Guest Contributed By Melissa Henderson, Summit Executive Resources.
According to the Pew Research Center, women represent a meager five percent of CEOs in the U.S. and only 17 percent of board members for Fortune 500 companies. That is despite the fact that women make up almost half (47%) the labor force.
Clearly, women executives’ upward mobility to become leaders and high echelon executives has been sluggish. For decades, many companies have largely used the same recruiting techniques. Not surprisingly, these methods duplicate past results, often placing men in the power positions. But, putting aside the structural, operational and human issues that prevail, there is still room to achieve your career goals more effectively.
Overcoming the Hurdles Women Executives Face
Here are five ways to take control of your career:
1) Understand Your Value Proposition
Women who think that offering gender diversity alone will open doors fail to develop convincing value propositions. To gain traction, crystallize the unique value you offer and brand it. That requires an extensive review of skill sets and domain expertise. It also means looking at sought after experience—operational, profit and loss, and global business know-how. Finally, women executives need to understand the market and where they can best meet organizational needs.
2) Overcome the Confidence Conundrum
Studies have shown that men have a tendency to overestimate their intelligence while women underestimate theirs, giving men an edge in confidence. Since we have a tendency to confuse confidence with competence, men more often to appear to have the qualities needed for leadership than their female counterparts.
Be confident in your abilities.
3) Network Authentically
Women mostly place a high value on authenticity, which is good. Many people, however, view networking as an inauthentic activity. Some women with this view are reluctant to attend networking events even though such gatherings can be important to their careers. Consequently, while men still flourish in the old boy’s network, women often fail to build mutually advantageous relationships. So become an authentic networker, and benefit from professional connections.
4) Beware of Your Own Unconscious Preference
Even outside of networking, you might expect women to give each other a helping hand. Women, like their male counterparts, however, unconsciously favor men when hiring. In blind studies, when resumes are presented without names, women with stronger qualifications than men are preferred. Yet if names are included, men are more likely to be favored.
5) Find Recruiting Methods that Reduce Bias
Boards often nominate new members from their old boy’s network. Meanwhile, human resource executives continue to turn to retained executive search firms for board and C-suite positions. Search firms are inclined to dip into the same pools, again and again, delivering the same old candidates. So as they fall into their old ways of recruiting, companies get more of what they have always had — men in power roles.
Women who want to crack the glass ceiling will find an executive agent to be a valuable resource. An executive agent works with them from the start of their search until they reach their goals. The process begins with questions about why a woman wants to serve on a board or to attain a C-level position and what she offers. As long as she has the passion and expertise to add value to an organization, the agent will be able to assist her.
An agent will use proprietary assessments, which are objective and eliminate gender bias, to define and validate a business woman’s unique value. They then help create her brand target the best-fit organizations. This service puts women in the driver’s seat, opening up opportunities that previously might have passed them by. That’s because their target organizations would have simply gone to executive recruiters who revisit their old networks that are heavily dominated by men.
Positive corporate results clearly show that women should be making gains in the boardroom and executive suite. However, in the top positions, they remain far outnumbered by men. To some degree, traditional recruiting methodologies hold them back. The good news, however, is that women executives can do more to achieve their potential. They can create stronger value propositions, build their confidence, network effectively and assist other women to succeed when appropriate. Also, they can explore recruiting options that will help them to open the right doors.
Voice of Experience: Paget MacColl, Partner, Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs
People, Voices of ExperienceBy Cathie Ericson
“Develop great friendships at work, across the industry and at every level,” recommends Paget MacColl, Partner at Goldman Sachs. “If you’re working with people you have a strong relationship with every day, work is more rewarding and certainly more enjoyable,” she says.
Through both formal and informal networking, MacColl says she has developed deep, lasting relationships, which she notes are critical to advancing one’s career. She stresses that networking outside the firm can be more challenging but is equally important.
Achieving Success and Sparking Other Young Women’s Ambition
MacColl began her career in Goldman Sachs’ Securities Division Debt Capital Markets Group, which offered broad exposure to various types of investments and clients. In her third year at the firm in 2001, she moved into the Investment Management Division and joined the Alternative Capital Markets Group. Growing on that team, she came to co-lead the group and oversaw fundraising for private equity funds and other alternative investments, a space that experienced tremendous growth from 2001 until 2007. “It was an exciting time to be in this group because of the huge growth in the alternative investment industry. I got to see the height of the market, and then after the financial crisis, I saw the depths that the industry reached. Both provided great learning opportunities.”
