ICEDRSpecialReport-TakingCharge_000

ICEDR SPECIAL REPORT 

Taking Charge 

A roadmap for a successful career and a meaningful life 

for high potential corporate women leaders 

By Lauren Ready

Contents 

4 Overview 

A Call to Arms for Rising Women Leaders - Take Charge! 

6 Explore 

EXPLORE: Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Likes and Dislikes 

EXPLORE: Your Style 

EXPLORE: Your Personal Definition of Success 

EXPLORE: Career Paths 

14 Own 

OWN: The Trade-offs You are Prepared to Make 

OWN: Your Opinion 

OWN: Your Network 

OWN: Your Career 

30 Repay 

REPAY: Your Community 

REPAY: Your Team 

REPAY: Your Customers 

REPAY: Next-Generation Women Leaders 

36 Audit: Take Charge 

37 Conclusion 

38 Acknowledgements 

39 About the Author 

Lauren Ready, Director of Talent Management Initiatives & Marketing, ICEDR 

40 About ICEDR

Taking Charge 

OVERVIEW 

4 

Overview 

A Call to Arms for Rising 

Women Leaders - Take Charge! 

We live in a world where less than five 

percent of CEOs around the globe are 

women. If more women are going to 

rise to the top, we need to understand 

the secrets of the few that made it. Are 

you a young, high potential woman 

leader trying to map out your road to a 

successful career and a meaningful life? 

Have you ever wanted to sit down with 

the exceptional women executives that 

have climbed the ranks and ask them 

how they approach work and life? Do 

you want to know what their journeys 

have been like? Has their success been 

worth the price? Is there something 

different about who they are or how 

they deal with the world? In essence, 

do you want to get inside their heads 

and understand how they think? We 

interviewed the women who made it, 

and, here, we tell you about their roads 

to success. The result is a candid report 

written exclusively for next-generation 

women leaders. This report explores 

how top women executives think, what 

they value, and it outlines strategies 

that you, the high potential woman 

leader, can learn from. 

CEOs, senior executives and HR 

directors need to know how to 

advance their high potential women 

leaders into senior-level roles. While 

companies are responsible for putting 

the right practices in place and having 

an environment that enables women 

to advance, the responsibility rests on 

you, the next-generation woman leader, 

to take charge of your career. You have 

the opportunity to step up and make 

things happen. This report reveals how 

the women executives that made it have 

crafted meaningful work and personal 

lives. Their insight will help you, the 

rising woman leader, achieve your full 

potential and develop the career path 

and build the life that is right for you. 

Our research, interviewing sixty top 

women executives, provides advice that 

will help you step up and take control 

of your journey through work and life. 

Here, sixty leading women executives 

from twenty organizations share their 

stories, insights and experiences. 

Some of these women are rising stars, 

the majority are senior executives, 

including: Adele Gulfo, who led 

the launch of Lipitor, the bestselling 

medicine in the history of 

the pharmaceutical industry, Rana 

Ghandour Salhab, the first woman 

partner at Deloitte in the Middle 

East and Beatriz Araujo, who sits on 

the executive committee of Baker & 

McKenzie, one of the world’s largest 

law firms. 

During our research, one thing soon 

became apparent: the diversity of the 

women involved. There is no single 

profile of the woman that makes it to 

the top of a large, global organization. 

The women we spoke with currently 

work in nineteen countries and range in 

age from late 20s to early 60s. They are 

straight, gay, married, single, partnered, 

divorced; some have children, others do 

not. Some grew up rich, others poor. 

On the surface, it seemed that there 

were no rules to achieving success. Yet, 

looking deeper, some common features 

became clear. You will find that these 

women take charge of their work and 

personal lives in three common ways: 

they explore, own and repay. 

Explore 

Top women executives know their 

own strengths, weaknesses, likes and 

dislikes. They have deep insights 

into the organizations within which 

they practice. They have developed 

a leadership style and a definition of 

success that works for them. They have 

ventured into a career journey full of 

twists and turns, and acknowledge 

that being a senior executive – male or 

female – is not for everyone. But, it was 

also clear that they were happy with 

their career and life choices. In large 

part, this was because they had taken 

the time to EXPLORE who they are 

and what they want.

Own 

A key theme that arose time and 

again, during our research, was the 

need to step up, be proactive and 

make things happen. The women we 

interviewed share this fundamental 

approach: you must own your choices 

and actions. These successful women 

executives voice their opinions, build 

their network, and take responsibility 

for their career choices. They are clear 

about the reasons for their decisions 

and are not afraid to take risks. They 

dive into work and life with enthusiasm 

and believe that no matter which path 

you choose, you must make these two 

words your mantra: OWN IT. 

Repay 

While these women are talented, they 

also know that they have climbed the 

ranks with the help of others – from 

family and friends to colleagues, bosses, 

and sponsors. This support is never 

unappreciated and they believe that 

it is important to REPAY this help by 

passing on support and opportunities 

to others. Fundamentally, it matters 

to them to make a difference. For this 

reason, they are deeply invested in the 

success of their communities, team, 

customers and the next-generation of 

women leaders. These executives think 

in terms of the legacy they will leave. 

Taking Charge 

OVERVIEW 

Your roadmap to success: 

Explore. Own. Repay. 

Explore 

• Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Likes 

and Dislikes 

• Your Style 

• Your Personal Definition of Success 

• Career Paths 

Own 

• The Trade-offs You are Prepared 

to Make 

• Your Opinion 

• Your Network 

• Your Career 

Repay 

• Your Community 

• Your Team 

• Your Customers 

• Next-Generation Women Leaders 

5 

This report reveals how exceptional 

female executives have taken charge 

of their work and lives and how you 

can too. You will fi nd these women 

leaders to be incredibly candid and 

approachable. We hope you enjoy their 

inspiring personal journeys and stories 

and learn from their experiences. In the 

next section, we will investigate the fi rst 

part of our roadmap: to explore your 

choices. 

Own 

Explore 

Repay

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

“The way to define success is to know yourself. It’s important to know: what do you 

want out of life? Do you want a short-term career and then a family? Do you want a 

long career and no family? Do you want a job that’s really balanced? I have a sister 

who is almost ten years younger and my advice to her doesn’t land because she 

doesn’t want my life. She wants a very different life. I do feel like sometimes women 

get trapped because we are not all cut from the same cloth.” 

Adele Gulfo, Regional President, Latin 

America, Emerging Markets Business Unit, 

Pfizer 

6

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

7 

Explore 

Being a senior executive is a challenging 

career and you have to know that 

it is the right path for you. Adele 

Gulfo at Pfi zer is clear on this point: 

it’s important to know yourself. The 

women executives we interviewed have 

taken the time to EXPLORE who they 

are. They have a deep sense of their 

strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. 

They know which company cultures 

are a good fi t for them. They have 

developed an authentic leadership style, 

and have crafted a personal defi nition 

of success. Their careers are often full 

of twists and turns, and they have 

faced many challenges. Yet the women 

we interviewed were happy with their 

career choices. Why? The answer is that 

they take the time to EXPLORE what 

they want out of work and life. 

EXPLORE: Your Strengths, 

Weaknesses, Likes and Dislikes 

Tracey Edwards is Deloitte’s Chief 

Knowledge Offi cer. In her role, she 

puts in place enterprise-wide practices, 

policies and technologies so that Deloitte 

can operate as seamlessly as possible as 

a global enterprise. There’s one piece of 

knowledge Tracey believes is critical: selfknowledge. 

It’s essential to know yourself 

inside and out, to hold a mirror up and 

refl ect on what you see with a critical 

eye. Exceptional leaders know their 

strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. 

They understand where they excel, where 

Tracey Edwards 

Deloitte 

they need improvement, what gives them 

energy and what they don’t like to do. 

So, how can you start to know yourself? 

Tracey encourages the people on her team 

to map their strengths, weaknesses, likes 

and dislikes in a 2X2 matrix (see Table 1). 

This 2x2 matrix should then be discussed 

with the person that you most depend 

upon for career advancement. She advises 

“women to own the 2X2 matrix and to 

have frank and candid conversations about 

it. You have to be willing to own your 

career at that level and do that exploration. 

This exercise is going to tell you: what do 

I want to be doing?” She emphasizes that 

it is important to put the job description 

aside and decide what you like to do and 

know what you are really good at. 

Many of the women we interviewed 

noted the importance of playing to 

your strengths. Susan Silbermann, 

President & General Manager, 

Vaccines at Pfi zer explains: “At Pfi zer, 

we’re focusing on what strong skills 

colleagues possess and not trying to 

focus on what they don’t. There was 

a point in time where schools would 

force left-handed students to write with 

their right hand. Now, we embrace the 

view: ‘You’re left-handed. That is great. 

I want you to be the best left-handed 

person you can be.’” 

This view is typical of our successful 

executives, who believe that focusing 

on your strengths and likes leads 

to a signifi cant benefi t: expertise. 

Developing expertise early on in your 

career is particularly important, as 

Beatrice Fischer, Managing Director, 

Head CEO Stakeholder Management, 

Private Banking at Credit Suisse recalls: 

“Early on, my manager gave me good 

advice: make sure that you are good 

at one particular thing. You should be 

really special at this one thing. Then, 

you will always be the go to person 

for this. If you can establish yourself 

as an expert in something, this is a 

good start. People will listen because 

they know you are really good at 

something.” 

Table 1: Map It! Your Strengths, Weaknesses, 

Likes and Dislikes 

Likes 

Dislikes 

Weaknesses 

Strengths 

PLAY 

HERE

EXPLORE: Your Style 

As a woman leader, you may face a 

double problem: if you are too gentle, 

others view you as soft; if you are too 

aggressive, you are characterized as 

unfeminine. Hardly surprising then 

that some women express the view 

that they just can’t win. As Anne 

Weisberg, Global Director of Diversity 

and Inclusion at BlackRock explains: 

“Women face the challenge of trying 

to develop a leadership style and an 

executive presence that both commands 

respect and fosters likeability. This 

takes a lot of psychic energy and can be 

exhausting. Organizations and women 

should be conscious of this challenge.” 

How can you navigate this tricky 

balance of developing a style that comes 

across as both competent and warm? 

It’s not easy. Our executives have three 

pieces of advice, to help you develop 

your own effective leadership style: 

1. Bring your personality to the office 

Maria Camacho, a Marketing Manager 

at Danone, is a fun loving Argentinian 

who moved to the United Kingdom 

several years ago to work for Danone. 

When she first arrived, she discovered 

that her new team was highly talented 

and intense. But, that didn’t stop Maria 

from showcasing her special flair. As 

she remembers: “I was a bit of a crazy 

Latin American when I first arrived at 

Danone. I would run into the office 

and start kissing people when I got to 

work. My colleagues allowed me to 

bring that essence and that different 

spice to the organization. And I will 

always thank the people at Danone 

for that. I’m quite creative and the 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

8 

Anne Weisberg 

BlackRock 

accepting environment gave me wings. 

I entered a sea of possibility. What I see 

sometimes in very successful women is 

that they don’t mix their private lives 

with their professional lives so they 

don’t have a picture of their family at 

their desks or they work 24/7. I’m not 

like that. I wear my heart on my sleeve. 

I am the same person at work as I am 

outside work. And I think that is what 

allows me to fulfill my potential.” 

Immunology and Ophthalmology at 

Roche. It’s okay to have a little fun 

and to showcase who you really are at 

the office, as Patricia Horgan, Head 

of One Bank Collaboration at Credit 

Suisse explains: “You have to be true to 

yourself… It is okay to show you are a 

human being and you have a life. You 

don’t want to turn into a robot when 

you come into work.” 

Several women explained that they act 

consistently, refusing to change their 

persona just because they are speaking 

to someone high up the corporate 

ladder. Mary Ellen Brown, Director, 

Retail Credit Transformation at RBC 

is clear about the importance of this: 

“I don’t act differently for different 

“I was a bit of a 

crazy Latin American when I first arrived 

at Danone. I would run 

into the office and start kissing people 

when I got to work. 

My colleagues allowed me to bring that essence 

and that different 

spice.” 

Our interviews revealed that this was 

a commonly-shared view, and many 

women advise you not to leave your 

personality at home. “Women seem 

so relieved to be given permission to 

express themselves and be themselves 

at work. I really believe that is the 

most important key to success,” says 

Jennifer Cook, Senior Vice President, 

Maria Camacho, Marketing Manager, Danone 

audiences. I am no different if I 

am talking to my staff, my boss, 

or my boss’s boss. I am always the 

same. Don’t try to change who you 

are as a person. You just have to 

be who you are or else it is obvious 

that it is insincere. And, no one is 

going to trust or respect someone 

who isn’t sincere.”

