford says that her husband has been a guiding force in her success. “When your work life is complicated, you need someone who can support you and help you find the right balance between business and family.” She adds that those who don’t find that in their family can turn to their network to find those people they can trust.
Voice of Experience: Jewelle Bickford, Partner, Evercore Wealth Management
People, Voices of ExperienceBy Cathie Ericson
In the workplace, many women don’t know the right questions to ask, but the more questions you ask, the more you’ll learn. “At first it might seem negative to others, but it won’t be long before people will value that spirit and curiosity,” Bickford says.
She has benefited from her exposure to cultures, having lived all over the world. “When someone would say, ‘this is the way it should be,’ I would wonder why and in the end, these questions would have great strategic value. By asking questions, I saw opportunities that others didn’t,” she notes.
Finding Ageless and Timeless Career Success
You could call Bickford’s successful career path a bit delayed. She didn’t have her first paying job until she was 38, and at age 70, is still working. “I just got a late start to work,” she says, noting that she had two daughters by the age of 23, so she spent the first years of her adult life as a housewife and volunteer. She took those roles very seriously, working at them as though they were a paying job, which helped pave the way for her future political and corporate life.
Her first paying job was in the Koch Administration, and she then went to the consumer services group of Citibank, where she says she got fired within nine months. As part of the bank’s outplacement services, she took a battery of tests, and found out she was a natural-born investment banker. She was transferred to Citibank investment banking group, left to join Dillon Read’s investment bank and when Dillon Read was bought by Travelers she was designated a key employee. With her bonus she opened up her own firm in asset securitization which at the time was a new industry.
She sold her firm to Rothschild in 1994 and joined them at Rothschild Inc. as the only female global partner in the United States. She cites this as one of the professional achievements she’s most proud of since investment banking is a tough field and very few women have excelled in the business. In fact, she was so focused on helping other women get promoted that she was dubbed “Head Girl” for her efforts.
In 2009, she retired, and, as she says, “flunked retirement.”
She returned to the investment world at GenSpring, where she created the women in wealth educational template for wealthy families across the United States. After, she left to join Evercore Wealth Management where she became a partner and wealth advisor. She says:
Volunteer Work Guides Her Path
Over the years, she has also served on more than 30 non-profit boards. This volunteer work in partnership with her business has been good for her mental health and also for building friendships and networking opportunities. She noted, “being the only woman in many work situations can be lonely, and my volunteer work helped, as much of it was focused around helping women.”
One notable appointment was serving as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the founder of the Council’s task force studying the role of women in economic and political development in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “Women are well suited for conflict resolution and stabilizing communities in the developing world,” she notes.
Helping Women Achieve Their Goals – Financial and Work-Related
Currently, at Evercore Wealth Management, she enjoys working with families. Since women live longer than men, often much longer, they try to prepare women to manage their finances so they will know the right questions to ask their financial advisor and only select products that will help women achieve their goals. Women will control 14 trillion dollars of assets in the near-term future. “A revolution is occurring, but most people are unaware that women tend to use their money to achieve their goals,” Bickford says. Whereas a man will typically ask about performance, a woman has never asked that in the first meeting. She says they want to know about risk, if they can maintain their lifestyles and what they can do with the money around goals and values.
Whereas she’s found that in the investment banking world men don’t see women as the “man for the job,” the wealth management industry is much more user-friendly for women, as a lot of the natural skills women possess, such as insight and nurturing, dovetail well with the skills needed. At Evercore, they have several female portfolio managers and wealth advisors. Bickford notes, “it isn’t lonely at all.”
They also excel in dealing with complicated issues, such as how money is equated with love, especially in blended families, making it an excellent field for women to pursue.
Overseeing “Paradigm for Parity”
This December, Bickford helped launch this coalition, which she says is part of the continuum in bringing men and women together who are committed to achieving a new norm in corporate leadership. While the ideas for unearthing unconscious bias and sponsorship aren’t new, her group is going about it a new way, she says. They have developed a five-point action plan to hand to a CEO or diversity officer and when implemented concurrently, the steps will reinforce each other.
The steering committee boasts CEOs from many top companies and Bickford says the fact that the plan and the measurements for success were developed by people within the very companies that need the change will help ensure it will succeed.