In 2012, MacColl took a brief hiatus from the firm to work for a client, a former Goldman Sachs colleague, where she quickly realized that life outside of Goldman Sachs is very different. “The grass is not always greener,” she said. “I call it my five-month dose of perspective.” Due to strong relationships with mentors and sponsors, she returned to Goldman Sachs. Upon her return, MacColl was asked to build out an institutional capital markets team within the Investment Management Division. In this role, she works with investment teams and institutional sales, leading fundraising campaigns for various investing strategies.
In addition, she now oversees the middle-market sales team in GSAM as well as the firm’s relationships with global investment consultants, which she says is an exciting challenge given their high level of sophistication and intricate relationships. “It’s an interesting dynamic; we need to work with consultants collaboratively, yet sometimes we compete with one another.”
MacColl says being named partner is the professional achievement she is most proud of since beginning her career as an analyst. An active mentor and sponsor to other women, she has also been involved in recruiting. “I love seeing the spark in young women’s eyes as they think, ‘I can do that too.’”
Be Master of Your Career
MacColl says it’s important for younger professionals not to assume that managers and decision makers are aware of their career aspirations. “Communication is imperative. You need to communicate what you want and obtain the feedback you need to move forward,” she reminds women. “Finding great mentors, sponsors and friends you trust at work is critical to this, but it’s also important that you’re prepared for and make yourself open to receiving the toughest feedback.”
She also advises women not to be afraid to ask questions. “I learned so much about my career and potential career trajectory, as well as about the firm and how my colleagues viewed me while I was leaving the firm. When I returned, I realized there were so many questions I hadn’t asked the first time around. This is your career and your future and the onus is on you to ask those questions.”
Creating a Village Inside and Outside of Work
MacColl currently heads the Firmwide Women’s Network, which is comprised of 6,000 people in the Americas, 25 percent of whom are men. She is also a member of the Governance Board of the Wall Street Women’s Alliance, a group of senior women leaders at financial firms that come together to foster commercial outcomes, but also provide mentorship and best practices to one another. “It is a network of women I truly value,” she notes.
She also believes that women can be their own toughest critics and they have to remember that it’s impossible to do everything perfectly as they take on more responsibility and become more senior, often while simultaneously raising a family.
“I frequently see women put pressure on themselves to achieve ‘perfection’ in every aspect of their lives, which can be isolating and destructive. When you share your challenges with others, you realize everyone is facing similar issues and it makes you more accessible and helps you reframe your own reality. You can’t possibly do it all, and you have to remind yourself it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Her strong family life is bolstered by longevity: she met her husband, who works at Credit Suisse, in college. In addition to two daughters, aged ten and five years old, they have an eight-year-old son.
In an engaging example of the adage, “It takes a village,” they live near their tight-knit families, including her two sisters who live on her same street. “My husband’s siblings and my sisters have kids that are all of similar ages. As you can imagine, we spend a ton of time together,” she says. “We’ve created our own village and are fortunate that ours is family, but I’ve come to realize that anyone who wants a long and successful career needs to find a community of people who can support them.”
Movers and Shakers: Donna Bobbish, Counsel, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Movers and ShakersOne of Donna Bobbish’s secrets to success is to prepare as much as possible. Even for those situations that don’t seem to take evident preparation, you will be better served if you devote five minutes to thinking about how you’re going to approach something; for example, breaking a problem or a project into pieces or figuring out who you need to call. “It not only improves outcomes, but it can reduce stress,” she notes.
A Dynamic Career in Government and Private Practice
Bobbish’s path has woven in and out of government service and private practice. She started her career working part time at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the natural gas certificates department as a law clerk while in law school at Georgetown. She remained at FERC for about seven years as a law clerk in the Office of Administrative Law Judges, an attorney adviser in the Office of the General Counsel, Electric Rates and Corporate Regulation, and as a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Gas and Oil Litigation.