2. Adapt your style 

Talk to Amanda Mesler, and you 

can’t help but smile: she is a fireball 

of positive energy. Yet, Amanda, CEO 

of Logica Business Consulting (now 

part of CGI), who describes her style as 

passionate and energetic, says that her 

liveliness can be mistaken for being overly 

emotional. How does she overcome 

this potential barrier? When Amanda 

joined Logica’s executive committee, 

she knew her success depended on her 

ability to work with each person on the 

team. Consequently, high on her list 

of priorities was getting to know each 

and every individual on the executive 

committee and adapting her style 

accordingly. She firmly believes that this 

made all the difference, as she explains: 

“Coming onto the executive team 

really made me realize that I needed 

to understand every individual on that 

team. At the end of the day, individuals 

are the ones that make up your team, 

they make up your career, and they 

make up your success. If you just 

try to bulldoze your style over every 

individual, it’s not going to make you 

successful. I have learned to work with 

different people in different ways but 

never, ever sacrificing who I am. I will 

never, ever sacrifice integrity, and the 

values that I operate on, but if I need to 

be a little softer or if I need to sit back 

and be quieter and listen and hold my 

Amanda Mesler 

Logica 

(now part of CGI) 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

tongue or if I even need to be tougher 

and more assertive, I will do that. It’s 

important to adapt your style. It will 

make you more successful.” 

9 

3. Don’t try to be one of the lads 

If you work in an office full of men, 

it may be tempting to try to act like 

one of the guys. In this situation, the 

advice from our executives is simple: 

Don’t. When the office chatter turns 

to sports, you don’t need to chime 

in if you don’t want to. Don’t be 

someone you’re not. Yet many of 

our interviewees admitted that, early 

in their careers, they succumbed to 

this temptation and had tried to play 

like a stereotypical guy: acting tough, 

aggressive, confrontational, and very 

much like the alpha personality. Melba 

Foggo, Managing Partner, Business 

Consulting, UK at Logica (now part 

of CGI) advises women not to try too 

hard to fit in: “I never have been and 

never will be one of the lads. I think 

often at the junior levels women try to 

fit in and be one of the guys and it will 

only take you so far.” 

It is important to remember that it is 

results that matter, as Marcia McIntyre, 

Managing Director at RBC insists: “Stay 

true to who you are, and at the end of 

the day, don’t waiver. If you deliver and 

you produce results for your clients, you 

will be successful regardless.” 

EXPLORE: Your Personal 

Definition of Success 

It is crucial to develop your own 

personal definition of success. 

Knowing what success means to 

you is fundamental to achieving a 

fulfilling work and personal life. In 

fact, gaining clarity on this is one of 

the most important things you can do. 

Ultimately, only you can decide the 

details – what you want to achieve, 

what matters most to you, and what 

you value. Our executives have three 

pieces of advice that will help you 

define what success means to you. 

1. Reflect on what you want to achieve 

How do you define success? It was 

evident from our research that how you 

answer this question is fundamental, and 

it is a question that successful women 

executives urge you to address. You can 

gain valuable input from many sources, 

including family members, colleagues, 

bosses, mentors and sponsors, but 

ultimately only you can form your 

personal definition of success. 

A good place to start is by defining 

what your objectives are. Exceptional 

women leaders tend to describe success 

in three main areas: work, personal and 

legacy (see Table 2: How Exceptional 

Women Leaders Define Success). They 

set their work and personal goals for 

the next twelve to eighteen months and 

revisit those objectives frequently. As 

they advance to more senior levels in 

their careers, they also start to think 

about the legacy they want to leave 

behind. It is a useful exercise to compare 

how you currently define success to the 

objectives of some of the senior female 

executives we interviewed (see Table 

2). Although you will have your own 

priorities, this can be a useful exercise, 

to help you see if there are any changes 

you would like to make and what you 

want your measures of success to be.

Taking the time to reflect on what you 

truly want is not an easy task, especially 

for younger women, as many can’t 

pinpoint exactly what their goals are. 

Victoria Poole, Corporate Counsel 

at Westpac, recognizes this difficulty: 

“What strikes me when I talk to younger 

people today is they don’t have a clear 

picture of what they want. This can be 

the hardest thing in the world - to know 

what you want. My advice would be to 

spend some time thinking about what 

you want and have a clear picture of that 

in your mind so you can see exactly what 

it is. When you can visualize what you 

want, the road to it becomes easier.” 

Veronique Pauwels, a Partner at Bain, 

agrees: “Be very honest in general 

about who you are and what you want. 

Don’t try to be anything else. You need 

to know what you want and be very 

explicit about that. There is no game 

here. Having this clarity helps you 

achieve whatever goal you set.” 

2. Focus on delivering today; don’t 

think too far ahead 

Perhaps one reason why you may 

get stuck when trying to set your 

Table 2: How Exceptional Women Leaders Define Success 

Work 

Time Frame: 12-18 months 

The scorekeeping aspects of the job – title, 

salary 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

10 

objectives is that you think too far into 

the future. You may be relieved to 

hear that the women we interviewed 

break their goals into bite-size pieces. 

They set their sights on the shortterm, 

and focus on delivering today, 

as Susan Silbermann, President & 

General Manager, Vaccines at Pfizer 

advises: “In my career I’ve talked to a 

fair number of people that look at me 

and say: ‘I want to be the CEO.’ And 

I say: ‘That’s a great goal to set. You 

are currently a product manager and 

are about fifteen years away from that 

goal, so let’s focus on the present.’ The 

best way to get a new job is to excel 

in your current job. So, when people 

ask me: ‘How can I become X?’ I tell 

them: ‘Just do a really good job. Focus. 

Produce the results that you’ve been 

asked to deliver. Produce more than the 

results you’ve been asked to deliver.’ 

I have always been focused on what I 

have in front of me and not so much 

focused on what’s out there.” 

Beatrice Fischer, Managing Director, 

Head CEO Stakeholder Management, 

Private Banking at Credit Suisse shares 

this view: “I am someone who does 

not have an ambition that is too far 

“I am someone who 

does not have an ambition that is too far away. 

I try to think in little steps.” 

How Exceptional Women Leaders Define Success 

Personal 

Time Frame: 12-18 months 

My children – setting them up for the 

future 

Beatrice Fischer, Managing Director, Credit Suisse 

away. I try to think in little steps. In my 

personal life, I look ahead to losing two 

pounds versus losing twenty pounds 

or I think ahead to my next vacation. I 

do not think ahead to four years down 

the road. I do the same in business. I 

do not think of becoming the CEO. I 

think of my next few months and what 

I want to achieve.” 

Legacy 

Time Frame: Longer term 

Starting a development program for 

young women 

Happy clients Good health, making time for myself Sustainability without me 

Taking that messy situation and making 

it better 

Loving what I do for as many hours of the 

day as possible 

Impacting the lives of the people in the 

community 

A business that is growing A happy marriage Redefining a moment in time 

When the whole team feels like they are 

contributing 

Spending weekends and holidays with my family 

Building a team that has grown up to be 

leaders 

Your definition of work success: Your definition of personal success: The legacy you want to leave:

Beatrice Fischer 

Credit Suisse 

3. Observe and learn from a variety of 

role models 

Beatriz Araujo sits on the executive 

committee of Baker & McKenzie, one 

of the largest law firms in the world. As 

a member of the firm’s leadership body, 

Beatriz is an extraordinary role model 

for next generation women lawyers. 

Yet, Beatriz recognizes that, while she 

has found her journey and rise to be 

highly fulfilling, there are many ways to 

advance and succeed at the firm. Baker 

& McKenzie thrives on the diversity of 

its people, which is why Beatriz believes 

it is important to showcase a variety of 

female role models in order to inspire 

the firm’s rising women leaders. For 

example, at a recent presentation on 

gender diversity, given to the firm’s 

partners, Beatriz was asked why she had 

not included a slide depicting Christine 

Lagarde, former Chairman of Baker 

& McKenzie and current Managing 

Director of the International Monetary 

Fund (IMF). Beatriz replied: “Well 

hang on - that’s a really tall order. I 

mean to expect all of the women in the 

firm to end up like Christine Lagarde? 

She continues to be a great role model 

at the firm - someone that’s really 

succeeded and has done it nicely, always 

continuing to just be who she is. But 

we’re not all going to end up as the 

head of the IMF. That shouldn’t be the 

criteria for advancement.” 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

11 

Extraordinary women leaders advise 

that you pick and choose aspects of 

several role models who resonate with 

you and then write your own definition 

of success. Find your own way forward, 

as Seow-Chien Chew, a Partner at Bain, 

explains: “The key is to find your own 

model and to learn from others. What 

can you adapt from others? Which parts 

are relevant for you and which are not? 

Do not try and be exactly like someone 

else.” 

EXPLORE: Career Paths 

The Middle East is a mosaic of different 

cultures, experiences, dialects and ways 

of living, presenting many challenges 

for women executives. In this 

environment, it is essential for leaders 

to have a global outlook. Take Rana 

Ghandour Salhab, a Partner at Deloitte. 

Rana was the first woman partner 

admitted to Deloitte in the Middle 

East after eighty years of the company’s 

history. Today, her responsibilities span 

fifteen countries and twenty-two office 

locations in the Middle East. On any 

given day, Rana can work with people 

from thirty different nationalities. She 

believes that her variety of work and 

life experiences have prepared her well 

to be a global leader in a multinational 

firm. She has lived in five countries, on 

three continents. She was raised during 

the war in Lebanon and experienced 

the Gulf War in Saudi Arabia first hand. 

Rana believes that such challenging, 

unexpected and unique experiences 

have benefitted her career. Accompanying 

her husband to Saudi Arabia, she 

began her career in education, as career 

opportunities for women were limited. 

As a teacher, she learned how to counsel 

and motivate people – skills that are 

also invaluable in business, as global 

leaders need to manage people effectively 

and ensure that learning improves 

performance. So, even though teaching 

was not her first choice for a career, it 

gave her experience that she could take 

elsewhere. As she says, “At the time, 

I didn’t feel it was the right thing for 

me to live in a culture that didn’t have 

many career options but it turned out 

to be something that helped me build a 

very formative skill set in my career.” 

Rana is not alone. Many of the women 

Rana Ghandour 

Salhab 

Deloitte 

leaders we interviewed mentioned that 

their career paths had taken twists and 

turns. Often, these diversions turned 

out to be some of the most rewarding 

and valuable experiences of their work 

and personal lives. Some of the changes 

were planned, others unexpected. Here 

are a few examples: 

• A year in Australia spent learning to 

sail yachts and sailboats 

• A fellowship with the government 

• Career switches: sociology to finance, 

scientist to marketing executive, 

consulting firm to a start-up 

• 16 different jobs with 13 different 

employers in 25 years 

• 20 relocations to different areas of 

the world

Surprisingly, these women leaders felt 

that you don’t need to invest too much 

energy mapping out a ten year career 

plan. In fact, they went further and 

suggested that the reality of your career 

will likely not match any long-term plan 

you create or expectations you set. As 

Jane Leung, Head of iShares Asia Pacific 

at BlackRock explains: “When I talk to 

young women early in their careers, I tell 

them that life does not always happen 

the way you think it is going to… the 

more flexible you can be - the better.” 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

12 

Interestingly, several women noted 

that they did not have to leave their 

company to get a different career 

experience. Many liked the fact that 

they could have a variety of career 

experiences within one organization. 

Suchitra Prabhu, who works for Logica 

(now part of CGI) in India says: 

“What I love about Logica is its flat 

structure and open environment. It 

is easy to negotiate your next career 

step.” Similarly, Gina Dellabarca has 

worked at Westpac since 1991 and 

“A plan is a nice thing to have, 

but a career 

is an obstacle course. It’s not a path. There is 

no straight line.” 

Kristin Peck, a member of Pfizer’s 

executive leadership team, agrees: “A 

plan is a nice thing to have, but a career is 

an obstacle course. It’s not a path. There 

is no straight line. It winds, goes over 

hills and rocks and you have to jump 

across the stream a few times. Sometimes 

you have to go sideways or backwards 

to go forwards. I think that’s the most 

important thing that women starting 

their career should know. Many people 

believe their careers are linear. My career 

took me from commercial real estate 

finance, to real estate private equity, to 

investment banking, to management 

consulting, to an HR strategy job, to a 

general strategy job, to leading innovation, 

and going back to business development. 

There was no straight line there.” 

Kristin Peck, Executive Vice President, Pfizer 

attributes part of her success to taking 

opportunities to move across business 

units within the company. Rebecca 

Riant, Director, Head of Deposits at 

Westpac Institutional Bank, shares this 

view: “The leaders at Westpac do a 

great job of enabling people to move 

around within the organization. Having 

that culture of internal mobility is 

very important to me. If you can find 

an organization that has a culture of 

promoting opportunities internally into 

different roles, I call that the Golden 

Willy Wonka Ticket.” 

Most of these women executives 

keep two or three destination jobs in 

mind. As opportunities come their 

way, they weigh the role in terms of 

what it does for those two or three 

different options. “I don’t want to be 

perfectly qualified for only one job 

in the organization,” explained one 

executive. In addition, their advice is 

not to become too comfortable in a 

role. As Niki Kesoglou, Head of Senior 

Talent Development Asia Pacific at 

Credit Suisse says, “Four to five years 

is enough time to stay in one job. You 

need to constantly be pushing yourself 

out of your comfort zone.” 