Bickford says that her husband has been a guiding force in her success. “When your work life is complicated, you need someone who can support you and help you find the right balance between business and family.” She adds that those who don’t find that in their family can turn to their network to find those people they can trust.
Mover and Shaker: Stefanie Stewart, Vice President, Senior Real Estate Portfolio Manager, Voya Investment Management
Movers and ShakersConquering a Male-Dominated Industry
These words of wisdom have helped propel Stefanie Stewart through her ascent in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
A finance and real estate major in college, Stefanie worked in student housing, which sparked her interest in commercial real estate.
A professor helped connect her with ING (now Voya) and she started as an analyst eleven years ago, working her way up through the ranks. Seven years back, she moved from an analyst to a production role with her own territory, which she names as the professional achievement she is most proud of so far – her success in exceeding production goals.
“That win was particularly sweet,” said Stefanie considering an experience she had prior to joining Voya – where she has enjoyed being supported throughout her career.
“I was given an interview as a courtesy. At the end, the male manager said, ‘The commercial real estate industry is a good ol’ boys network, I don’t think it’s a place for a young woman.’” Stefanie used the experience to motivate her.
“It is a male-dominated industry, and when I made the transition from analyst to producer I wondered if I would be as successful as the guys at building external relationships. Typically, at first, you start with people lending their relationships, but then you have to build your own book of business,” she notes. Stefanie is proud that she’s been able to succeed and build a reputation for herself in the industry, with the support of her team.
Building Relationships to Build Your Career
A member of Path Builders early on in her career, she has also taken advantage of a variety of women’s networking events.
Stefanie has found sponsorship to be important in her career, with managers who have been committed to putting her in front of senior managers. She says she was fortunate that she was part of the mentoring program while making the transition, which was great timing to help her navigate the waters professionally and even politically.
She also credits much of her growth to managers in the group who have given her opportunities that she acknowledges she often wasn’t yet ready for – some of which filled her with fear, whether it was being in front of senior managers, a complex deal or participating on a panel. In hindsight, each was pivotal in her career. “They have only made me better, and now I look forward to some of these situations that make me uncomfortable, because I know they will give me the opportunity to continue to grow.”
She has had many role models along the way too, and knows that sometimes they can serve as a model of as much what not to do as what to do. “I’ve learned a lot by observing how people handle things under stress or react to criticism, and it has helped me remember that you can always learn from positive feedback.” External role models who are navigating similar challenges, from different sides of the equation, can also be helpful as a sounding board.
Her experience in the real estate program at Florida State University prepared her well for the real estate business, and she now serves as a mentor for recent graduates of the program, as well as visiting to provide case studies for the classes and sitting on a real estate trends conference planning committee. “If I can help a 22 year-old find their way, that is very gratifying to me,” she says.
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The Importance of Knowing What You Want
Career Advice, Guest ContributionGuest contributed by Tracey Carr, Executive Coach and CEO of Mi Purpose
I don’t know about you but my life is mad, crazy, busy running a complex business and being the best single Mum that I can be while also taking care of my health, having fun and taking control of my financial destiny.None of us have time for wasting our lives on distractions and yet it is so easy to be distracted in this world of information overload and being constantly available through our devices.
It takes discipline to focus on important activity that takes you toward your goals instead of being distracted by everybody else’s demands.
Our research shows that less than 1 person in every 100 people knows what they want, and guess what, most people get just that – a destination they didn’t want or choose!
How do I choose my own destiny?
The simple answer: scheduling!
Or rather, the process of scheduling, which I like to call “Dump, Chunk and Do”; it’s a fairly simple 3 step process that requires about 10 to 20 minutes a day. Allow me to explain:
Step 1: Dump
As the saying goes, the one thing constant in life is change. Because of change, our priorities change; things that were once important and/or urgent get moved to the back-burner and other “nice to have” tasks suddenly pop into the forefront of our attention. Because of this, we need a system to make sure that we can keep track of all the tasks in our heads without losing them.
This is where Dumping comes into play. Having a capture list is like a traditional “to do” list, but it allows you to clear the mental space and focus those tasks and aha’s into an inventory. Having such an inventory of tasks can and will grow over time and can seem like a lot to manage. Luckily, there’s Step 2 that avoids the problem of long static task lists or desks covered in post-it-notes.