She subsequently practiced energy regulatory law at private firms in Washington, D.C., and also served at the Department of Energy as a political appointee in the Clinton administration. She joined the Project Development and Finance Group in Shearman’s Washington, D.C., office in 2015. As Counsel in Shearman’s PDF Group, she advises clients on energy regulatory matters.
One of her proudest achievements during her time at DOE was helping the government of South Africa draft a natural gas downstream pipeline act that was eventually enacted into law after Nelson Mandela became president. That involved regular travel to South Africa to meet with interest groups, shareholders and government officials.
“It really took someone sitting down and putting pen to paper and coming up with something that could be discussed and marked up,” she says describing the process. She then returned to Washington where she researched South African laws and drafted a law for circulation so the various groups could examine something tangible.
Over the years, she has confronted what she terms a “false stereotype” that government work is easier than private practice, but she has found the same level of energy and professionalism in all of her positions.
And because of her lengthy history with the energy sector, she says she is certainly staying informed about what may lie ahead with a new administration.
Support Plays a Key Role
Sponsorships have been a theme in her success; as she says, it’s important not just for your own personal advancement, but is also a key to moving projects forward. Having solid relationships allows you to seek the internal support you may need by calling on stakeholders to ask them to put in a positive word for the project.
And proving that inspiration can come from various sources, Bobbish has worked with many role models over the years, yet names the fictional character Horace Rumpole (“Rumpole of the Bailey”) as one she particularly admires, “for a number of qualities.” “He is real to me,” she says, laughing.
Noting her Midwest roots, Bobbish admits that she used to be reluctant to ask for help and recognizes that mindset in friends and relatives, who may also be hesitant to call elected officials to discuss an issue. But her experience in D.C. showed her that you can ask for help and support – even from those higher up. “You may never have met them, but you can ask for support; the worst they can say is ‘no,’ and even then, the sky won’t fall in. And, they might say ‘yes!’”
Now that she has advanced in her career, she believes it is vital for women to assist other women. “We know the obstacles in climbing the career ladder,” she says. “I have been helped by many women over the years, and I feel a sense of obligation to return the favor where I can.”
She says women need to reach out with both sponsorship – putting in a good word for others – and mentorship — where you can help a woman navigate a particular situation — through formal and informal networks. “And don’t be afraid to ask for help!”
Key to Bobbish’ career success has been the support of family, particularly her husband, Scott Perkins, as well as other family members. “It has allowed me to focus on projects and know the lights are on at home when I’m traveling the world, or it has taken the form of a listening ear when I need advice on issues and problems. You don’t succeed alone.”
Strategies for Surmounting Career Obstacles Commonly Faced by Women Executives
Career Advice, Next LevelGuest Contributed By Melissa Henderson, Summit Executive Resources.
Image via Shutterstock
According to the Pew Research Center, women represent a meager five percent of CEOs in the U.S. and only 17 percent of board members for Fortune 500 companies. That is despite the fact that women make up almost half (47%) the labor force.
Clearly, women executives’ upward mobility to become leaders and high echelon executives has been sluggish. For decades, many companies have largely used the same recruiting techniques. Not surprisingly, these methods duplicate past results, often placing men in the power positions. But, putting aside the structural, operational and human issues that prevail, there is still room to achieve your career goals more effectively.
Overcoming the Hurdles Women Executives Face
Here are five ways to take control of your career:
1) Understand Your Value Proposition
Women who think that offering gender diversity alone will open doors fail to develop convincing value propositions. To gain traction, crystallize the unique value you offer and brand it. That requires an extensive review of skill sets and domain expertise. It also means looking at sought after experience—operational, profit and loss, and global business know-how. Finally, women executives need to understand the market and where they can best meet organizational needs.
2) Overcome the Confidence Conundrum
Studies have shown that men have a tendency to overestimate their intelligence while women underestimate theirs, giving men an edge in confidence. Since we have a tendency to confuse confidence with competence, men more often to appear to have the qualities needed for leadership than their female counterparts.
Be confident in your abilities.
3) Network Authentically
Women mostly place a high value on authenticity, which is good. Many people, however, view networking as an inauthentic activity. Some women with this view are reluctant to attend networking events even though such gatherings can be important to their careers. Consequently, while men still flourish in the old boy’s network, women often fail to build mutually advantageous relationships. So become an authentic networker, and benefit from professional connections.