Having a variety of experiences has 

many benefits, as it allows you to 

look at the world from different 

perspectives, to embrace diversity 

and to expand your imagination. 

Samantha Mobley, a Partner at Baker 

& McKenzie, who recently spent 

six weeks in the Caribbean doing a 

dive master course (and is already 

planning her next sabbatical for 2019!) 

believes imagination is important 

when exploring and building career 

paths: “A quality that I have, if I was 

going to boast, is imagination. I am 

not sure how many lawyers really have 

imagination. Imagination is what you 

need if you are going to build out a 

Samantha 

Mobley 

Baker & 

McKenzie 

practice, which is what I am doing at 

the global level at the moment. My 

mandate is to grow this global team. I 

love building. But in order to build, you

need to have imagination, or vision.” 

Finally, it is worth mentioning some 

of the difficulties you many face when 

following a career path that includes 

twists and turns or if you have taken a 

non-traditional route and are applying 

for a senior-level role. 

Taking Charge 

EXPLORE 

“A quality that I have, if I was going to boast, is 

imagination” 

Firstly, it can be difficult to make the 

leap. Typically, people tend to see you 

in a particular light, based on what 

you studied in University or your 

prior work experience – for example: 

she’s a scientist, we can’t move her to 

marketing. So, you may need to take 

some additional coursework or seize 

any opportunity you can in your new 

area of choice. Secondly, it is essential 

to be able to communicate the value 

of your unique journey. As Sonja 

Doyle, a Regional General Manager 

at Westpac advises, “Getting over the 

initial barrier of not having a particular 

profile at a company is something you 

need to be able to articulate.” If you 

follow a non-traditional career path, 

you will need to be able to explain why 

the experiences you have had make 

you a great candidate for the role you 

are applying to. You will need to show 

that your prior experiences add up to 

the competencies required for the role, 

even though the job titles may not 

seem relevant. 

Samantha Mobley, Partner, Baker & McKenzie 

13 

So, don’t be too focused on progressing 

to the next logical step on the 

corporate ladder. Rather, be open and 

flexible about what an opportunity 

can offer. Take jobs you are passionate 

about. Look for roles that align with 

your strengths. Always be learning and 

having fun. Live in the moment because 

in all likelihood, you will look back on 

those unexpected twists and turns and 

realize they set you up for success. 

In summary, the advice is clear: to be 

successful and to achieve your goals, it 

is necessary to fully explore the various 

aspects of your work and life. Take the 

time to reflect upon your strengths, 

weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Discover 

your authentic leadership style. Craft 

your personal definition of success. Be 

open to different career possibilities. 

In the next section, we will consider the 

second way top female executives take 

charge: to own your choices.

Taking Charge 

“If I look back and had to pin it down, it’s about taking ownership.” 

Juliet Bullick, BlackRock 

OWN 

14

Own 

A significant factor in achieving success 

is to OWN your choices. It was evident 

during our research that leading 

women executives take a proactive view 

towards work and life. They own the 

price they are willing to pay for success. 

They own their opinions and networks, 

and they take control of their careers. 

Their stories illustrate an important 

message: it doesn’t matter which career 

path you choose to pursue but it does 

matter that you own it. 

OWN: The Trade-offs You are 

Prepared to Make 

Male or female, there are no shortcuts 

to becoming a senior executive. The 

hours are long. The travel is exhausting. 

The stress is high. Let’s face it: Most 

of us would rather spend our weekends 

with family, not at 38,000 feet, in 

transit to our next meeting. 

Let’s also acknowledge that the 

conversation around the advancement 

of women often turns into a work-life 

balance discussion. But, do we need 

to rethink this conversation? Anne 


and Inclusion at BlackRock thinks so: 

“In many companies, what ends up 

happening is the conversation around 

gender always defaults to talking about 

work-life integration. To address 

women in leadership, leaders need 

to understand there is a difference 

between the topics of women and 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

15 

advancement and work-life integration. 

Work-life integration is about retention. 

It is not about advancement. If you want 

to get women into senior leadership 

roles, obviously retaining them in 

the system is necessary, but, it is not 

sufficient. Focusing the conversation on 

the work-life barrier is not going to get 

women into senior leadership.” 

Work-life balance strategies, such as 

flexible work arrangements, emergency 

daycare, and job sharing, serve the 

valuable purpose of retaining many 

women. But, when it comes to 

advancing women to senior-level 

positions, the work-life balance 

conversation needs to shift in a slightly 

new direction. So how can company 

executives have a better conversation 

The women we interviewed – primarily 

senior-level executives at large, 

global companies – observed that the 

conversation around women and worklife 

balance has the tendency to turn 

into a blame game, such as: “I wish my 

company would do this; I wish society 

would change that; why have we been 

having this same conversation for the 

past 20 years?” The women leaders 

we spoke with offer a possible reason 

for the lack of progress: conversations 

around advancing women typically 

turn into a work-life balance discussion 

about strategies companies can put in 

place to help women integrate their 

work and personal lives. But this is to 

miss the real point: primarily, it is about 

personal reflection, responsibility and 

ownership. By this our interviewees 

“Work-life integration is about retention. 

It is not about advancement. 

Focusing the conversation on the 

work-life barrier 

is not going to get women 

into senior leadership.” 

Anne Weisberg, Global Director of Diversity and Inclusion, BlackRock 

– one that is focused on advancing 

women to senior roles? How can you, 

the high potential woman leader, 

integrate your work and personal life in 

a way that fulfills you and aligns with 

your values and goals? 

mean that, at senior levels, work-life 

balance policies certainly help, but seniorlevel 

women don’t purely think of the 

work-life balance question as: What can 

my company do for me? Rather, they add 

a new dimension – a personal ownership

Having Conversations with Your Kids 

How do explain to your young child why 

you need to go to work? Kristin Peck sits 

on Pfizer’s Executive Leadership Team and 

leads Worldwide Business Development and 

Innovation for Pfizer. She’s also a devoted 

wife and a mother of two children. Here’s how 

Kristin approached a recent conversation 

with her daughter: 

“My daughter said to me recently: ‘Mommy, 

why can’t you work at home like all the other 

Mommies do?’ I said to her: ‘Well, everybody 

works. Some women work in the home. And 

some women go to work.’ And she asked: 

‘Why can’t you do what you do at home?’ I felt 

really confident in my answer when I said to 

her: 

“I love what I do and my job is in the city. 

What I do helps to create medicines that 

can help you and many other children. And 

working makes me a better mom when I’m 

home because I’m really happy with what I’m 

doing. Likewise, you want to be a scientist 

and you probably can’t do that at home. Don’t 

you want to go where you are really happy 

during the day and then come home and be so 

excited?” 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

16 

dimension – to the conversation. They 

have taken the time to reflect and have 

found clarity on the price they are 

willing to pay for success. They take full 

responsibility for and control over how 

they integrate their work and life. 

To be clear, these women state that 

reconciling this tension between work 

and life is deeply challenging, emotional 

and personal. It is a dilemma they 

continue to wrestle with. They view 

developing their personal strategy for 

integrating work and life as one of the 

most important decisions they will 

make. Thus, this is a decision that they 

approach with careful introspection and 

thoughtfulness. It is a topic they revisit 

and reflect upon often. 

And this is where you – the rising female 

star – come in. These women will always 

applaud you for making a choice that 

aligns with your aspirations, values and 

personal definition of success. But, 

they will also tell you to take ownership 

and be proud of the decisions and life 

choices you make. For example, don’t 

blame your company’s workaholic culture 

for making you quit. Or, if you work a 

reduced schedule, walk out of the office 

on time with your head held high. If 

you choose to pursue a job that requires 

significant travel, don’t complain that 

you are often away from your family. 

Instead, take action and do something 

about it. The women we interviewed 

have refreshingly proactive, positive and 

self-assured outlooks. They take the view 

that there is often a way to build the 

work and personal life you desire. They 

advise you to craft a life that you choose 

and find fulfilling and to dive in full 

force. They advise you to take charge. 

Our interviewees highlight a personal 

struggle you may face: If you 

choose, and have the capability and 

organizational support, to advance 

to the senior-levels of a large, global 

organization, you will inevitably 

have to make some trade-offs. It’s 

impossible not to. So it’s important 

to take the time to think about what 

type of life you want and understand 

the consequences. For example, is 

your partner willing to take on part of 

the load? Are you comfortable with 

someone else picking up your kids from 

school? Despite the sacrifices they have 

made, our exceptional women leaders 

find their lives deeply fulfilling. But, the 

executive lifestyle is not for everyone, 

and you have to ask yourself: ‘is it really 

for me?’ In tackling this question, it is 

useful to consider the following points: 

1. Form your own definition of worklife 

integration 

2. Articulate your ambitions 

3. Make a short list of priorities 

4. Pace yourself 

1. Form your own definition of worklife 

integration 

Kristin Peck sits on Pfizer’s executive 

leadership team and was raised by 

parents who always encouraged her 

to pursue her dreams. As Kristin 

remembers, “I have a family that since I 

was a young girl always made me believe 

that I could do anything I wanted to 

do. For example, as a child, my dream 

was to be quarterback of the New York 

Jets (United States football team) and 

then President of the United States.

Never did my parents say there’s never 

been a woman who’s done either, nice 

dream but focus somewhere else. I came 

to the conclusion by the end of the sixth 

grade that I probably wasn’t going to 

be the quarterback of the New York 

Jets. But the point was that my parents 

let me figure that out on my own. They 

let me try and they let me explore. As a 

result, I don’t have a lot of fear.” 

Today, in addition to her 

responsibilities leading Worldwide 

Business Development and Innovation 

for Pfizer, Kristin is also a mother. 

She has a daughter and a son, who 

are only in elementary school. Just 

as her parents did for her, Kristin will 

encourage her children to pursue 

whatever path they desire. As a wife and 

mother committed to quality time with 

her family and as a senior executive with 

a passion for driving business results for 

Pfizer, Kristin has had to be clear about 

her personal definition of work-life 

integration. As Kristin says, “Everyone 

defines work-life balance differently. 

I’m sure many people wouldn’t define 

it the way I do.” 

Exceptional women leaders share this 

approach, believing there are many 

ways to integrate work and life that 

are highly gratifying. The challenge is 

figuring out what works for you and 

being comfortable that your definition 

may not be the norm among your 

friends or may be different from how 

your parents raised you. For example, 

your friends may spend more time than 

you do playing with and looking after 

their children. One busy executive 

reflected that when she was a child 

her stay-at-home mother took her to 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

17 

feed the ducks on weekdays and did 

the school run. These are activities 

senior executives don’t get to do on 

a regular basis. But, the good news is 

they don’t feel bitter or riddled with 

guilt and regret. They are confident 

and comfortable with their decisions 

and have found a way to integrate the 

various aspects of their lives that works 

for them. They often focus on quality 

time with their families, try to limit 

work on weekends, make sure to take 

their holidays and outsource house 

chores so that when they are home, 

they can fully devote their attention to 

their loved ones. 

Yet, some women we spoke to had 

reached a point in their careers and 

personal lives where they realized it 

was time to take a step back from such 

a hectic work schedule. One woman 

describes her current situation and 

reflects: “I leave my child at daycare 

at 8:00 AM. I get to work a bit before 

9:00 AM. I leave work at 6:00 PM. By 

the time I’ve picked up my child and 

we get home, it’s 7:00 PM and he goes 

to bed at 8:00 PM. So, basically I see 

him for an hour a day, and probably 

not his best hour because he’s grouchy 

and tired. Then I eat and sort out his 

bottles. I pop my laptop open and work 

from probably 9:00 PM until 11:00 

PM. My husband is there but I have 

to keep working so I’m not talking to 

him. I think, ‘am I going to regret this? 

Is this life?’ It’s not very sustainable. I 

don’t want to do that for the next ten 

years.” What’s more, one executive 

mentioned how it’s easy to get drawn 

into prioritizing work over family: “I do 

not get pay raises and reviews from my 

husband and kids,” she said. 

Claudia Prado, a Partner at Trench, 

Rossie Watanabe Advogados, associated 

with Baker & McKenzie, advocates 

giving both aspects of your life 

attention: “It is important to find a 

way of loving both things – work and 

family - at the same level. If you love 

your career too much, you will leave 

the family at the end of the list. And the 

other way around also applies. So, find 

a way, early on, of loving work and your 

personal life at the same level and never 

really put one over the other in terms of 

priority. They have to come together.” 

As our top women executives 

recommend, it is important to revisit 

your definition of work-life integration 

regularly, as priorities change. 

Remember the decisions you make 

need not be permanent. Catherine 

Langreney, Country CEO for Lafarge 

in Tanzania advises it’s important to reassess 

your situation and priorities: “I 

always explained to my boss, my career 

is a three lane highway. There are times 

when I will want to be in the slow lane, 

times when I want to go in the middle 

lane and times when I want to go in 

the fast lane. It is me who needs to 

make this decision. I am the only one 

who can manage having a family and 

a career. My mentor said, ‘just make 

sure you put your turning signal on a 

long time in advance. It’s important to 

communicate which lane you want to 

be in.’ Having to slow down for a few 

years does not mean I need to exit. I 

just make sure to give my team a heads 

up of what I want to do and how much 

I can take on. My message to them is: 

don’t take me out because I am in the 

slow lane.”