Step 2: Chunk
Chunking is the means by which we organize our task inventory. I prefer to place tasks into logical grouping or categories that way i find that can I focus on the various aspects of my personal and professional life in one place without the stress of having to remember where ‘that’ list or reminder is.
Step 3: Do
Once Chunked, identify those important/urgent tasks that need to get done immediately.
For each of your categories, prioritise your top 5 – 10 items/tasks and then schedule those tasks on the day that you want to do them. Chunk the colours together into groups so that you can focus on one category at a time rather than randomly flitting from one task to another. (you can do this on paper, through Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar or my personal favorite is the one I developed myself : Mi Purpose
Why group colours together in my calendar system?
You will be more effective if you practice scheduling your energy as suggested. It takes a different kind of energy to work on finance than it does working on long term visions and goals. This also allows you to be flexible and save time and as you have now already categorised your tasks it should be easy.
For instance, imagine that you are planning a party or sporting event and you have Chunked some ideas into one of your categories and scheduled those “Do” tasks for next Wednesday in your calendar. As you think of other ideas for the event, you can simply refer to your calendar of Do tasks (use the colour coding wherever possible) and drop or add new tasks as needed.
This will give you peace of mind that you are in control, remaining spontaneous and safe in the knowledge that you will complete everything at the most efficient time by scheduling and controlling your own life.
The trick is align to your vision and goals to prioritise your work flow against the pressure of too many demands and that way you decide what matters most in your life!
In conjunction with Tracey Carr and Best Year Ever, The Glass Hammer readers are being invited to take advantage of this unique opportunity with a special one-time offer to get Mi Purpose FREE FOR LIFE for one small pledge during this 30-day campaign on Indiegogo
Tracey Carr is the Founder & CEO of Mi Purpose SAAS, Executive Coach, International Speaker and Mom to 3 girls
Checking Your Own Biases Around Gender In Your Career
Career Advice, Guest ContributionBy Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Image via Shutterstock
Are you a sexist woman? You might be wondering where I am going with this but in ten long hard years of working on gender equality, the one thing that has amazed me most is the level of sexism against women perpetrated by women. How do you know if you are harboring biases against women? If you are, you are probably unaware if you do have biases and maybe on a very unconscious level you believe in deeply engrained gender roles without ever looking at this.
This of course will seem odd to you as a working professional women who may even espouse that you are all about seeing women advance. Are you brave enough to look at your deepest held beliefs? It is a journey, and scary at times but one that can help you understand which paradigms are really aligned with your values and which have been handed to you and upon inspection do not take you to where you want to go or who you want to be.
It is a spectrum to fall on, this sexist thing. No one is exempt from having some bias for and against everything from who you work with to seemingly unimportant things such as whether you prefer watching sports played by women or men and then which is the better version according to you. The constructs behind the “why” is really the piece that can be examined, and if the “why” lines up for you, then great, but more than half of the time, as a coach and a psychologist, I find that not to be the case.
Do you believe that men are more leaderlike than women? In a 50 year long, regularly updated case study called “Think Manager, think Male” on which groups of men or women (by the way imaginary group not actual people) are believed to be more leaderlike rated by their assigned traits. Even when young women answer the survey, they vote straight white men as more competent and productive than themselves. So, you tell me where does that leave the “the lean in”, you go girl mantra? Mind blowing isn’t it? Not to me, I can totally see that the lack of progress being made is in part due to the mental models the patriarchy has given most of us. The mind blowing part to me is that if once people examine it and see no value in keeping it that they keep it anyway out of inertia or fear of change.
The other area to see where you are or others is to talk about children. If you hear yourself or others applying different standards of behavior to your girl children and boy children, then you can be sure that you are taking that into work with you too and as a bonus setting them up for carrying on that belief too.
No judgment from me, my job is not to agree to disagree or feel aligned with your values. My job is to ask you the question – now that you have looked deeper into how do you feel about ensuring women and men are treated with the same benchmark when it comes to leading, working and being promoted fairly after reading this post?
What is your role in creating the world you espouse to believe in at work and at home?
Voice of Experience: Céline-Marie Mechain, Partner, Goldman Sachs, Paris
Voices of ExperienceA champion of women’s advancement throughout her tenure at Goldman Sachs, Céline-Marie Mechain urges senior women who have risen through the ranks to continue to stick together to attract more women and support those who want a career in investment banking.