4) Beware of Your Own Unconscious Preference
Even outside of networking, you might expect women to give each other a helping hand. Women, like their male counterparts, however, unconsciously favor men when hiring. In blind studies, when resumes are presented without names, women with stronger qualifications than men are preferred. Yet if names are included, men are more likely to be favored.
5) Find Recruiting Methods that Reduce Bias
Boards often nominate new members from their old boy’s network. Meanwhile, human resource executives continue to turn to retained executive search firms for board and C-suite positions. Search firms are inclined to dip into the same pools, again and again, delivering the same old candidates. So as they fall into their old ways of recruiting, companies get more of what they have always had — men in power roles.
Women who want to crack the glass ceiling will find an executive agent to be a valuable resource. An executive agent works with them from the start of their search until they reach their goals. The process begins with questions about why a woman wants to serve on a board or to attain a C-level position and what she offers. As long as she has the passion and expertise to add value to an organization, the agent will be able to assist her.
An agent will use proprietary assessments, which are objective and eliminate gender bias, to define and validate a business woman’s unique value. They then help create her brand target the best-fit organizations. This service puts women in the driver’s seat, opening up opportunities that previously might have passed them by. That’s because their target organizations would have simply gone to executive recruiters who revisit their old networks that are heavily dominated by men.
Positive corporate results clearly show that women should be making gains in the boardroom and executive suite. However, in the top positions, they remain far outnumbered by men. To some degree, traditional recruiting methodologies hold them back. The good news, however, is that women executives can do more to achieve their potential. They can create stronger value propositions, build their confidence, network effectively and assist other women to succeed when appropriate. Also, they can explore recruiting options that will help them to open the right doors.
2017: Ready for the next step in your career
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
You are ready for the next step in your career. The decision you now have to make is whether to stay in your current company or move to another firm. How does one make such a decision rationally? The answer is that most decisions even for the most rational amongst us, are ultimately emotional. So, we can start with listing the reasons to go and reasons to stay. We can then ask ourselves hard questions as objectively as possible about how to advance in the company and team we are in. What do you need to do to make that happen? What skills do you have now and what do you need for the next level? What does the firm need to do? How are the talent processes? Who gets rewarded? What gets rewarded?
Working with a coach can help you sort through your thoughts, feeling and emotions and explore possibilities in a hypothetical way safely.
Sometimes it is time to leave. The trick is to know yourself and what you are good at and what you want to develop skill-wise and realistically put it all together so that you make the right move and get he job you are aiming to get. The job hunt itself can be quite the task and there are effective ways to approach it.
Nicki Gilmour is an industrial psychologist and qualified career coach as well as Founder and CEO of glasshammer2.wpengine.com
If you wish to be coached by Nicki in 2017 she is taking on a small number of (paying) individual clients this year- please apply nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com
Happy Martin Luther King Day
Career Advice, NewsMartin Luther King Day is a public holiday here in the US that we always acknowledge. For our US readers, enjoy the day off and use it wisely.
For our readers all over the world outside this part of the Americas, I want to talk about what is means as I came to the United States many years ago with zero reference to this day off work but am now consider it to the most important of all non religious holidays.
Dr King, as far as I can see, asked for the American people to honor the code they proclaimed was the basis of law when the country was set up. Basic civil rights and a fairness to exist on an equitable footing as the next person. You know, liberty and all that.
I think the work is not done yet and we are in a place where progress was made and resented by some and therefore we had three policy steps forward and one to four steps back depending on how it all shakes out. I think we all need to think long and hard about how to ensure that there is liberty and equality and equitable practices in place for all members of society in all countries to thrive not just survive. Dig deep and act. Good people care and the awareness around equity rather than the concept of equality is at its highest now which means that meritocracy can be honored and conundrums removed in everyone’s minds.
I ask everyone who reads theglasshammer to reflect how in action and in thoughts you can be a person who levels the playing field and works for fairness. Change starts here.