The Rise of the House Husband 

“There is a bit of a myth that successful 

women are those who are single with no 

children and if they have got children, then 

the kids are at boarding school or with fulltime 

nannies. I don’t think that’s necessarily 

the case,” says Melba Foggo, Managing 

Partner, Business Consulting, UK at Logica 

(now part of CGI). The family unit around 

successful women can take many forms, one 

of which includes a woman with a powerful 

job, a stay at home spouse, and children. 

Many women we interviewed sang the 

praises of their house husbands. Melba has 

two young daughters and her stay at home 

husband keeps the home running smoothly. 

“I swear my husband is one of the best house 

people in the world. I think he would give a 

lot of house wives a run for their money,” 

Melba says. And, she’s not alone. According 

to Melba, “If you go to the school gates or 

the nursery doors now, especially in the UK, 

there are just as many dads and granddads 

picking the children up as there are mums 

and nans.” Jennifer Cook, Senior Vice 

President, Immunology and Ophthalmology 

at Roche, who has two young sons, agrees. 

Her husband, a former biophysicist, retired 

several years ago to stay home with the 

boys. She says, “My husband loves staying at 

home. It’s what he wants. It’s what he chose. 

He throws himself into his new role now with 

the same intensity that he did with work. He 

coaches every team. He volunteers at the 

school. He teaches science to the second 

graders. He shuttles the boys around. He 

volunteers at field trips. He is extremely 

engaged with his role as the stay at home 

parent.” 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

18 

“My career is a three lane highway. 

There are times when 

I will want to be in the slow lane, times when 

I want to go in the middle lane, 

and times when 

I want to go in the fast lane. 

Just make sure 

you put your turning signal on. 

It is important to communicate which 

lane you want 

to be in.” 

Catherine Langreney, Country CEO Tanzania, Lafarge 

2. Articulate your ambitions 

If you are a working mother, you will 

likely face assumptions that you may 

have to overcome: She has kids so can 

she really be on the executive team? 

Is she going to want to work those 

extra hours? Does she really want 

that complex project? Yet, if you are 

a working mother, you may want a 

big-time role. Our executives want to 

decide what they can handle. They do 

not want the choice made for them, 

as one executive notes: “Working long 

hours is for me to figure out and make 

the choice. I do not want the choice to 

be made for me. I want to be the one to 

make the decision and work it out. So, 

to assume that I cannot take on a senior 

role and work beyond 5:00 PM, well, 

I have a nanny, and, I can. I will decide 

where I can and cannot be and how 

to prioritize. If I were a man, nobody 

would assume that I need to get home 

and feed my children. You don’t need to 

protect me on that front. I will work it 

out. And, if I cannot do it, I will make 

the choice that I cannot do it. Don’t 

hold me back based on an assumption.” 

It is important to recognize that 

assumptions around working mothers 

do exist, so you need to make your 

ambitions, whatever they may be, clear. 

Kristin Peck, Executive Vice President, 

Worldwide Business Development 

and Innovation at Pfizer explains 

how she handles this: “Many people 

assume working mothers don’t want 

the assignment or they wouldn’t want 

to take on the additional role. That is 

hard to overcome. However, you do 

so by delivering consistent excellent 

performance, and by raising your 

hand and saying: ‘That sounds great. 

If there’s an opportunity for me to 

work on that, I’d love it.’ It’s never 

demanding things, but letting people 

know you are interested.”

Anne-Marie Allgrove, a Partner at 

Baker & McKenzie, voices a similar 

view: “When I came back from 

maternity leave, I put my hand up to 

volunteer for travel opportunities. Many 

people were surprised. They assumed I 

didn’t want to travel. Assumptions get 

made. You have to indicate that you 

want to be involved in certain things.” 

So, if you are a working mother who 

is happy to put in the extra hours 

or travel, ensure you make those 

desires known. Others may assume 

that your personal commitments 

will prevent you from taking on too 

many responsibilities. Speak up and 

communicate what you would like to 

take on at this point in your life. 

3. Make a short list of priorities 

Mary Zimmer, Head of International 

Wealth – USA and Correspondent 

and Advisor Services for RBC Wealth 

Management – U.S. believes that one 

mistake women make is trying to do it 

all. In sharing their experiences, many of 

our interviewees adamantly agreed with 

this point. We heard comments like: ‘I 

don’t have friends’ or ‘I used to have 

hobbies – not anymore’. Being a senior 

executive means keeping many balls in 

the air, but it also requires cutting some 

things out of your life. As high achievers, 

exceptional women have a strong 

sense of what they can handle. Diem 

Nguyen, General Manager, Biosimilars 

at Pfizer explains: “I stopped trying 

to be the person for everybody else. I 

didn’t dilute myself. I decided I really 

want to be known for two things: to be 

a good business leader, particularly in 

businesses that are growing… and being 

a dedicated mom. Being a dedicated 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

19 

mom means different things to different 

people – clearly I’m not there to bake 

cookies at the bake sale but I make an 

effort to be at the center of my children’s 

lives. But I also know that I can 

only do those two things. I choose to 

know what my threshold is of what I can 

do well. So, I am very clear about knowing 

who I am, what my passions are and 

being able to funnel that specifically. The 

way I see it, life is so short and you always 

wish that you had five more hours 

to do this or to do that. Give up this 

‘wish’ part and just choose something 

that you want and that is important to 

you. Be passionate about it, go in there 

with zeal and strive for excellence. You 

can’t go wrong with that.” 

If you have a husband or a partner, our 

executives suggest that you prioritize 

him or her. As one woman notes: 

“The unwritten bit about work-life 

balance is your relationship with your 

spouse because there is a lot written 

about how to combine having a career 

with children, and nothing really 

written about having a career and also 

maintaining your marriage. Every 

relationship takes hard work. You have 

to invest time. You have to invest 

emotional energy. If what you are doing 

is giving 100% to your job and looking 

after your children, the person that ends 

up with no time from you is your spouse. 

So, you have to keep an eye on that.” 

Mary Zimmer 

RBC 

Maintaining Your Marriage 

Many women mentioned that a supportive 

partner had been an essential element of 

their success. Yet, with work to get done and 

children to care for, these women said that 

their partners were too often neglected. As 

one woman said: 

“The unwritten bit about work-life balance is 

your relationship with your spouse because 

there is a lot written about how to combine 

having a career with children, and nothing 

really written about having a career and 

also maintaining your marriage. Every 

relationship takes hard work. You have to 

invest time. You have to invest emotional 

energy. If what you are doing is giving 100% 

to your job and looking after your children, 

the person that ends up with no time from 

you is your spouse. So, you have to keep an 

eye on that.” So, what can you do? 

One woman mentioned that she occasionally 

takes her husband on business trips; another 

stated that she and her spouse reserve one 

night a week as date night. Whatever you and 

your partner decide on as a strategy, ensure 

that you keep spending quality time with 

your spouse high on your priority list.

When it comes to priorities, recognize 

that more is not necessarily better. Pick 

a few aspects of your work and personal 

life and dive into those full force. As 

a result, you will excel at what you 

choose to focus on and will craft a life 

that is meaningful to you. 

Taking Charge 

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20 

to yourself; just have your baby and 

then see what you feel like.’ All these 

things are quite life changing and you 

don’t know how you are going to react 

so don’t over-commit yourself before 

you know deep in your heart what you 

want to do. I always tell everyone it is a 

“I always have a picture of my kids on my desk 

as a symbol of balance 

between my family life and my work.” 

4. Pace yourself 

As a high-achiever, you may often feel 

the need to go full speed ahead. Yet, 

slowing down at times can enable you 

to embrace other fulfilling aspects 

of your life and decrease the risk of 

burnout later on. If you are out on 

maternity leave, don’t feel like you 

need to rush back to the office or 

decide too early what your post-baby 

work routine will be. One woman 

mentioned she returned to work after 

only two months with each of her 

children. After the birth of her second 

child, she was still getting up several 

times in the middle of the night and 

was exhausted. One day, she fell asleep 

behind the wheel, ran her car off the 

highway, and was lucky to survive. 

Several women mentioned they rushed 

back to work and, in hindsight, they 

wish they had taken a few extra months 

off. Beatriz Araujo, a member of Baker 

& McKenzie’s executive committee 

advises: “You need to do what is right 

for you. A lot of women who are about 

to have a baby tell me: ‘I’m going to 

come back.’ I tell them: ‘Don’t do that 

Fabiana Gadow, Partner, Deloitte 

very personal decision. Only you really 

know what’s good for you. Don’t try 

to be someone else.” 

Pacing yourself means setting certain 

boundaries. In reality, what those 

boundaries are will partly depend on 

your company’s norms and culture. 

Adhering to these limits, whatever 

they may be, takes courage, as 

Fabiana Gadow, a Partner at Deloitte, 

says: “You are in charge of setting 

boundaries and making your own 

priorities. I always have a picture of my 

kids on my desk as a symbol of balance 

between my family life and my work. 

This picture also serves as a reminder 

that it is important to leave from work 

to go home at a reasonable hour. If 

you explain why you have to leave to 

your boss, peers and team, work very 

well and show that you can do the 

same job even though you have other 

responsibilities, they will likely accept 

that. But, you have to have a lot of 

courage.” 

Companies and senior women 

executives can encourage this approach, 

as pacing yourself, working part-time or 

walking out of the office in the evening 

to get home for a family meal becomes 

much easier when senior leaders at 

your organization model this type of 

Fabiana Gadow 

Deloitte 

behavior. Elissa Crowther-Pal, Head 

of Wealth Services, Westpac Private 

Bank at BT Financial Group explains 

the importance of this in her company: 

“Westpac’s CEO Gail Kelly is a very 

visible leader who sets what the cultural 

values are and how we are living and 

breathing them. This is really important 

because it becomes a reference point 

for everyone else. So, for instance, Gail 

will say, ‘flexibility is really important 

to me’. So by saying this, she sets the 

context for how things happen in the 

work place.” 

OWN: Your Opinion 

In a junior-level role, you may 

find difficulty in getting your voice 

heard. This problem varies between 

individuals, as bringing your opinion 

to the table is more of a challenge for 

some women than others. Carol Chan, 

a Managing Director for Credit Suisse 

in Singapore, thrives off the energy of 

her team and has always been quite 

vocal, but she believes Asian women

must overcome certain assumptions: 

“As an Asian woman, there is a certain 

perception that because you come from 

an Asian society, you are not that vocal. 

How I overcome this perception is by 

speaking my mind and being vocal in 

terms of my ideas. Not saying anything 

at the meeting is unacceptable.” 

How and when you voice your opinion 

will partly depend on your company 

culture and perhaps the geographic 

region in which you work. Thus, it is 

important to be aware of those nuances. 

Furthermore, there were some extroverts 

among our interviewees who mentioned 

that they had never shied away from 

speaking up at a meeting or expressing 

their point of view. But, no matter your 

personality type, here are a few things 

for you to consider, as you figure out 

how you can own your opinion and 

bring your voice to the table. 

1. Prepare 

Don’t wing it. Many of these women 

are the most over-preparers you will 

ever meet. Whether they are talking 

for five minutes to MBA students 

or meeting with the CEO, they do 

extensive homework and analysis in 

advance. As Jane McAloon, Group 

Company Secretary at BHP Billiton 

notes: “When I first started my career, 

every time I went into a meeting or 

had an engagement with my manager 

or colleagues, I would always think 

about what I could contribute. I would 

think about this well in advance and 

plan and prepare. I would never go into 

a meeting where we were looking for 

next steps on something without having 

thought through my ideas and what I 

could contribute. I still do this now.” 

Taking Charge 

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21 

Therese McGrath, General Manager, 

Finance Strategic Development at ANZ 

offers a useful preparation tactic: ask 

someone to plant a question. Therese 

grew up in a family of six children so 

she had to learn at an early age how 

to get her voice heard – otherwise, 

as the second youngest, she would 

be drowned out. Today, as a senior 

executive, she helps junior women 

get their voices heard and explains how 

you can proactively manage this process: 

“I have learned to direct a question 

that is in the knowledge zone of the 

junior women that are at the table so 

I can open the conversation for them 

and get their voices heard. Once the 

conversation is open and their voices 

have been heard, they can become part 

of the dialogue at the table. Sometimes, 

before the meeting, I ask them the 

question so I can get their voice 

heard upfront.” Moreover, she also 

recommends that you should adapt this 

method and ask someone beforehand to 

raise a specific question in the meeting 

– one that will enable you to join the 

discussion and get your voice heard. 

2. Be the content expert 

At junior levels, you have the 

opportunity to be the content expert 

and the ‘go to person’ in the area you 

are asked to work on. At this stage, 

don’t stay in teacher-pupil mode: 

realize that you probably know just 

as much (or even more!) about your 

content area than your senior-level 

colleagues, since you are the one that 

is closest to the data. Do extra data 

crunching and analysis in the specific 

area you are asked to work on, and have 

the confidence to voice your opinion 

on your topic of expertise. 