Mechain pursued a classic academic path for French women: business school in France, followed by a graduate degree in the UK, where she polished her English-language skills. She began her career in Citibank’s advisory team in 1993 in London before joining the leveraged finance team at Deutsche Bank. In 1998, she joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in leveraged finance, rising to vice president in 2001, managing director in 2006 and ultimately partner in 2016.
Early in her tenure, Mechain was tasked with an ambitious endeavor – to create a financial sponsor platform for French-speaking countries in London – a project that uniquely fit her skill set and one she describes as both a challenge and sign of confidence from the firm. In 2004, she was asked to relocate to Paris to be closer to clients and to build out the private equity coverage platform to support a variety of clients, including French corporates, pension funds, portfolio companies, family offices and entrepreneurs. Building a business that didn’t previously exist at Goldman Sachs is the professional achievement of which she is most proud, as it allowed the firm to cover sponsors in a holistic way across products. In addition, while her team has typically covered classic sponsors, they have broadened and adapted to Asian, Canadian or US buyers, and large family offices, who are interested in investing in Europe. “I am very proud of what we built and the ability to scale the business with a universal advisory approach,” she says.
As globalization continues, Mechain explains that the firm will strive to retain its leading banking role across regions, while simultaneously supporting buyers from emerging countries and providing access to capital markets on a worldwide scale. “We are always thinking about how we can address the trend of globalization and provide the quality of services that defines Goldman Sachs,” she says, adding that the firm is considering how to invest in the midst of the current political climate, particularly in light of upcoming European elections.
Becoming a Role Model
Mechain recalls that when she was a junior associate 20 years ago, there were very few women in investment banking, which created a dearth of women applicants because it was so challenging for candidates to envision banking as a career. Understanding the challenges she faced, she strives to be a role model for junior women. “I wish I had been advised to not be afraid of this environment — you can absolutely succeed by believing in yourself, and in many ways it can be beneficial to be a woman,” Mechain says.
Mechain highlights that women in advisory and management roles may now have an advantage, as women are also rising through the ranks of corporates and clients and will increasingly influence corporate decision-making.
She calls on women to support one another in order to attract more women to the field. Mechain herself has blazed many trails, and was the first woman investment banker in the Paris office to announce maternity leave, and as part of her drive to raise the visibility of women, she co-founded the Women’s Network in Paris. Launching this initiative ultimately connected women across divisions and has been instrumental in increasing mentorship opportunities within the firm. She notes that she always received strong support for the network from leadership across regions and product lines.
Mechain also created an initiative called the Women in an Impactful Network (WIN), which connects women at the vice president and managing director levels with other industry leaders. “We ask women to identify three external women executives they want to brainstorm with on diversity and business issues, which has created a wonderful think tank to help raise awareness of these challenges.” This group of industry professionals, which includes clients, now has approximately 50 members, who regularly meet with one another also outside of official WIN events.
“Establishing these networks has been one of my top achievements, and has provided a forum for senior women to support junior women in the workplace,” Mechain says. “These organizations have been game changers.”
A Team Effort at Home
Mechain credits her supportive husband and children with playing key roles in her career success. “It’s a team effort,” she says, adding that she received great advice when beginning her career to make sure that her life partner shares the burden of caring for children and overseeing a household.
“I run the house like a Goldman project, relying on lists and reminders,” she explains. “It’s an everyday effort, and while it was not natural for me to delegate at first, I’ve been able to prioritize effectively, both at work and at home.”
Mover and Shaker: Carey Ryan, Director, Citi
Movers and ShakersHard work is a key component, but just one of many that will lead to success, finds Citi’s Carey Ryan.
She says she put her head down and produced for years, which worked well until she moved into more senior roles and had an instance that reframed her thinking: She had thought she had hit one project out of the park only to find out she had completely missed the mark.
“After I got over the shell shock, I analyzed what I’d missed, and part of it was that I hadn’t put the time and effort into thoroughly understanding my audience and their motivation and what was driving them,” she says, noting that when she looks at other similar moments when she didn’t do as well as she’d hoped it almost always leads back to a need to think more critically about the audience.
That has led to one of her favorite mottos that she picked up at a sales training years ago: “So what?” Ryan believes you have to ask that question every day from the perspective of your audience and the people you’re interacting with to successfully meet their needs.