Career Progression – Moving Sideways and Diagonally to Move Forward
Career Advice, Next LevelBy Nneka Orji
Image via Shutterstock
Most of us will be familiar with the typical career path within big corporates; the graduate entry role, the progression to middle management, and for a few who meet what are deemed to be the prerequisites, the senior management and leadership positions are within grasp. Career progression – in the traditional sense – has been valued by the pace at which individuals make it the top of the organisational hierarchy, and any move off the ladder or taking a non-traditional route has until very recently been viewed as detrimental to achieving the end goal. However things are changing; with technological advancement, evolving needs of the workforce, and a more diverse talent pool, the perception of a successful career is being challenged and new forms of career paths are being introduced. Could an unconventional career path lead to a more fulfilling and sustainable career?
According to the authors of “The Corporate Lattice”, not only is there value in reimagining professional progress as a lattice instead of a ladder, it is necessary to address the changing demands of today’s diverse workforce and the different landscape in which businesses operate. “In contrast to the traditional ladder, [the corporate lattice] is more adaptive, and therefore better suited to align with the changing needs, norms and expectations of today’s workplace”. Rather than focus on the next rung of the hierarchy, the lattice structure enables individuals to take on roles outside their immediate business areas – through secondments, international transfers, sabbaticals, and many other routes. By removing the barriers that exist in many organisations, this enhancement in mobility provides individuals with more choice around how they work and progress their careers.
A culture for diverse talent
While many employers see the benefits of career mobility – including greater employee engagement and enhanced productivity, some still grapple with redesigning career pathways and fostering the organisational culture needed to make career transitions work successfully for the individual and the organisation. However, it is no longer just a nice to have. Bentley University recently conducted a study, the results of which are documented in the PreparedU: The Millennial Mind Goes to Work report. According to the report, 66% of millennials surveyed are no longer striving for the top job but rather looking to start their own businesses. If their current employer does not offer the career experiences they are looking for, they turn their attention elsewhere. With employees now more able and better equipped to seek career opportunities outside their organisations, it is increasingly important for business leaders to address this need for flexibility in career models to ensure they attract and retain top talent.
This isn’t unique to millennials who are predicted to make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025. Last year LinkedIn found that across the 20,000 people surveyed across 29 countries, almost a third were looking for a new job. Yet the opportunities employees are seeking can sometimes be found in their existing organisations – if only lateral transitions, international secondments and the like were encouraged. How do these open roles get filled? With external candidates. According to talent management firm Cornerstone, HR professionals recruit externally for almost two thirds of open positions. It seems illogical to do so, particularly given the costs which are estimated to be almost twice the cost of recruiting internally.
The female pipeline also benefits from the lattice approach. While the enhanced flexibility provides caretakers (although changing, the majority of caretakers are female), perhaps less frequently discussed is the opportunity a “lattice mind set” provides for women to pursue those stretching roles which lead to leadership positions. According to a Catalyst study, women are still less likely to be put forward for such “hot jobs” – those with high visibility and are “mission critical”. Of those female and male leaders surveyed, 62% attributed a significant contributor to their career success to such high profile assignments, and only 10% stated that formal training programmes had contributed more significantly. While a number of factors lead to men still being offered such positions more than women, the current relatively low representation of women at senior levels (in which candidates for such “hot jobs” are identified) does not help. Is the only option for women to wait their turn for the next rung on the ladder to become available before they too can be considered experienced enough? Clearly not. With the lattice approach, and a concerted effort from business leaders to acknowledge the value of diverse experiences, this “wait in line” bottleneck in our talent pipeline can be eased further if not completely removed.
Plan, act, and communicate
So how can you make the most of the lattice career approach – seeking opportunities in that may require a sideways or diagonal move? Although the organisational framework might not yet exist within organisations to foster this lattice model, individuals seeking diverse and “stretching” experiences now must be proactive in realising their ambitions. There are three things to consider: your plan, when to act on the plan, and how to communicate with your key stakeholders.
Plan: Before plunging in head first, it’s important to develop a strategy. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the corporate lattice is that there is no one model that can be prescribed. The lattice model encourages and enables individuals to have greater accountability for their career paths; accepting roles that seem unconventional to others, but clearly support the individual in realising longer term ambitions.
Being clear on your desired outcomes from the move is a critical part of your plan, but just as important is deciding when to call time on your current role. Arianna Huffington’s recent announcement reminds us that “moving on” is an important part of self-development and there must be a clear sense of purpose. Moving because you’re fed up, while a valid reason, should not be the only reason to lead you to act.
