Tag Archive for: Leadership

The Glass Hammer’s 4th Annual Women in Technology Event: How to Be a Leader!

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female leaderDo you need to be collaborative, innovative and decisive, above all else, to become a leader? These are the traits attributed to current leaders according to almost 300 women surveyed by us in a recent research report [PDF].

This is what over 200 women in technology wanted to know at The Glass Hammer’s 4th Annual Women in Technology career event sponsored by Goldman Sachs, Thomson Reuters, American Express and SunGard last Wednesday.

Do successful women in technology have all of these qualities to ensure a path to the top?

The keynote, delivered by Nicki Gilmour, CEO of The Glass Hammer, set the stage for the evening’s intriguing conversation by revealing highlights from our research stating that women in technology have above average ambition levels. Also, women who want senior management jobs tend to have role models, sponsors, be in a network and actively attend leadership or career development sessions.

Determine Your Leadership Style

“You can learn traits,” said Jane Moran, CIO of Thomson Reuters, “You can do little things to challenge yourself.”

In response to the finding that women in technology identify more strongly with being honest and goal-orientated, rather than decisive, according to the survey, our panelists provided the audience with their insights and interpretations of the results.

Mary Byron, Head of Technology for the Federation at Goldman Sachs, commented, “I think women value honesty in the workplace and want to see integrity in their workplace.”

Debra Danielson, SVP of M&A Strategy and Distinguished Engineer at CA Technologies, added, “I have taken many psychometric tests in my career and being trustworthy has always been a prevalent trait for me. People want to trust their leaders.”

When discussing different leadership traits that garner success, all of the panelists agreed that each leader can effectively portray their unique skills in their own fashion. “You may never have all the leadership traits you admire,” said Susan Lawson, Vice President at American Express Digital Technologies, “but you can build your own team with people who have complementary traits, you don’t have to do it all.”

“There are different types of leaders,” added Danielson. She continued, “It has to be in your style for it to be effective. The women surveyed for the study did not say that they believed the identified leadership traits to be optimal.”

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Women Leaders Discuss Investment Management in Uncertain Times

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Group-Of-Women-Meeting-In-Creative-OfficeLast week The Glass Hammer hosted its 6th annual Top Women on the Buy-Side Breakfast. The lively discussion gave way to even livelier networking, as senior women across the investment management industry mulled over the question, “Where do we go from here?”

Our panel included Jane Buchan, PhD, CAIA, Managing Director and CEO, PAAMCO; Michelle Meyer, Senior U.S. Economist, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Leah Modigliani, Senior Vice President, Investment Strategy and Risk, Neuberger Berman; Ranji Nagaswami, CFA, previously Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg, City of New York; and Anjun Zhou, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Multi-Asset Research, Mellon Capital. Each shared her point of view on where the markets are going and how to deal with inflation and risk moving forward.

Our moderator, Heidi Moore, US Finance and Economics Editor at The Guardian, began, “Previously, we’ve always had a crisis to talk about.” But this time, the biggest factor facing women on the buy-side is uncertainty. “What is important to know about the markets,” she asked, “when so much is unknowable?”

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Top Women on the Buy-Side: Finding Yield in a Volatile Market

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Women-on-TabletLast week, The Glass Hammer hosted its fifth annual Top Women on the Buy-Side breakfast for female leaders in the investment management industry. Our panelists discussed the risks and opportunities for the year ahead, as well as how and where they are finding yield in a volatile market.

Moderated by Wall Street journalist Heidi Moore, the panel included Gabriela Franco Parcella, Chief Executive Officer, Mellon Capital Management Corporation; Denise Higgins, CFA, Client Portfolio Manager, ING Investment Management; Anne Milne, Managing Director, Emerging Markets Corporate Research, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; and Judith Posnikoff, PhD, Co-Founder & Managing Director, PAAMCO.

The lively conversation ranged from dealing with the challenges of uncertainty, managing risk, and the bright spots ahead. Milne quipped, “What are we looking for? Returns. Moreover, we’re looking for risk adjusted returns. We’re looking for good ideas to generate risk adjusted returns. And we’re making calls to find analysts to generate ideas to generate risk adjusted returns.”

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Navigating Your Career: Proven Strategies for Ambitious Women

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Women-working-on-tablet“I continue to be humbled by being in the company of women,” said Cynthia Fryer Steer, Executive Vice President and Head of Manager Research and Investment Solutions, BNY Mellon. “We can learn so much from each other.”

Steer was speaking at The Glass Hammer’s latest career management event “Navigating, Negotiating, and Building Your Strategic Network” last week. Our panelists shared their advice and wisdom (based on their combined “150 years of experience” said moderator Kathleen McQuiggan, President of Catalina Leadership) on how to get to the next level in the investment management industry.

In addition to Steer, our panelists included Nicole Arnaboldi, Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Alternative Investments, Credit Suisse; Nanette Buziak, Managing Director, Head of Equity Trading, ING Investment Management; Ingrid Dyott, Managing Director and Associate Portfolio Manager, Neuberger Berman; and Paula L. Rogers, President, Institutional Capital.

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Senior Women in the City: The Impact of Regulatory Reform on the UK Financial Markets

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Women-working-on-a-computerLast Wednesday, Theglasshammer.com held its first annual event in London for senior women in the capital markets. Our panel’s topic, “How to manage risk and find growth in the new regulatory environment,” opened up dialogue for senior women to discuss how to do business in the financial markets in 2012 and beyond. The event drew almost 100 senior women from leading financial firms in the City as senior women from both the sell-side and the buy-side came to network and participate in a closed-door discussion. The focus of the event was to address how to navigate the markets, find growth, and stay compliant in an increasingly regulated environment.