Speak Up! 

Here are five tips for getting your voice 

heard at a meeting: 

1. Prepare 

Don’t wing it. Do extensive homework and 

analysis in advance of the meeting. Consider 

planting a question. 

2. Be the content expert 

At junior levels, you have an opportunity to 

be the content expert in the area you are 

asked to work on. Don’t spread yourself too 

thin – nail your content area and speak up 

when the conversation turns to your area of 

expertise. 

3. Have a point of view and a solution 

Be solutions-oriented. Try saying: ‘X is the 

challenge and one way we could address it 

is Y.’ 

4. Be concise 

Articulate your point of view in a brief 

manner and then listen to what others have 

to say. 

5. Say it with authority 

Tone matters. Voice your opinion with 

confidence and conviction.

3. Have a point of view and a solution 

Come to a meeting with a point of 

view. What’s more: be comfortable 

expressing your view even if it is the 

alternative viewpoint. Realize that it is 

okay if your idea challenges the status 

quo or is not in agreement with your 

colleagues or manager as long as you 

voice your opinion in a way that is 

respectful, solutions-oriented and in 

line with your company’s culture. Mary 

Ellen Brown, Director, Retail Credit 

Transformation at RBC says: “I have 

always felt comfortable expressing a 

different opinion and voicing myself.” 

Also, be sure to have a point of view 

and to propose a solution. Kristin Peck, 

Executive Vice President, Worldwide 

Business Development and Innovation 

at Pfizer believes: “One of the reasons 

why I have been valued is that I come 

with a point of view and a solution. It’s 

not enough to just say: ‘I disagree’ or 

‘I don’t think that will work.’ Instead, 

say: ‘X is the challenge and one way 

we could address it is Y.’ Be solutionsoriented.” 

4. Be concise 

Realize that getting your voice heard 

does not necessarily mean being the 

loudest person at a meeting or talking 

a lot. Earlier in their careers, several 

women noted that they had received 

the feedback, ‘she doesn’t say much 

but when she has a point to make, 

everybody listens.’ They view this as a 

positive attribute. Siri Quisman, Lead 

Drilling Engineer at A.P. Moller-Maersk 

explains: “Don’t talk to have your voice 

heard, but rather talk when you have 

something to say. Talk when you truly 

have something to contribute or when 

you have something to ask.” The advice 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

22 

is clear: articulate your point of view in 

a crisp and succinct manner and then 

listen to what others have to say. 

Mary Anne 

Wiley 

BlackRock 

5. Say it with authority 

Tone matters. Have the courage of 

conviction, and voice your opinion 

with authority. Mary Anne Wiley, 

Managing Director, Head of iShares 

Canada at BlackRock uses a useful 

technique: “Early on I was given the 

advice that leaders consume time and 

space. The way leaders consume time 

is by speaking. In order to consume 

space, sit up at the table, or, if you are 

on the phone, stand. For example, 

BlackRock is a global organization so 

it can be difficult to be heard on the 

phone. When I am on conference calls, 

I use a headset and I stand. That way, 

I feel more physically engaged in the 

conversation and standing opens up my 

lungs so my voice is more powerful.” 

Also, understand that, in addition to 

your preparation, it is important to 

be able to go with your gut. This is 

particularly important in the complexity 

of today’s world: you can’t have all the 

answers or constantly look into the 

history books to know how to move 

forward. So, you will need to craft your 

opinion, and voice it with confidence. As 

Adele Gulfo, Regional President, Latin 

America, Emerging Markets Business 

Unit at Pfizer says: “You can’t say: ‘I 

said it and no one heard and then a guy 

said it and they all paid attention.’ Well, 

yeah. How come you let that happen? 

Did you say it as authoritatively? What 

did you say? Own it. If you want to be 

heard, make your point of view clear, 

articulate and say it with authority.” 

OWN: Your Network 

ANZ operates in 32 countries and 

provides a range of banking and 

financial products to eight million 

customers worldwide. In this 

organization, the opportunities 

to move around the globe with 

the company are rich and Therese 

McGrath, General Manager, Finance 

Strategic Development at ANZ has 

taken full advantage. She estimates 

that in her career, she has moved 

twenty times. This globetrotter has 

learned the importance of building 

her network each time she relocates: 

“At one point early on in my career, 

I relocated to Spain. The thing I did 

wrong there was that I worked seven 

days a week, all day. When I first got 

there, my new colleagues offered me 

the opportunity to go out with them 

but I was so focused on work that I 

consistently said no. But, the problem 

is that when you finally get your head 

out, people are less likely to present you 

with the opportunities to socialize. You 

can become quite isolated. So, what I 

took away from that was: always say yes 

when people offer you an opportunity. 

The informal networking connection 

happens very quickly because people 

are quite generous with you when you 

move into these roles. So, after going 

through this sort of situation in Spain,

I have adopted this approach ever since, 

and have found building networks to be 

easier as I move around.” 

The women we interviewed are focused 

and results driven but are always aware 

that it is naïve to take the view that 

politics don’t matter. It is important 

to leave some bandwidth around the 

edge for the softer stuff – such as a 

catch up over coffee or an informal 

chat. Why? In short, it is easier to do 

business effectively if you have solid, 

trusted networks. These women are 

quite deliberate and proactive in 

cultivating their networks. Here is some 

advice they give on how you can take 

charge of owning your network. 

Erin Chapple 

Microsoft 

1. Form your own personal board of 

directors 

Once a quarter, Erin Chapple, 

Partner Group Program Manager 

in the Server and Cloud Division at 

Microsoft gets together with a group 

of four women that she refers to as her 

Board of Directors. The women are 

all from Microsoft and were originally 

introduced over eight years ago by a 

Vice President at the company. Long 

after the VP had left the division, 

the relationship these women have 

developed keeps growing. They have 

been meeting regularly ever since. Erin 

explains how this board works: “The 

four of us are in similar places in our 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

23 

careers and personal lives and we have 

the belief that there is no competition 

between us. Each quarter we spend a 

day together. Usually we include a social 

activity such as dinner or the spa and we 

share ideas and do peer mentoring.” 

Several women mentioned that they 

have a personal board of directors that 

typically consists of people from both 

inside and outside their firms. These 

personal advisory boards include such 

people as their moms, siblings, partners, 

college classmates, past professors, or 

colleagues from previous companies. 

These advisory groups serve as valuable 

sounding boards for the variety of 

challenges that women in senior roles 

face, including: balancing work and 

family, career switches, difficult projects 

and much, much more. 

2. Plot your circles of influence 

Knowing all the stakeholders in your 

ecosystem at work is critical to success. 

The leaders at BlackRock advocate a 

concept called ‘circles of influence’. 

This is essentially a stakeholder mapping 

exercise, where you plot your current 

level of closeness to key stakeholders 

and proactively determine how you will 

get to know them better. Juliet Bullick 

from BlackRock explains: “Think about 

the people you work with. Where 

would you plot them on your circle 

of influence? Perhaps the person you 

sit next to at work and deal with every 

half hour is a ‘one’, maybe your boss 

is a ‘two’, etc. If you plot out several 

circles to a level ‘five’ or ‘six’, where 

would you plot the closeness of your 

relationships as they are today? Most 

importantly, where would you like those 

relationships to be? You need to be 

deliberate about how you are going to 

bring people closer to you in order to 

make you more effective in your role.” 

3. Realize the power of your women’s 

network 

Given that there are few senior-level 

women at most global organizations, 

one might assume that they would 

know each other well. Unfortunately, 

this is not necessarily the case, as Anne 


and Inclusion at BlackRock observes: 

“There is a tremendous sense of 

isolation for women. The senior-level 

women just do not know one another. 

In any organization that I have assessed, 

it has been a consistent theme that the 

senior women do not know each other. 

Why? Because there are so few of them, 

they are dispersed and do not know one 

another. We need to create opportunities 

for them to meet one another!” 

We often hear about how to break 

into the old boy’s network. Yet, the 

women we interviewed highlighted the 

importance of connecting with other 

women. It may be tempting to skip 

a women’s networking event at your 

organization – but don’t! Donna 

Coallier, a Partner at Pricewaterhouse- 

Coopers says: “Don’t underestimate 

the power of your women’s network. 

What I have found in the last few years 

is that having a women’s professional 

network is equally as valuable as the 

male network. I have powerful women 

that are clients, potential clients, or in 

academia – and, over the past five to 

seven years, my women’s network has 

proved to be quite valuable. My advice is 

that the more diverse your network, the 

more powerful it is.”

Apply! 

Many women observed a common trend: 

women don’t apply for job openings that 

are a bit of a stretch. They explained that 

solutions require a two-way street: women 

need to apply for stretch roles and leaders at 

companies must encourage women to apply. 

For example, the theme of Pfizer’s women’s 

initiative is ‘Raise Your Hand’ and inspires 

women to put themselves forward. Women 

also need the courage to apply, as Susan 

Silbermann, President & General Manager, 

Vaccines at Pfizer explains: 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

24 

OWN: Your Career 

In 2011, Pfizer created OWN IT! – 

a new culture model for the entire 

organization. According to Susan 

Silbermann, President & General 

Manager, Vaccines at Pfizer, an 

important part of this culture is: “You 

own your career. Pfizer is not in charge 

of you. Pfizer is not taking care of 

your career. Pfizer has to take care of 

the development, environment and 

inclusive context of the enterprise. But, 

you are taking care of your career.” 

“Research shows that if there is a job This mindset is typical of top female 

opening and there are ten things you need executives. They think like entrepreneurs. 

for the job and the candidates, male and They take responsibility for making 

female, each have achieved six of the ten, things happen and the choices they 

this is what happens: When you ask the men: make. They feel accountable for the 

‘The job profile says you need to have done business as if they owned it. As Ellen 

these ten things and you have only done six. Walsh, a Partner at Pricewaterhouse- 

Why did you apply?’ The man’s response is: Coopers explains: “What I enjoy is the 

‘I’ll just learn it on the job. I’m really good 

at those six things. I’ll learn the other four.’ 

But, you ask the woman and she responds: ‘It 

says you need to have done ten. I’m not going 

to apply. I wouldn’t make it.’ Women need to 

adopt more of an attitude like: ‘If I can do six, 

then I can do ten. I’m going to raise my hand. 

I’m going to put my hat in the ring. I’m going 

to go for this job.’” ability to be an entrepreneur, but within 

a big firm with a global reputation 

and scale. What I have always loved 

about PricewaterhouseCoopers is 

that it is the best of both worlds. We 

are a huge global firm but we are, in 

many respects, a collection of smaller 

businesses. This has allowed me to 

bring that entrepreneurial spirit to a big 

firm environment.” These women are 

relentless problem solvers, proactively 

offering solutions to the challenges 

their companies face. They put forth 

innovative ideas. They step up to take 

on a project themselves, rather than 

waiting for someone else to do it. As a 

result, they get promoted to run both 

teams and initiatives. In short, they 

own their career destiny. Why? Because 

they are viewed as someone who will 

execute, deliver and get it done. Our 

interviewees give two important pieces 

of advice that will enable you to own 

your career: firstly, raise your hand and, 

secondly, color outside the lines. In 

other words, step up to the plate and 

take charge in a way that suits your style 

and company culture. 

“What I enjoy is the ability to be an entrepreneur, 

but within a big firm.” 

Ellen Walsh, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Ellen Walsh 

PwC 

1. Raise your hand 

Until Susan Silbermann, President and 

General Manager, Vaccines at Pfizer, 

was ten years old, her grandmother 

lived with her family. Since her mother 

worked as a department store executive, 

Susan’s grandmother was the one that 

was home when Susan returned from 

school. Her grandmother had high 

standards: “I remember my early years 

in school when I would come home 

and say, ‘I got a 98 on my test’ and my 

grandmother would say ‘did anybody

get 100?’ Looking back at it years later, 

this little comment made me realize 

that you can’t be satisfied until you 

make or beat your numbers.” Today, 

at Pfizer, Susan runs a four billion 

dollar business that encompasses several 

thousand people. Susan attributes 

many reasons for her success, including 

both her inner drive to deliver and 

the influence of powerful women role 

models, such as her grandmother and 

mother. Significantly, Susan has found 

that one attribute, in particular, has 

been essential: having the courage to 

raise her hand. 

Susan joined Pfizer as a newlyminted 

MBA, with a desire to have an 

international career. After two years at 

the company, Susan approached the 

senior leaders on her team and asked 

if she could work for Pfizer in Europe. 

They asked her to wait a bit, saying she 

was too junior. A few years later, Susan 

got her wish: she moved to Italy to work 

on an assignment. Even though the 

result was not immediate, raising her 

hand paid off eventually. Susan believes, 

“the biggest problem for women is that 

they don’t raise their hands. Women are 

not encouraged to raise their hands. We 

are told to be quiet and not to speak 

until spoken to. Women, generally 

speaking, are not the ones to offer to 

do something. They are the ones to be 

asked to do something. Chances are 

women have been promoted because 

someone else came to them and said: 

‘Are you interested in this job?’ One of 

the things young women need to start 

doing more of is raising their hand.” 