She also believes a little luck is necessary, but it’s difficult to come by without the hard work. She echoes that success needs that hard work, but also includes understanding your audience; identifying where you can bring true value; and realizing that it’s ok to fear change but it’s important to always find the opportunity in any situation.
A Career Built on Adaptation
Learning to adapt has been the cornerstone of her path upward from the beginning, with her first job at a small software company in Portland, Ore., as a technical writer. She was hired after she sent a blind resume and letter; they mentioned the available writing job and she said “Sure, I can do that!”
As someone who sees life with a “glass-half-full perspective,” Ryan found that while she didn’t love the exact position, being part of the small software company gave her the opportunity to do a little bit of everything – such as going on client implementations and testing software — whatever was needed when and where it was needed.
“During this first phase of my career I learned to experience entrepreneurial thinking and the impact each individual has on revenue and expense — how everything is connected to drive success.”
The firm was acquired by a larger software company that spent a period of time trying to figure out the right place for the division, which meant she had to learn to adapt to various management styles and goals. She moved into product management and experienced working in a bigger environment where change was a constant.
Through one of the reorganizations, she and a few of her colleagues moved to the company’s headquarters in New Jersey. Two years later, she came with a sponsor to Citi, where she again learned to adapt to a larger environment — 350,000 people at the time.
She’s been at Citi 11 years now, and is currently part of the Chief Operating Office that serves the global Institutional Clients Group (ICG) Operations and Technology organization. One of her team’s responsibilities is to increase the focus on program management for the organization.
“It’s the kind of challenge that is exciting to me, to find ways to create an impact across the global organization,” she says.
“I am proud of the path I’ve taken and the collection of achievements that have allowed me to navigate the various changing roles I’ve held and the teams I’ve served.”
Those roles have reinforced that you don’t have to know “what you want to be when you grow up.”
“I always thought you had to know and since that wasn’t my bent, it caused me a lot of stress at first,” she says, adding that she considers herself an ambitious person so it took her a while to realize how those two qualities can blend. “My strength is in my utility, that I can play the role that is needed at the time,” she says, noting that the vision of a career as a jungle gym, not a ladder, is an apt description for hers.
In fact, she says that if you had asked her five years ago if this is what she would be doing, she would have said no. “But the organization had a need, and my team views it as an opportunity to set the path going forward to achieve our goals and drive value for the organization.”
The Power of Relationships in Success
Ryan notes that before she headed to Citi, her sponsor advocated for her for a position in a business about which she truly didn’t know much; yet he was certain she had the skill sets he needed. “He put me forward in a situation where I would not have been successful without that support,” she says.
Over the years she has been fortunate to have role models like him and others who she describes as fearless individuals who tackle challenges with poise; strategic thinkers who can see the path forward and connect the dots before others do; straight shooters who tell it like it is; and individuals who always put the good of the team and the organization first. “All of these strong leaders have demonstrated skills to emulate.”
Ryan became involved with Citi’s Women’s Leadership Council a few years ago when she was invited to a training on executive presence and personal brand. The people she met there spurred her to get more involved and she has since found the group has provided value through skill development, networking and peer coaching.
She is also actively involved in Citi’s diversity initiatives, focused on driving not only women but other diverse groups forward for the good of the business.
Ryan is now in her third year co-chairing the Emerging Talent Program, a group composed of Vice President and Senior Vice President-level women who have graduated from the Developing Talent Program and want to continue building their network and skills to move their careers forward.
Finally, the relationship that powers her the most is her “amazing family.” She says that her husband and parents are her partners in making her life work and keeping things moving – from the big things, to the more mundane, like making sure her four-year-old daughter has clean socks to wear.
She also counts her friends as a key support system. “It’s not just the family you’re given but the family you choose, and I am lucky that both of these families are incredible.”
Women in Tech: Climbing the Ladder
Career Advice, Women in TechnologyWorking in the tech industry can be incredibly exciting. It is a fast-paced industry with seemingly unlimited potential. Technology also has one of the smallest income gender gaps, high work schedule flexibility and generous pay in many positions. While that draws many women down this career path it is still a male dominated industry which makes climbing the corporate ladder a challenging task. These 6 tips will help you navigate your way to the top.