Moderator of the event, Monica McConville, Partner, Practice Leader, English Law Equity Capital Markets at Shearman & Sterling, invited the panelists to give their perspective on the way capital market regulatory changes might impact day-to-day business.

The panel, consisting of Mary Pragnell, Managing Director, Regulatory Response, GBM Treasury, RBS Global Banking and Markets; Joanna Cound, Managing Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, BlackRock; and Dr. Sonja Koerner, Partner, Risk, Financial Services, Ernst & Young, tackled a set of questions posed by regulatory reforms in the post 2008 crisis ‘New Normal.” To manage risk and continue to grow as an industry, we contemplated how could we predict, define, and manage some of the unintended consequences of regulators’ actions.

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A Brave New Regulatory Environment: The Glass Hammer’s Women on the Buy-Side Breakfast Panel

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Business-meetingThursday morning marked The Glass Hammer’s fourth breakfast panel for top women on the buy-side. The topic was Dodd Frank, and what’s in store for the investment management industry as we get closer to implementation.

Moderated by Donna Parisi, Partner, Shearman & Sterling, the panel included Viva Hammer, Principal, KPMG Washington National Tax; Sarah Lee, Managing Director, Global Head of Fixed Income Derivatives Legal, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Cynthia Meyn, Executive Vice President Operations, Pimco; and Barbara Novick, Vice Chairman, BlackRock.

Parisi commented, “It’s a brave new regulatory environment, and it will take a lot more resources going forward.”

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Women on Top: The Newest Innovation in Technology Event

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Business meeting“Our economy depends on women being at the table creating technology,” said Dr. Telle Whitney, President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. She continued, “The innovation that will drive the future is in your hands.”

Dr. Whitney was the keynote speaker at The Glass Hammer’s event Tuesday night entitled “Women on Top: The Newest Innovation in Technology.”

The event, sponsored by Barclays Capital and American Express, was held at the Barclays Capital headquarters in New York. Moderated by Avis Yates Rivers, President and CEO of Technology Concepts Group, the panel speakers included Sarah Sherber; Head of Securitized Products IT and Cross Product Operations Technology, Barclays Capital; Linda Albornoz, B2B Payment Solutions, American Express Technologies; Augusta Sanfilippo, Managing Director, Cash Securities Operations IT, Citi; and Mary Cecola, CIO Asset Management Business Solutions, Deutsche Bank.

When trying to plot out a career, the panel advised, simply do what you love. Albornoz said, “Follow your bliss. Find the thing you’re engaged by and enjoy doing. Because you’re going to spend a lot of time doing it!”

Sanfilippo agreed. She said, “Passion… is something you have to stay true to no matter what you do. Make sure you manage your career. Don’t make someone else manage your career for you.”

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Ambassador Karen Hughes Discusses Leadership at the FWA

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hughes_karenBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“I’ve always done what I’m passionate about,” began Ambassador Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair of public relations firm Burson Marsteller. “I always tell young people, ‘follow your passion and keep with your values.'”

At a recent Financial Women’s Association Event, Hughes recalled some of the critical moments during her previous career as Counselor to President George W. Bush and Under Secretary of Public Affairs at the State Department. She discussed important factors for strong leadership, and what it means to follow your passion.

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Gender Quotas in Practice: The Last Straw

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boardroomBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week The Glass Hammer covered a conference hosted by the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School, which asked, “Has the time come for bolder policies for diversity at the top of corporations?”

While the first part of the morning focused on academic research on the subject of quotas and gender targets, the second half focused on the practitioner perspective – how does the implementation of gender targets actually work within companies, what are the drawbacks, and how can organizations work toward a more balanced workforce?

The practitioners’ panel, moderated by Gillian Tett, US Managing Editor, Financial Times, featured Sheila Hooda, Senior Managing Director, TIAA-CREF; Ellen Stafford-Sigg, Board Member and Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP; James DeGraffenreidt, Corporate Director and Former chairman and CEO of WGL Holdings, Inc.; and Barbara Colwell, Corporate Director, Advisory Board member of Women Corporate Directors and Former Executive Director of ThinkQuest NYC.

Contrasting the morning’s discussions which, for the most part, concluded that quotas would be a positive outcome, the practitioners’ panel was not as favorable. The panelists largely agreed that quotas were not the best outcome in terms of building gender equality in the corporate space, and should be considered, at most, a last resort.

Said Hooda, “Quotas might be necessary as a last straw – like saving a drowning man.”

Tett commented, “Sometimes the last straw is necessary.”

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The Future of Women in Financial Services at the NCRW’s Women and Money Luncheon

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iStock_000001124874XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Earlier this week, the National Council for Research on Women hosted a discussion on women and money at JP Morgan Private Bank. The event featured four notable panelists as well as a conclusion by Jacki Zehner, Vice Chair of the Women’s Funding Network.

The panel discussed the next steps in getting more women into the financial services sector, keeping them there, and getting to them to the top. Zehner explained, “We are moving from a place of less power to more power, and shifting from a moral argument… to an economic one.”

She added, “There is a tremendous amount of research that fuels our activism.”

The panel included Rosie Rios, Treasurer of the United States; Michelle Clayman, Founder, Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer, New Amsterdam Partners LLC; Joe Keefe, President & CEO, Pax World Management LLC; and Rebecca Patterson, Managing Director and Global Head of Foreign Exchange and Commodities, J.P. Morgan Private Bank. The panel was moderated by Deirdre Bolton, Anchor, Bloomberg Television, and Co-host of “Inside Track.”

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