Our executives suggest you seize 

opportunities, put yourself forward 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

25 

and be confident in the value that you 

bring, whether you are asking for a 

pay raise, applying for a position, or 

requesting to be put on an international 

assignment. Of course, it is important 

to raise your hand in a way that fits 

your organization’s culture. Susan’s 

advice is clear, “Women need to adopt 

the attitude: I’m going to raise my 

hand. I’m going to put my hat in the 

ring. I’m going to go for this job.” 

DTTL in the United States where 

she lives with her husband, who 

is from India. The experience of 

international travel definitely made a 

profound impact on this rising leader, 

giving rise to a passion for crosscultural 

communication and inclusive 

leadership skills development. She has 

turned this passion into high-value 

initiatives for the Deloitte network, 

first at Deloitte Consulting LLP in 

“I am really passionate about 

‘boundary spanning’ - 

connecting people to each other and giving them 

access to 

valuable information.” 

Stephanie Quappe, Senior Manager, Global Diversity, Deliotte Touche Tohmatsu Limited 

Raising your hand also means taking 

the initiative to solve problems yourself. 

An interesting quality of our women 

executives is that, while they work for 

large global enterprises, they think like 

entrepreneurs. They treat the business 

as if it were their own. They know 

there is always something on their desk 

that they can influence. Exceptional 

women leaders don’t let challenges get 

in their way. Rather, they are proactive 

problem solvers, raising their hands to 

offer solutions. 

Take Stephanie Quappe, Senior 

Manager, Global Diversity at Deloitte 

Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL). 

Stephanie grew up in Germany, spent 

part of her early career working in 

France and the UK, traveled the world 

for a year, and currently works for 

the U.S., and now as a member of the 

DTTL Global Diversity team. While 

working at Deloitte Consulting LLP 

in the U.S. and being a member of 

the International Business Resource 

Group, she initiated the development 

of the International Buddy Program 

(iBuddy program). Now in its sixth 

year, the program helps set new 

international hires up for success by 

matching them with a local buddy and 

engaging them in conversations about 

cultural differences and expectations 

related to working in the United States. 

In her current DTTL role, Stephanie 

collaborates with the member firms to 

build awareness, understanding, and 

implementation of diversity practices 

that enable successful cross-cultural 

collaborations and business results. At 

events like the International Student

Forum, she continues to facilitate 

“working across cultures” sessions 

that focus on teaming effectively with 

others who have different working 

styles. Recognizing the value of 

sharing issues, solutions, and practices, 

Stephanie, together with the rest of 

the DTTL Global Diversity team, 

founded a Community of Practice 

with over 300 registered members 

from across the global network. She 

also took the initiative to compile an 

international diversity best practices 

book for the Deloitte network that 

catalogs member firm diversity practices 

in 100 countries. Stephanie notes: “I 

am really passionate about ‘boundary 

spanning’ – connecting people to 

each other and giving them access to 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

26 

rare: associates are typically dependent 

on having an infrastructure and hours 

provided to them. But Liz took the 

initiative to develop the practice. 

She says: “It just seemed like an 

opportunity that was right and it would 

have been inappropriate to ignore. 

I was willing to be a pioneer.” How 

did Liz succeed? She explains: “The 

way I lead is by engaging people. I’m 

able to absorb and use the ideas of 

many intelligent members of our firm 

as opposed to going it alone with the 

limitations of my own thought process. 

You never want to take a risk without 

the input of other intelligent people 

that might refine your idea to give it 

the best chance of success.” 

“If you have the right idea, 

you should raise your hand and volunteer to lead. 

Be a problem solver, 

not a problem identifier.” 

valuable information. That is what I 

am meant to be doing. I am passionate 

about connecting the dots and coming 

up with something bigger and better 

because people build on each-others 

diverse perspectives and strengths.” 

Consider Liz Espin Stern, Managing 

Partner, Washington D.C. at Baker & 

McKenzie. As a third year associate, 

Liz took the lead on launching an 

immigration practice at a time when 

many large law firms did not necessarily 

have immigration practices. Launching 

such a practice so early in her career is 

Julie Coffman, Partner, Bain 

After taking the initiative or solving a 

problem, it is also essential to you tell 

people what you did. Agnes Grimont, 

Talent Development Manager at GDF 

Suez has often seen this problem: “In 

general, women are good at producing 

results but not so good at advertising 

the results they have produced. Often, 

women do well in school, and when 

you do good work in school, you are 

rewarded with a high grade. At work, 

you must speak up when you do good 

work.” Likewise, Sonia Artinian, 

Country CEO of Romania at Lafarge 

suggests: “Do what you say and say 

Liz Espin Stern 

Baker & 

McKenzie 

what you do.” This view is shared by 

Tracey Edwards, Managing Principal 

Global Shared Services and Global 

Chief Knowledge Officer at Deloitte, 

who offers the following advice: “Many 

women believe that if they do a good 

job, it will be noticed and they will be 

rewarded. But, you have to be able to 

say: I did this, I did a good job and I 

want that considered. For example you 

could say, ‘hey I did all of this, happy 

to have done it, but I know there is 

this M&A transaction that is about to 

happen and I would like to work on 

that.’ Women need to get better at this.” 

Clearly, taking the initiative is a 

fundamental aspect of becoming 

successful, as Julie Coffman, a Partner 

at Bain explains: “I was always taught 

that if you have the right idea, you 

should raise your hand and volunteer 

to lead. Be a problem solver, not a 

problem identifier.” So, come to the 

table with ideas. Don’t wait to be 

asked to do something. Get behind the 

steering wheel. Initiate. Take ownership 

and fix a problem. It is a sure thing that 

your boss and your team are extremely 

busy, and you will be valued if you raise 

your hand and volunteer to take on a 

challenge yourself. 

2. Color outside the lines 

When Adele Gulfo, Regional President, 

Latin America, at Pfizer was in first

grade, she hated coloring inside the 

lines, and vividly remembers saying 

to her teacher, ‘Don’t make me sit 

here and color inside the circle’. Meet 

Adele and you will soon realize that 

not much has changed since first grade. 

She looks for the well-worn path, the 

tried and true, for where she is going 

to be comfortable – and then she does 

the opposite. As she says, “If you’re in 

your comfort zone, if you’re not on the 

edge, then you’re taking up too much 

room… It’s like skiing. I started skiing 

very late and I remember my instructor 

telling me: ‘See the hill. You have to 

lean in.’ And I thought, ‘I’m going to 

kill myself leaning in!’ Skiing is very 

much like your career. You have to lean 

into it, embrace it, take it head on and 

not be afraid to try new things.” 

Adele is not tentative about exploring 

possibilities, and going for an 

opportunity. Her attitude was clearly 

evident when she decided to lead the 

market development and launch of the 

drug Lipitor: “When I was in global 

marketing for Warner-Lambert (now 

Pfizer), I was approached by their 

marketing organization to lead the 

drug Accupril – one of the company’s 

most important brands. It was a brand 

I knew well, and it would have been 

a promotion and a very comfortable 

move for me. Simultaneously, Warner- 

Lambert was putting together a small 

team to better understand the potential 

of the statin drug Lipitor, which was 

in trials at the time. They approached 

me about a lateral move to the Lipitor 

team, to begin strategizing its potential 

launch into an already very satisfied 

and crowded statin market. So I had 

a choice: take the promotion and an 

Taking Charge 

OWN 

27 

easy transition to Accupril, or make a 

lateral move to join the Lipitor team, 

an unapproved drug facing daunting 

odds. I took the chance on Lipitor, 

which became the best-selling medicine 

in the history of the pharmaceutical 

industry. This move gave me the 

foundation to succeed beyond my 

wildest imagination.” 

Coloring outside the lines means 

offering innovative ideas and taking 

risks in a way that fits your personality 

and company culture. Several women 

described themselves as fearless, 

and they valued the ability to seize 

opportunities, embrace new challenges 

and take risks. Essentially, they advise 

it is important to lead with a positive 

“I can remember 

saying to my teacher,‘don’t make me sit here 

and color inside the circle.’ 

Coloring inside the lines was what 

I hated 

more than anything.” 

Adele Gulfo, Regional President, Latin America, Emerging Markets Business Unit, Pfizer 

Adele is a rare combination: a scientist 

by training, she is highly analytical, yet 

also willing to go with her gut. She 

explains the benefits of this mix of 

attributes: “Other people may think: 

‘Where’s the analytics? How do we 

know it’s going to work?’ I say: ‘Who 

knows? Pick up the phone and give 

them a call. It’s like we are going on 

a date. It’s not like we have to get 

married.’” Adele lives in the ‘not yet 

possible’ world. She has endless ideas, 

many of which are shaping the future of 

healthcare. “I think that what makes me 

feel good is starting things off, seeing 

action and doing things that are not on 

that well-worn path... I love anything 

that is game changing, or redefines a 

moment in time... What really excites 

me is always looking for new ways to 

do things and create value, have impact 

and redefine.” 

and resounding ‘yes’! This approach 

is echoed in the advice from Hilary 

Crowe, General Manager, People 

Partnering at National Australia 

Bank: “If you are a high performer, 

people will offer you opportunities. It 

is important to be thoughtful about 

these opportunities and recognize the 

need to take risks and say yes.” The 

experience of our interviewees bears 

this out, as their calculated risks paid 

valuable dividends for their companies 

and their careers. 

For instance, consider the example 

of Charlotte Fondin, an Operations 

Manager at A.P. Moller-Maersk who 

took a position in Guinea, even though 

others were telling her that West Africa 

was too dangerous and she would 

be better off working in the United 

Kingdom. Charlotte explains: “For

Taking Charge 

“If you’re not on the edge, 

then you’re taking up too much room. It’s like skiing. 

I started skiing very late and I remember 

my instructor telling me: 

‘See the hill. You have to lean in.’ 

And I thought, ‘I’m going to kill myself leaning in!’ 

Skiing is very much like your career. 

You have to lean into it, 

embrace it, take it head on 

and not be afraid to try new things.” 

me, the opportunity to go and work 

somewhere like West Africa was too 

good a personal experience to pass up 

on. It turned out to be a really good 

experience. The team I had there was 

great. I am not afraid of challenges. 

I am willing to take risks. Trying 

something new has worked for me in 

business and in my life choices. Going 

to Guinea was one of those big risks 

where a lot of people told me that I was 

making a big mistake but it was one of 

the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had.” 

OWN 

Adele Gulfo, Regional President, Latin America, Emerging Markets Business Unit, Pfizer 

Sandra de Castro 

National 

Australia Bank 

Sandra de Castro, Chief Marketing 

Officer at National Australia Bank 

agrees: “It is important to “Give it a 

Go!” You never know until you try and 

don’t die wondering. No one knows 

28 

all the answers so jump in. Don’t 

apply the handbrake – there is always 

a way.” Many women mentioned that 

risk-taking is a two way street: they 

had to be willing to take a risk, and 

the company had to be prepared to 

take a risk on them. Take the case of 

Corinne Chant, a Marketing Director 

at Danone. Corinne was Marketing 

Manager of Activia, a brand of yogurt 

owned by Danone. Typically, the next 

step on the career ladder would be a 

promotion to Marketing Director in 

one of Danone’s smaller markets, such 

as Greece or Portugal. But, Corinne 

had roots in London: her husband’s 

career was there and she would soon 

give birth to her first child. She told 

her manager at Danone that she was 

ready to be a Marketing Director 

“It is important to 

Give it a Go!” 

in the United Kingdom. The move 

would skip a traditional step on the 

career ladder, but she wanted, and was 

ready, to make the leap. The leaders at 

Danone took a risk on Corinne and she 

is thriving in her new role. In global 

corporations, international mobility is 

often a prerequisite for promotions into 

the senior ranks. In some organizations, 

changing such current thinking and 

practices may not work or could require 

significant culture change. Yet, Corinne’s 

story demonstrates that when leaders 

keep an open mind towards traditional 

career paths and place bets on the right 

people, international mobility might not 

have to be the only route to success. 

The experiences and insights of our 

top female executives clearly demonstrate 

the importance of owning 

your choices, taking personal responsibility 

and being proactive. In essence, 

success requires you to OWN your 

career. Their advice is clear: own the 

trade-offs you are prepared to make, 

and own your opinions, your network, 

and your career choices. The lesson 

is that you should step up and take 

control of determining the work and 

personal life that you find fulfilling. 

In the next section, we move onto 

the final part of our roadmap: to repay 

your success, encourage others, and 

leave a legacy. 

Sandra de Castro, Chief Marketing Officer, National Australia Bank

Taking Charge 

OWN 

29

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

“I measure my success by the impact I make.” 