Act: Once you have developed your plan and identified the right opportunity, don’t be paralysed by indecision. There will be those who question your move and even those who doubt that it will be beneficial to your career progression. While feedback can be helpful, some of it will be white noise. At the heart of the lattice approach is the individual – not just in terms of the recipient of the benefits, but also in terms of the driver. You are in the driving seat so don’t let conventional approaches distract you from your goal.
Communicate: Planning and acting won’t suffice if you are to make the most of a lattice career model; being able to clearly articulate your experiences and communicate your skills and value-add as a result of your diverse career path is the finishing touch. Anna Ranieri’s piece last year in Harvard Business Review provides some practical tips on how to address the communication challenge. Develop a narrative which brings together your valuable experiences – from the volunteering experience while on sabbatical, to the marketing role while on secondment. In a world where the lattice approach is yet to be fully embedded, being able to tell a coherent story about your unconventional career choices is a key factor for success.
In time the lattice approach will be the norm; top talent in every organisation will continue to seek opportunities to further develop and learn (the common trait of some of the most successful leaders), but rather than just consider external roles, they will be in organisations which offer diverse opportunities and encourage lateral moves. Career progression won’t be limited to forward moves; sideways moves and sometimes “pauses” will be recognised to be just as valuable if not more so.
How To Stay Motivated During Your Job Search
Career Advice, Guest Contribution, Next LevelNew Year, New You. Same Job?
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!The holidays are often a blur but can be a time of reflection for some who want change in their jobs and careers as the year turns. Now is a good time to think about what you want out of life for the next 2-5 years.
If you like what you do, then you still should be thinking about a pay rise, a promotion and the bonus discussion that is looming in the next 30-90 days for most people in financial services.
When asking for a raise, there are two schools of thought. One strand of research says that women simply just do not ask for more money. The other branch of research suggest that women do ask but are not heard and more practically buffered with reasons why they do not get the same as men for the same job done. Policies such as percentage incremental increases for example contribute to systemic bias if women are hired at 10-30% less than the guy beside them anyway.
My advice, go big or go home. Explain in detail at every opportunity what you do prior to the annual review so that every step of the way, managers and HR know why you should be rewarded for your work. Then ask. Ask again. Ask for benchmarks. Ask what you need to do to get to the figure or grade you want. Never give up.
If you are in a place where you know that it is time to leave then work with your coach to reason out your thinking a little on what is motivating you to leave. Next week, we will look at why leaving can be a great path forward also. Face your fears and address what is fear and what is real. This way, you start the year empowered to make the right career decisions.
Nicki Gilmour is an industrial psychologist and qualified career coach as well as Founder and CEO of glasshammer2.wpengine.com
If you wish to be coached by Nicki in 2017 she is taking on a small number of (paying) individual clients this year- please apply nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com
Voice of Experience: Nicola Morris, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, WEX
Voices of ExperiencePeople truly do want to help, says Nicola Morris, reflecting on a lesson she’s learned over the years. “When I received offers for guidance or building out networks and relationships, I wish I had understood the value and not been as shy and reluctant to take people up on their outreach,” she says, when looking back on her career. “It’s a hard thing for many people to do, especially when you’ve not yet proven yourself, but once you progress in your career, and see how much you want to help others, you look back and realize the offers you received were equally genuine. Where I spent time working into the wee hours, I know that some of that effort should have been redirected to having lunch with colleagues or mentors along the way.”
Change Dynamic As a Career Constant
“Winding.” That’s the word Morris uses to describe a varied career covering sectors such as government, startups and financial services, and functionalities that have entailed IT strategies, product marketing and M&A.
When she looks at the diverse journey, however, she sees one unifying theme: helping companies maintain the leading edge for how they grow and expand, whether it’s through new products, acquisitions or an expanded marketplace. “I’ve had a patchwork of experiences that have come together to create an exciting, interesting career,” she says.
At WEX, she focuses on shaping the direction of the company through the decisions she makes now that will influence tomorrow. “We have to understand how to meet the customer’s needs today and then realize what our reality will be tomorrow to map out the journey that will get us there.” Doing so involves deciding on the steps and executing, whether success will be achieved through new product sets, business ventures, investments or expansion into new global environments.