1. Be Assertive.
The best way to learn in the tech field is to jump in and build things. As a woman you will often have to fight for that right. Moving up the ranks will not come naturally, you need to be assertive and make your own place within the company. Being a dominant and assertive woman in technology can be a struggle as it is often interpreted as bossy or aggressive by male colleagues. Don’t let that deter you from taking the lead. Sheryl Sandberg has had incredible success in her life and has dealt with this issue throughout her career. She addressed this issue in a interview by saying “Every woman I know, particularly the senior ones, has been called too aggressive at work. We know in gender blind studies that men are more aggressive in their offices than women. We know that. Yet we’re busy telling all the women that they’re too aggressive. That’s the issue.”
2. Don’t be intimidated.
There will always be people that know more than you. This is a good thing as it will help you learn and grow. Don’t be intimidated by those with more experience or lots of technical know-how. It’s very easy to feel out of place in a boardroom, especially within a big technology company. Never be afraid to ask questions if you have problems understanding, you will not be the only one in the room.
3. Choose your employers well.
Lots of companies in Silicone Valley are progressive and forward thinking. Many aim to create environments that encourage creativity and efficiency but there are still major differences in how these companies are run. Be sure to do your research on the companies you apply to. Your environment will be a big factor to your personal success so look for progressive and diverse leadership teams with a product that you are passionate about. This will allow your career to flourish and grow.
4. Don’t create your own glass ceiling.
The term ‘glass ceiling’ is often used in regards to outside factors creating boundaries for women in business. This is a difficult issue women have had to deal with for generations. Therefore, it is important to avoid constructing any additional, self-restricting boundaries. Sometimes the boundaries we create for ourselves are easily overlooked and often more harmful than external factors. Believe in your talents and skills. Avoid creating your own boundaries by limited thinking and be sure to set smart goals. Do not consider yourself ineligible for any role within a company, think big and make your strengths work for you.
5. Learn to negotiate.
Negotiating is a part of business. Women and men in management positions expect it when dealing with employees, clients or partners. You need to go in ready to negotiate and prepared to articulate what you want. Avoiding a negotiation will leave you with less than you deserve. Be assertive, but also listen to understand. Being able to listen to the wants and ideas of the person you are negotiating with will make them more willing to meet your needs. Be concise and reasonable in your negotiation but do not be afraid to ask.
Also, keep in mind that negotiation is a skill that needs to be learned. It will help you in many aspects of your life so make the effort to learn about the subject as much as you can. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher is a great read on the skill of negotiating.
6. Find a mentor.
This piece of advice will apply to you whether you are 20 years old starting out your career or 55 and looking to retire. Mentorship is something anybody can benefit from. People that have gone down a path you wish to follow can give you valuable advice and help nudge you in the right direction when you reach a crossroads. Finding an experienced woman in technology would be ideal as they will be able to share tips on how to deal with the struggles women face in the industry. Once you have gained experience, help out younger women by sharing your knowledge. Being a mentor can teach you as much as having a mentor.
Find a mentor in your area.
Evan Fraser is a writer and advertising expert with over 10 years of experience in Marketing. He is passionate about tech and loves traveling the world to taste international foods. When he is not writing you can catch him playing sports or listening to some 50’s Blues.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions of Guest Contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer
Responsibility – Tick, But Resource Control is Zero
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!A bad work day can consist of a scenario when you do not manage the team but are on the hook for delivery of the product. Sound familiar? Literally, this happens everyday to many people and it is a problem that creates issues and looks like a lack of skill and efficiency because team A promised the client something but they had no control over team B actually building the product.
Would you take the responsibility of protecting the free world, if you were not allowed the nuclear codes? Most of you will say no to this yet I see so many people taking on outrageous projects and knowingly being on the hook for things that they literally have zero control over the delivery of. How can you avoid this seemingly inevitable situation?
A good case in point is diversity work.
I see a lot of great women heading up women’s networks and being tasked with creating a bigger pipeline of women in the firm. Unless you have serious formal hiring capabilities as your new day job or the ability and full power to rework all the talent processes in the firm plus all the time in the world and renumeration to do it, then why would you say yes to this? From a transformative outcome frame, you should say no since this has no resource or execution control attached to it.
Unless, the goal is advocacy in which case that is fair enough as advocacy is important but rarely formally transformative. Advocacy is what men do every single day for each other so getting them to do it for you is a strong step in the right direction as is getting women to stop burying each other to protect the patriarchy (which runs deep as we know in recent times).