Rana Ghandour Salhab, Partner, Deloitte 

30

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

31 

Repay 

No person is an island, and these 

women believe they owe a debt of 

gratitude to those that helped them 

to succeed. They have climbed the 

ranks thanks, in part, to the help and 

support of others – from family and 

friends to colleagues and mentors. For 

this reason, the women we interviewed 

all believed that it is necessary to 

REPAY this support and encourage 

others. Regardless of any of the usual 

competitiveness that often comes to 

the fore in business, repaying this favor 

and supporting others was a common 

and refreshing theme. From our 

research, it was clear that the women 

we interviewed are deeply invested in 

the success of their communities, team, 

customers and the next-generation of 

women leaders. To repay should not be 

dismissed as altruism; it has significant, 

long-term advantages for companies, 

given its role in providing opportunities 

for and the promotion of talented, 

committed and successful women. 

Importantly, for our executives, it is 

a key way they measure their success. 

Quite simply, it matters to them to 

make a difference: to help others 

succeed is a valued part of their legacy. 

As a rising woman leader, you certainly 

have many goals you want to achieve. 

But, it is not too early to start thinking 

about the legacy you want to leave and 

the impact you would like to make on 

the world around you. 

REPAY: Your Community 

ANZ’s Corporate Responsibility 

Framework centers on the tagline ‘We 

live in your world’. The exceptional 

women leaders at ANZ breathe life 

into this slogan, finding a deep sense of 

purpose in investing in the communities 

where the bank operates. 

Consider Susan Yuen, Chief Executive 

Officer for the Hong Kong branch of 

ANZ. Susan’s father was Chief of Police 

in Malaysia at a time when the country 

lucky enough to be sent to the UK for 

boarding school for security purposes. 

Even school was a risk because anyone 

could have kidnapped me or planted a 

bomb.” Such a childhood uncertainty 

brought many challenges, but had a 

“Success to me is about a legacy. 

The legacy may not necessarily be in 

monetary form. 

It can be in the form of: What do I add to the lives 

of the staff or to the community? 

How do I bring people 

along with me? 

ANZ has been a fantastic platform 

for me to be able to do this.” 

was in the midst of upheaval. She 

grew up in a world of power struggles, 

where violence was always a lingering 

possibility. She recalls, “My father’s 

life was threatened, as was mine. I was 

Susan Yuen, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong, ANZ 

Susan Yuen 

ANZ 

profoundly-positive impact on Susan. 

“From a young age, my father instilled 

in me a sense of integrity, resilience 

and leadership. He taught me to 

always do what is right. These were

the values I was built with and born 

into.” In ANZ, Susan has found an 

organization that resonates with her 

own values: “Because of the role that 

I’m in, I’m able to give back to society. 

That’s a very important part of one’s 

life. Success to me is about a legacy. 

The legacy may not necessarily be in 

monetary form. It can be in the form 

of: What do I add to the lives of the 

staff or to the community? How do I 

bring people along with me? ANZ has 

been a fantastic platform for me to be 

able to do this. What have I done in 

Hong Kong? Whilst building the bank, 

which is good for the shareholder, from 

a community and people perspective, I 

have set up a Corporate Responsibility 

Council, with a number of young 

individuals from ANZ as members of 

the Council so that these passionate 

people can start to give back to the 

community early on in their career. 

By doing so, the team, has developed 

priorities for the Bank in Hong Kong 

and one of such is the Money-Minded 

Program which is rolled out to underprivileged 

children in Hong Kong with 

quite a number of staff as facilitators 

for the program. This to me is success 

as it would be bringing people along 

with you in the journey and we leave a 

legacy in the lives that we impact.” 

What’s more, a few years ago, Susan 

decided to take up oil painting. She was 

such a prolific painter that she painted 

over a hundred pieces of art. At first, she 

wasn’t sure about what to do with all the 

paintings. Her solution? She sold them 

for charity and built a trust worth nearly 

$200,000. She put the money towards 

funding the education of an orphan, 

who is now a doctor in Malaysia. 

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

32 

These exceptional women leaders 

are intrinsically driven to make a 

difference. They seize the opportunity 

that their authority provides to extend 

their impact to the people in their 

communities. As Rianne Jans, a Finance 

Director at Logica (now part of CGI) 

says: “I find a deep sense of purpose in 

being in a position where I can have an 

impact and drive change. It’s a type of 

power. For me, it’s very important.” 

As a next-generation woman leader, 

there are many ways, big and small, that 

you can make a difference in the lives 

of the people in your community. What 

impact are you making or would you 

like to make on your community? 

REPAY: Your Team 

“If my team is successful, I am 

successful,” explains Carol Wang, CEO 

Sichuan Shuangma Cement at Lafarge. 

Many exceptional women leaders find 

a profound sense of accomplishment in 

helping members of their team succeed. 

Particularly as these women enter into 

more senior-level positions, what drives 

them is being able to select, build and 

grow teams. Some of their greatest 

feelings of success come from seeing 

people on their teams thrive and develop 

into leaders, or exceed business targets 

that at one time seemed out of reach. 

Consider Kerri Thompson, Managing 

Director, Retail at ANZ. Kerri says: 

“As a senior leader, I am addicted to 

the change that you can make and 

the impact you can have.” She was 

looking for a company whose values 

aligned with hers and an opportunity 

Carol Wang 

Lafarge 

to make an impact. “When the role 

at ANZ came along, it was a perfect 

fit. I like big teams. My team includes 

about 4,000 people spread across New 

Zealand. It was an opportunity to own 

my success and make a difference.” 

Ask Kerri what drives her, from a 

business perspective, and the answer 

is fairly straightforward: mortgage 

market share. At one point, ANZ’s 

mortgage market share was sitting 

at 22% of new mortgages in New 

Zealand. Kerri had her sights set on 

30%, a seemingly impossible target. 

To motivate her team, she expressed 

the greater purpose behind the goal. 

Kerri explains: “I like to understand 

the people that are working for me. 

For instance, New Zealand is a small 

country, a country that a lot of people 

leave and go to Australia. There is this 

concern for New Zealand to grow and 

prosper since too many of the talented 

people leave. What I do with the front 

line is try to help them understand how 

the things we are doing, like helping 

people from New Zealand to get into 

their homes, is really important. This 

means going out and talking to them 

about why providing more mortgages 

to New Zealanders is important works. 

We are giving New Zealanders the 

ability to buy their own homes. This 

will increase both their individual and 

community affluence. So, I need to get 

my team on board with their hearts

and minds. I need to understand what 

makes them want to achieve on their 

own. Find out about what your team is 

concerned about and how their goals 

and the company’s goals are aligned. I 

think this is the most important thing 

in leadership.” 

REPAY: Your Customers 

Hear the phrase ‘making a difference’ 

and you may envision volunteer work, 

or assisting the underprivileged. While 

these exceptional women leaders 

do these endeavors with zeal, to them, 

making a difference also has a harder 

edge: impacting the bottom line, 

beating expectations, and delivering 

value. There is perhaps no better way 

to accomplish these goals than to 

surprise and delight your customers 

and clients. Ellen Walsh, a Partner at 

PricewaterhouseCoopers believes: 

“I have advanced at Pricewaterhouse- 

Coopers because I have been able to 

demonstrate my ability to build really 

good relationships with clients. We 

are in the client service business. It is 

about building trust. We work behind 

the scenes for our clients. It is about 

making them successful and making 

them look good.” As they have climbed 

the ranks, our senior executives kept 

their sights set on an important stakeholder: 

the customer. 

Yvonne Greenstreet from Pfizer learned 

the importance of giving back from her 

mother. She remembers: “The most 

critical influence on my life has been 

my mother. She grew up in Ghana and 

moved to the UK in her teens. When 

she returned to Ghana, she set up an 

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

33 

adult education institute practically from 

scratch and built it into the institute 

that delivers the most education to the 

largest number of people in Ghana, 

which is an absolutely tremendous 

accomplishment. I really learned from 

her the notion of trying to impact your 

community and being a positive role 

model. She was able to achieve all of 

this while raising four children. Her 

perseverance and work ethic didn’t leave 

me with any excuses for not trying to 

make the best of what I have.” 

Today, Yvonne is Senior Vice President 

and Head of Medicines Development 

for the Specialty Care Business Unit 

at Pfizer. In her role, Yvonne focuses 

on driving Pfizer’s late stage pipeline 

through the development process, 

achieving approvals, launching new 

medicines and supporting existing 

ones. In this position, Yvonne has the 

opportunity to make a positive impact 

on patients around the world. Pfizer’s 

late stage pipeline is exciting to Yvonne. 

For example, in 2011, Pfizer licensed 

an early stage medicine for sickle cell 

Yvonne 

Greenstreet 

Pfizer 

anemia. For many years, there have 

not been many medical advances in the 

field, and it was a significant and unmet 

medical need. If it works out, Pfizer will 

release a medicine that is not only good 

for the company, but one that will make 

an enormous difference to patients 

around the world. In addition, the 

company recently received an approval 

for a pneumococcal vaccine for adults, 

which is set to have a huge impact on 

public health. Yvonne explains: “The 

decisions around the late stage pipeline 

are the types of decisions that I can 

drive in my current role. It is important 

for me to feel that in my role I can 

really make a difference. When I look 

back on my career, I am proud of the 

medicines I have been able to bring to 

market and that I have had a real role in 

progressing them through the pipeline. 

I am proud they’ve achieved significant 

commercial success and also feel a sense 

of pride in bringing new medicines 

to patients who otherwise wouldn’t 

have that opportunity. For me it’s a 

combination of being able to make a 

difference, having some substrate that 

allows you to make a difference, and to 

be working with people who have the 

talent and ability to allow the company 

to be successful. Ultimately, I look for 

opportunities that impact not just the 

business of Pfizer, but impact the world 

around us.” 

Maria Camacho from Danone is 

passionate about family health. As the 

Marketing Manager for Aptamil, one 

of Danone’s leading brands of infant 

formula, Maria has found a role that 

aligns with her desire to help families 

meet their needs. As she says: “By 

working for Danone Baby, I am able 

to have a positive impact on families 

around the world. This is why I love 

what I do. I work on formulas that are 

for moms that cannot breast feed. I 

work on formulas for premature babies. 

I work on formulas for babies with 

allergies. When we receive a note from

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

34 

a mom who had premature triplets 

saying that she didn’t know what to do 

and nothing was working with them 

and they took one of our formulas and 

now they’re thriving and growing, I 

cannot tell you how good I feel.” 

Some careers, such as healthcare, are 

natural fits to feeling like you have 

made a difference. But, it is also the 

case that you can find a deep sense 

of purpose in other fields. Marcia 

To repay should not be dismissed 

as altruism. 

For our executives, it is a key way they measure their 

success. Quite simply, 

it matters to them to make 

a difference: 

to help others succeed is a valued part of 

their legacy. 

McIntyre, a Managing Director at RBC 

says: “I define success by being able to 

feel like I am making a difference in 

some way. It’s very hard in finance to 

go home and say ‘I’ve saved a life’, as a 

doctor can. But, at the end of the day, 

if I can say that I made someone’s life 

a little bit better or I have been able to 

create or to provide value to a client 

then that is success.” 

Furthermore, if you are in a clientfacing 

role, or aspire to be in one, 

these women advise you to strengthen 

your client relationship building 

skills. For example, if your company 

offers networking events with clients, 

attending such events are good 

opportunities to enhance your abilities 

in this area. When appropriate, 

establishing strong relationships 

with clients is a tremendous way to 

strengthen your credibility and value. 

REPAY: Next-Generation 

Women Leaders 

Exceptional women leaders consider 

themselves to be stewards of the next 

generation. This is not just a nice thing 

to do. In fact, they view their role as 

steward as a key way to raise the value 

of their companies in the market. For 

them, as they rose through the ranks, 

women’s programs or senior female 

role models were scarce. Now, as 

senior-level women, they are committed 

to helping the rising female stars to 

navigate their way. Here’s how Mirjam 

de Blecourt, a Partner at Baker & 

McKenzie, is doing just that. 

Mirjam is not one to be sidelined 

by a challenge. “I like a positive 

environment: one where we not 

only talk about a problem but also 

propose a solution. That is why I try to 

teach all my associates to be problem 

solvers.” Mirjam is taking her own 

advice. Passionate about diversity and 

disappointed about the lack of women 

at the top, Mirjam took action. She 

drafted a law for the Netherlands 

requiring that at least one third of 

board members must be women 

(applicable to all companies with 250 

or more employees) – the law was 

passed in January 2012. To keep the

next generation women lawyer pipeline 

flowing, she also set up a training 

program for female lawyers. 

Mirjam describes the formation of the 

program: “I helped form a group of 50 

women partners who have been part of 

management teams of major law firms 

in the Netherlands. We became good 

friends and decided that we should do 

something about the lack of women 

lawyers at the top. We decided to take 

action. We wanted to take what we 

had learned throughout the years and 

pass that on to women in our field. 

So we set up a women’s development 

program in partnership with a training 

bureau, OSR. The women liked the 

program so much: they felt encouraged, 

empowered and stronger. The program 

was such a success that later, we set up 

an international program for Europe and 

now I am putting together a program 

for next-generation women leaders at 

Baker & McKenzie worldwide.” 