Technology will be the driving force in her company as the business model coalesces around blockchain, AI, mobile and IoT – developments that will have a meaningful impact on most businesses but particularly ours, she says, as they focus on how they can imbed payments seamlessly through various technologies. She says it will be particularly interesting to see how the sharing economy’s inevitability will drive evolution in many industries, and the changes that will be wrought by this pivot from a consumption economy.
Another heavy influence comes from a macro-demographic perspective and the effects it will have on customers’ needs, as well as what it means for her company’s internal employee base and generational shift to consider how millennials work differently than Gen Xers.
The Value of Relationships To Bolster Your Career
Morris thinks of her professional life in terms of the people she leads, and how they contribute to the future of the company, which is why she names her teams and the professional accomplishments of the people she’s worked with and for as the achievement she’s most proud of.
Being better and working harder is a key component to the success puzzle, she stresses, but you have to balance that with relaxing and going with the flow. “You have to be the one they want in the boat because you’re good, sure, but because you have those other pieces to your personality as well,” she points out.
She finds that as a general rule women still tend to underplay their achievements and be more self-deprecating, where they should focus on accentuating these success.
“We need to recognize our own unconscious bias, and the lens through which we are viewing the world and work environment. Then we can determine how we can address it to be better leaders, employees and colleagues.”
Morris found that early in her career, it was challenging to be one of few women in a male-dominated environment, because of how they form relationships by socializing. “The connections you make during casual conversations and events do shape the way people work — who they will think of for a new assignment, for example,” she says. And while she points out that it’s rarely intentional, recognizing the dynamic of unconscious bias at work and figuring out how to put yourself in situations where you can reap positive benefits will help you move ahead.
Balance in the Workplace and Beyond
One of WEX’ core values is ensuring there are policies that are balanced for all employees. For example, the company just launched a new parental leave policy, very intentionally focused on both parents, not just maternity leave.
“I look at my own situation with three children and two careers, and I know it would have been great for each of us to have had the flexibility. It wouldn’t have made sense for only me to take leave, because of where our careers were at the time we had children. It’s about giving family the flexibility rather than just the mom,” she says.
With three kids, ages 15, 17 and 13, Morris laughingly notes that her family and their hobbies are her hobbies too, whether it’s sports or music. She notes that proximity to big cities has helped nurture both those interests for the whole family.
Morris says WEX encourages the team to give back through philanthropy so she enjoys her work on the boards off two local nonprofits, Center for Grieving Children, which provides peer support for families who have gone through loss, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra. “These two organizations represent a nice balance, and I really appreciate that my involvement is so positively supported by my company.”
Happy New Year!
Featured, Year end reviewThis week we offer 5 of the best articles that I have enjoyed as publisher in 2016. In case you miss great articles, we will highlight our picks every 6-8 weeks to recap them this year based on what we feel is most useful.
https://theglasshammer.com/2016/03/09/beating-bias-technology-changing-recruiting-game/
https://theglasshammer.com/2016/02/25/why-you-should-avoid-overwork-to-be-effective-in-your-job/
https://theglasshammer.com/2016/06/02/resilience-storms-critical-leadership-development/
https://theglasshammer.com/2016/03/02/stereotypes-at-work-do-women-buy-into-them-just-as-much-as-the-next-guy/
https://theglasshammer.com/2016/09/14/pack-your-bags-why-you-might-want-to-get-ahead-by-going-abroad/
Enjoy our content as all of this is made possible by our site sponsors and supporters.
A big thanks to current and founding sponsors Goldman Sachs, PWC and Shearman and Sterling
To loyal sponsors for many years Voya and Accenture and to WEX for joining us.
Thanks to Citi, Amex, Paamco, BNY Mellon and others who have sponsored events along the way on a consistent basis.
Thank you to our team here at theglasshammer – Louise our content manager, Cathie our profile writer and Aimee our journalist at large, Melissa who was our main editor/writer for 6 years, Jane, Erin, Pam, Jewells and finally Jill who all did so much to help us get here and to all the freelancers and contributors who have in the past and still continue to make this a great read!
Enjoy, and here is to a great 2017!
Sincerely,
Nicki Gilmour, Publisher and Founder of glasshammer2.wpengine.com