Also, really good development that understands the nuances of being different to the blueprint is never wasted- train and educate as you go in these networks if formally this is not an option (arguably it should de organized and paid for elsewhere but it is often not the case). A network can be a good container to supply unique content to certain audiences who potentially face shared challenges that are systemic in nature.
Remember, only you know what you want to spend time and energy on and how to create goals that are reachable. It is worth thinking about activity versus productivity and outcomes since you all have lives and goals inside and outside of work. Reduce stress by aligning your responsibility and authority on tasks that become the sum of your job!
If you are interested in hiring an Executive Coach to help you navigate your career then email Nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com for further informatiom
Voice of Experience: Sharmila Karve, Global Diversity Leader, PwC India
Voices of ExperienceSharmila Karve is a self proclaimed “lifer” at PwC having begun her career in the Mumbai office as an intern in 1985. Sharmila says she has always been people and client focused and she got her first foray into leadership when she was one of the first females admitted as a Partner in 1997. Sharmila cites her client focus as the reason she could stay the course and keep advancing in her career and the firm through good and bad times in the Indian market. In 2009, she became the Territory Assurance Leader, India. After a successful stint as the Assurance leader she was appointed as the Head of Risk in 2012.
What experience teaches
The expertise she has acquired over years of working with a diverse set of clients has helped her deal with complex situations. As part of this journey she has successfully interacted with stakeholders both internal and external including regulators. Her biggest piece of advice for readers managing their career is “Be truthful and direct when dealing with difficult situations”.
The excitement of a new challenge
Early this year, Sharmila Karve took on the Global Diversity Leader role and is now a part of the PwC Global Leadership Team. She is using this opportunity to share her experience and the experiences of various others to empower people across the PwC network of firms. She says: “This role is challenging and we need to have a broader outlook to welcome each day with an open mind. There is no book that you can refer to on the rules, it is about listening.”
She is no stranger to understanding how to change the DNA of a culture having accomplished this in other aspects and she knows that her next challenge is ultimately to help people succeed. She comments of her upcoming diversity and inclusion challenge: “I would like to see how fast we can move the needle. How can we create the right support to further help both men and women be great leaders. Specifically how we can have more men engaged to drive the change. I think this mission is about getting people to share their thoughts with an open mind.”
When asked about how to empower women at work, she firmly believes that it is very important that women ask for what they want. She talks about having the confidence ‘To say NO at work or at home and not feel guilty about it’. Also to truly address the matter, it is important for the men to not assume what a woman might want based on their own ideas and experiences. She gives a very good example that often male managers might presume that a female on their team might not want to travel due to having young kids. She is adamant on her message that men and anyone else who is picking a team should be asking what individuals want to do and to ask a diverse cross section of people to join their team for optimal success.
As Global Diversity Leader she recognizes that gender is just one part of diversity and she states that one of her goals is to ensure that other diversity issues are equally explored and that data sets can be built on her watch. One of the many priorities Sharmila will be driving to accelerate change, involves disrupting the diversity trends of PwC’s experienced hires. In this regard she is very excited to executive sponsor PwC’s gender inclusive research project, the findings of which were released in their Winning the fight for female talent report on International Women’s Day.
On Work and Life
When asked about the idiosyncrasies of local country culture as part of the diversity challenge, Sharmila immediately gets that working mothers have the most shared yet separate challenges depending on the country that they reside in. She acknowledges that the US for example has daycare support when the Asian market leans more on family structures. She comments: “I myself took time out from 1991- 1994 to have and raise my daughter. I truly think people should do what is right for them and what makes them happy. Get a support structure and ask for support when needed. You don’t need to be a superwoman. In India our support structure includes family so I often joke be friends with your mum and mum-in-law as you never know when you will need their help and support.”
Sharmila relays that speaking up is often the answer as most managers will understand the human factor. She comments, “Fair leaders will understand that especially in global roles that rotating the early morning phone calls for example through time zones should be an option. And of course, technology makes work flexibility easier than ever before. We need sustainable careers for everyone”.
When relocating to other countries, Sharmila also recommends knowing the local norms but retaining your ethnic identity so that the benefits of diverse thinking is not lost.
In her spare time
Sharmila travels extensively and enjoys interesting terrain, joking she wants to see the world while her knees still let her. She spends time with her husband who is a Naval officer, her daughter Sanjana who is training to be a veterinary surgeon and Cara and Scamp, her spoilt and pampered pets.