Many of our executives stressed the 

importance of cultivating a pipeline of 

next-generation women leaders. For 

example, Rana Ghandour Salhab, a 

Partner at Deloitte, started a program 

for women employees at Deloitte in the 

Middle East, and Mary Zimmer, Head 

of International Wealth – USA and 

Correspondent and Advisor Services 

for RBC Wealth Management – U.S. 

started a mentoring program for 

women at a local university. 

One woman summarizes this point 

well: “Women just need to be good to 

other women. They need to reach out 

Taking Charge 

REPAY 

35 

and be helpful. Anything – coaching, 

sitting down, spending time, having 

candid open conversations, or helping 

someone think through a problem and 

a solution. I think more senior women 

need to do that for more junior women 

because the senior-level women can see 

what’s coming. I call it being the career 

machete – to break down some of the 

barriers and prevent some of the slips 

and guide the person a little bit more 

effectively.” 

With the help of women who are 

currently in leadership roles, we may 

find more women at the top of the 

corporate ladder in the future. It is this 

legacy that will undoubtedly change 

the presence of women in senior roles 

and in boardrooms. Even as a rising 

woman leader, it is not too early to start 

reaching out to other women to share 

ideas, advice and discuss solutions to 

some of the challenges you face. 

The experiences and insights of our top 

female executives clearly demonstrate 

that it is important to REPAY others. 

There are many benefits to investing in 

the success of your community, team, 

customers and other women. These 

women find making a difference highly 

fulfilling and chances are, you do too. 

So, What Does this Mean for 

You? 

In the next section, we provide an 

audit that will help you take charge 

and chart your own road to success. 

The final section concludes the report 

by emphasizing the importance of 

the three core aspects how successful 

women executives take charge: to 

explore, own, and repay.

Audit: Take Charge! 

Explore 

Own 

Repay 

Advice from the Field Take Charge 

“Know Thyself” What are your strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes? 

“Be the ‘Go To’ Person” In which area do you want to be an expert? 

“Make a Short List of Priorities” 

What are your top priorities at work and in your 

personal life? 

“Create Your Own Definition of Work-Life Integration” How will you integrate your work and personal life? 

“Form a Board of Advisors” 

Taking Charge 

AUDIT 

36 

What steps will you take to build your professional 

network? 

“Give it a Go!” What is a risk you will take at work in the next year? 

“Leave a Legacy” How will you make an impact on your community? 

“Be a Problem Solver, Not a Problem Identifier” What is an initiative that you will lead at your company? 

“Be Good to Other Women” How will you help other women at your company succeed?

Taking Charge 

CONCLUSION 

37 

Conclusion 

This report has followed the careers 

of sixty top female executives to reveal 

what exceptional women leaders do. 

You have seen the world through their 

eyes. They have been candid and direct 

about what worked for them and how 

they have built meaningful work and 

personal lives. 

Now, after reading their stories, it is 

time to chart your own path forward. 

Their journeys have implications for 

you – the next-generation woman 

leader. Their insights, advice and 

experiences suggest that success 

requires you to take charge in three 

areas: you have to explore what matters 

to you, own your decisions and repay 

the support you have received. 

Recognize that you have the ability to 

craft your own unique journey. Nathalie 

Wright, Director of the Division of 

Large Enterprises and Alliances at 

Microsoft summarizes: “Be self-assured 

about what matters to you and be vocal 

about what you want.” You have an 

exciting opportunity in front of you: 

to take charge of your life and build 

the personal and professional journey 

you desire. Over the course of your 

life, you will be presented with many 

opportunities, challenges and decisions. 

You will be faced with unexpected twists 

and turns. Through this report, we 

are urging you to reflect on what your 

priorities are, what type of company is a 

good fit for you, and what you want to 

accomplish, so that you can proactively 

approach important decisions. We 

hope this report will enable you to take 

actions that align with who you are and 

what you want to achieve. 

This report has shown what has worked 

for a particular group of women 

executives who have “made it.” We 

highlighted a diversity of women 

so that you could pick and choose 

different stories and pieces of advice 

that resonate with you. We hope that 

their insights will help you, the nextgeneration 

woman leader, achieve your 

full potential and take charge of your 

work and personal life.

Acknowledgements 

We would like to thank the 60 exceptional 

women leaders who were interviewed for this 

project and shared their insights with us: 

Charlotte Fondin, A.P. Moller-Maersk 

Siri Quisman, A.P. Moller-Maersk 

Therese McGrath, ANZ 

Kerri Thompson, ANZ 

Susan Yuen, ANZ 

Seow-Chien Chew, Bain 

Julie Coffman, Bain 

Veronique Pauwels, Bain 

Anne-Marie Allgrove, Baker & McKenzie 

Beatriz Araujo, Baker & McKenzie 

Mirjam de Blecourt, Baker & McKenzie 

Samantha Mobley, Baker & McKenzie 

Claudia Prado, Baker & McKenzie 

Liz Espin Stern, Baker & McKenzie 

Jane McAloon, BHP Billiton 

Juliet Bullick, BlackRock 

Jane Leung, BlackRock 

This report would not have been possible 

without the commitment from our ICEDR 

corporate partners and the following 

companies who supported the research: 

A.P. Moller - Maersk 

Accenture 

ANZ 

Bain & Company 

Baker & McKenzie 

Barclays 

BHP Billiton 

BlackRock 

Boeing 

BP 

Bridgestone Americas 

Cliffs Natural Resources 

Taking Charge 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

38 

Anne Weisberg, BlackRock 

Mary Anne Wiley, BlackRock 

Carol Chan, Credit Suisse 

Beatrice Fischer, Credit Suisse 

Patricia Horgan, Credit Suisse 

Niki Kesoglou, Credit Suisse 

Maria Camacho, Danone 

Corinne Chant, Danone 

Tracey Edwards, Deloitte 

Fabiana Gadow, Deloitte 

Rana Ghandour Salhab, Deloitte 

Stephanie Quappe, Deloitte 

Agnes Grimont, GDF Suez 

Sonia Artinian, Lafarge 

Catherine Langreney, Lafarge 

Carol Wang, Lafarge 

Melba Foggo, Logica (now part of CGI) 

Rianne Jans, Logica (now part of CGI) 

Amanda Mesler, Logica (now part of CGI) 

Suchitra Prabhu, Logica (now part of CGI) 

Erin Chapple, Microsoft 

Coca-Cola Amatil 

Credit Suisse 

Danone 

Deloitte 

Deutsche Bak 

Four Seasons 

GDF Suez 

Hess 

HSBC Holdings 

Kirin Group 

Lafarge 

Li & Fung 

Logica (now part of CGI) 

Mannaz 

Microsoft Corporation 

National Australia Bank Group 

Pearson 

Nathalie Wright, Microsoft 

Sandra de Castro, National Australia Bank Group 

Hilary Crowe, National Australia Bank Group 

Yvonne Greenstreet, Pfizer 

Adele Gulfo, Pfizer 

Diem Nguyen, Pfizer 

Kristin Peck, Pfizer 

Susan Silbermann, Pfizer 

Donna Coallier, PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Ellen Walsh, PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Mary Ellen Brown, RBC 

Marcia McIntyre, RBC 

Mary Zimmer, RBC 

Jennifer Cook, Roche 

Elissa Crowther-Pal, Westpac 

Gina Dellabarca, Westpac 

Sonja Doyle, Westpac 

Victoria Poole, Westpac 

Rebecca Riant, Westpac 

Pfizer 

Philip Morris International 

PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Qantas 

RBC 

RBS 

Roche 

Royal Dutch Shell plc 

Standard Chartered Bank 

Vale 

Westpac

From start to finish, many people were 

instrumental to shaping this research. 

An incredible collection of professionals 

came together to champion this research, 

shape the interview questions, conduct 

and transcribe interviews, contribute to 

the videos associated with the research, 

and offer feedback, editing and ideas that 

greatly impacted the final report. For their 

effort, we are deeply indebted to: Susan 

Adams, Diane Kellogg, Betsy Myers, Parker 

Stanzione, and Toni Wolfman from Bentley 

University; LouAnn Muir, formerly of Fidelity 

Investments; Katie Taylor from Four Seasons; 

the team from ICEDR; Jeremy Kourdi and 

Julie Kourdi from Kourdi Ltd; the team at New 

England Transcript Services of Boston; Alan 

Hyatt, Paula Loop, Thomas McCarthy and 

Paula Theus from PricewaterhouseCoopers; 

Zabeen Hirji and Martin Shoesmith from 

RBC; the team at Sametz Blackstone 

About the Author 

Lauren Ready 

Director of 

Talent 

Management 

Initiatives 

ICEDR 

Taking Charge 

AUTHOR 

39 

Associates Inc; Kevin Carlson from Seed 

Multimedia; and Belinda Abbott and Lynn 

Rasmussen from Westpac. 

We would also like to thank the incredible 

collection of HR professionals who 

nominated the outstanding women leaders 

and championed this research at their 

organizations: 

Deniz Kirdar, A.P. Moller-Maersk 

Nicola Hutton, ANZ 

Mark Jankelson, ANZ 

Karen Welt Steeves, Bain & Company 

David Coleman, Baker & McKenzie 

Vicki Kelley, Baker & McKenzie 

Jo McConnell, BHP Billiton 

Suzan McDaniel, BHP Billiton 

Larry Kaye, BlackRock 

Anne Weisberg, BlackRock 

Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Credit Suisse 

Lauren Ready is the Director of Talent 

Management Initiatives and Marketing at 

ICEDR, a global network of more than thirty 

world-class companies and over twentyfive 

business schools focused on talent 

management, leadership development and 

strategic change. Lauren’s current research 

concentrates on exceptional women leaders. 

Lauren has extensive experience managing 

programs around the world for executives. 

At the Young Presidents’ Organization 

(YPO), she coordinated over sixty leadership 

development programs for CEOs and their 

families. Prior to joining YPO, Lauren worked 

Paula Ashfield, Danone 

Karen Dominick, Deloitte 

Michel De Vlaminck, GDF Suez 

Sonia D’Emilio, Lafarge 

Paul Phillips, Logica (now part of CGI) 

Colleen Daly, Microsoft 

Emily McKeon, Microsoft 

Craig Stephens, National Australia Bank Group 

Tanya Clemons, Pfizer 

Jennifer Allyn, PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Helena Gottschling, RBC 

Jan Wilmott, RBC 

Michael Griffitts, Roche 

Manuela Wäfler, Roche 

Belinda Abbott, Westpac 

Lynn Rasmussen, Westpac 

at Harvard Business School, where she 

partnered with faculty and staff to manage 

Executive Education programs for global 

business leaders. 

Lauren is an active researcher and writer. 

She is the co-author of ‘What Executives 

Really Need to Know about Employee 

Engagement’ (Accenture Institute for High 

Performance, 2011) and the author of ‘Talent 

Management Takes Action’ (ICEDR, 2011). 

She holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School 

of Management and a BA in Economics 

from Middlebury College. Lauren may be 

contacted at lready@icedr.org

About ICEDR 

ICEDR is the premier global network of 

more than thirty world-class companies 

and over twenty-five exemplary business 

schools focused on the areas of global talent 

management, leadership development and 

strategic change. 

Through ICEDR, partner companies and 

business schools engage in the highestquality 

exchange in the areas of: 

• Global talent management 

• Leadership development 

• Strategic change 

Corporate Partners 

Taking Charge 

ICEDR 

40 

A.P. Moller - Maersk 

Accenture 

ANZ 

Barclays 

BlackRock 

Boeing 

BP 

Bridgestone Americas 

Cliffs Natural Resources 

Coca-Cola Amatil 

Danone 

Deloitte 

Deutsche Bank 

Four Seasons 

GDF SUEZ 

Hess 

HSBC Holdings 

Kirin Group 

Li & Fung 

Logica (now part of CGI) 

Mannaz 

Microsoft Corporation 

National Australia Bank Group 

Pearson 

Pfizer 

Philip Morris International 

PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Qantas 

RBC 

RBS 

Roche 

Royal Dutch Shell plc 

Standard Chartered Bank 

Vale 

Westpac 

Partner Institutions 

AGSM Executive Programs 

Bentley University 

CEIBS 

Columbia Business School 

Cranfield School of Management 

Duke University 

FDC—Fundação Dom Cabral 

HEC Paris 

IESE Business School 

IMD 

INSEAD 

London Business School 

MIT Sloan School of Management 

Michigan Ross School of Business 

NYU Stern School of Business 

Penn State Smeal College of Business 

Richard Ivey School of Business 

SNU Business School, Seoul National 

University 

Stanford Graduate School of Business 

Stockholm School of Economics IFL 

Executive Education 

The University of Hong Kong 

The Wharton School, University of 

Pennsylvania 

University of Chicago Booth School of 

Business 

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School 

USC Marshall School of Business 

Vlerick Business School 

To learn more about ICEDR, visit 

www.icedr.org

1666 Massachusetts Avenue 

Lexington, MA 02420 USA 

Phone: +1.781.862.6633 

www.icedr.org

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