Raising Aspirations: When I Grow Up I Want To Be
Career Advice, International Womens Day, Next LevelWhat do you want to be when you grow up? For some of us, this is a question to which we haven’t yet arrived at an answer. However as children, many of us had a view albeit evolving as we progressed through teenage years and then young adulthood; an engineer, a ballet dancer, a pop star, an astronaut, or perhaps the most popular childhood dream jobs in the UK – a doctor or nurse (according to a YouGov survey, 1 in 10 adults in the UK aspired to be a doctor or nurse in their childhoods, followed closely by a footballer and teacher). The sky is the limit…but is this really the case for everyone? Or do gender and societal expectations start limiting aspirations in childhood? The short answer – despite a notable shift in behaviours – is yes.
The London School of Economics and University of Madrid published research into how parental behaviours influence children’s perception of gender as they go through preference formation. The study found that children’s motivation and self-esteem, and thereby their job preferences and ambitions, are greatly influenced by parental “sex-typical behaviours” and their socioeconomic resources. Those children who deem only certain jobs appropriate because of their gender are more likely to go into sex-typical careers, however girls with high levels of motivation and both boys and girls with high self-esteem were both more likely to go against societal norms and choose sex-atypical jobs. It doesn’t stop there; girls who aspired and therefore joined stereotypically female jobs were more likely to earn less because of the lower wages which persist across female-dominated roles.
These findings have implications on our approach to addressing gender parity and those who continue to push for parity in the workplace have much to consider. Is there merit in shifting more focus and investment to the “preference formation” stage when prospective employees are in the process of developing their preferences and aspirations, rather than later when aspirations are almost fully formed?
Some businesses are already actively engaging with the younger generation through initiatives with schools – addressing gender equality as well as social mobility. Organisations such as Inspiring the Future and Teach First are connecting professionals with schools and teachers to facilitate this dialogue around aspirations, and providing a platform for children to engage with role models – a critical factor in shaping aspirations. MIT economist Esther Duflo whose research found that role models had a direct impact on ambitions, described the role model effect in an interview: “Seeing women in charge persuaded parents and teens that women can run things, and increased their ambitions. Changing perceptions and giving hope can have an impact on reality.”
Introducing role models into the lives of young children doesn’t just come through family and professionals connected formally. We don’t always have direct access to role models who can inspire and encourage us along the journey, however entrepreneurs Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli believe that storytelling can be an effective tool. Rather than being surrounded by the traditional tales of trapped princesses and saving knights, parents and teachers should be sharing real stories such as those in their book “Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls”, detailing the lives of past and present female role models – including Malala Yousafai and Serena Williams. Both girls and boys are able to see beyond the traditional sex-typical roles, and can reflect the stories and lessons from the successful women in their thinking as they develop their career aspirations and later into the workplace.
The power of storytelling in influencing and inspiring others has been widely discussed, but where possible, we must continue to provide platforms to give girls and women direct access to role models. A paper published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in 2014 pointed to the need for a “role model revolution”. Women continue to look for role models who inspires other, stands up for their beliefs, build confidence in others, make a difference to society, and demonstrate that they are able to overcome challenges. Acknowledging that no one person can provide all of this, 86% of the survey respondents were looking to develop relationships with more than one individual.
Yet only 55% of those surveyed by CMI said there are enough role models across their organisations and industries – even though 81% saw the benefits of role models in raising aspirations. CMI also asked survey participants to name their most inspirational role models; of the top 10 listed, only 2 were women and have now passed away (Margaret Thatcher and Mother Teresa).
We all know female role models exist and many of them continue to engage successfully with both women and men in the workplace and before. However we all have more to do:
This isn’t an action list just for women; men also have a role to play – both in the workplace and at home. Assistant Professor Alyssa Croft’s research found that those fathers who not only talked about gender equality but also demonstrated it in sharing household responsibilities were more likely to have daughters who aspired to more sex-neutral or male-dominated jobs.
If we truly want to remove the need for the multiple gender-focused diversity networks and reports, and see the end of headlines such as “without action gender pay gap won’t close until 2069”, we must each take responsibility for positively influencing how the next generation develop their aspirations so that the sky really is the limit.
In the words of Albert Einstein, “setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.” It’s not just about talking the talk, but also walking the walk.