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NAPA Connect: Overcoming Barriers to the C-Suite

The statistics are grim in McKinsey’s 2016 Women in the Workplace Study.

Julie Norseen of McKinsey reported key findings from the study, based on data from 132 companies employing 4.6 million people:


  • Women remain underrepresented at every level in the corporate pipeline. Corporate America promotes men at 30% higher rates than women during their early career stages, and entry-level women are significantly more likely than men to have spent five or more years in the same role.

  • Women negotiate for promotions and raises as often as men but face more pushback when they do. Women also receive informal feedback less frequently than men — despite asking for it as often — and have less access to senior-level sponsors.

  • The challenge is even more pronounced for women of color. Compared with white women, women of color face the most barriers and experience the steepest drop-offs with seniority despite having higher aspirations for becoming a top executive.


Ouch. As most advisors are aware, the financial services industry is not winning gender diversity awards either. So, how do we shift this paradigm?

McKinsey offers solutions, including making a compelling case for gender diversity, ensuring that hiring, promotions, and reviews are fair, investing in more employee training, and focusing on accountability and results.

What Can You Do Now?

However, I’ll argue that McKinsey’s initiatives are focused on macro challenges and solutions that require significant shifts in culture and policy. Women need to know what can be done — right now — on an individual/micro level within the broken system in managing one’s career path.

A panel of three female industry veterans presented micro solutions to the macro problems based on their own experiences of overcoming barriers in getting to the C-Suite.

Nora M. Everett, President, Retirement and Income Solutions and Chairman of Principal Funds, Principal Financial Group

Be savvy about and manage stereotypes

Early in Everett’s career as a lawyer she was faced with a client who, upon just meeting her, didn’t think she was the “right” person to represent him. This experience brought stereotypes and unconscious bias to her attention, as well as the need to be savvy and to manage toward these biases. In coaching others, she often points out things that reinforce those stereotypes and how to overcome them.

Build your case and participate

Everett credits athletics as a watershed in showing her competition was good, and taking risk had rewards. Law school was instrumental in teaching her critical analysis and advocacy — being fact-based, not emotional, building and making the case — which helped her be effective in influencing up, down, and across management levels. Often times the smartest people in the room sit quietly. She encouraged women to have a point of view, build their case, and be willing to be part of the conversation.

Diversity isn’t just about gender

Another related point Everett (and the other panelists) made was the importance of diversity of thought and background within an organization. While it might be enticing to not rock the boat or go against company culture, it was important for leaders to give disruptors and creative thinkers a seat at the table, especially in the ever-changing environment of financial services.

Carol Geremia, President, MFS Institutional Advisors, Inc.

Values come first

Geremia luckily landed at a company whose values aligned with hers. She advised never making the stakes too high. That is, where they are so high you feel you cannot be you, or you cannot make the right decision or do the right thing. You have to be around the right people and right value system to think through those hard problems. If company values align with yours, it will be that much easier to move ahead.

Check your motives

Geremia advised picking your battles wisely and checking your own motives. As she put it, the doors are wide open for women these days and ambition is fine, but be sure not to ask for more if you’re not getting an A+ in your current role. Additionally, be sure you’re attempting to positively impact your organization and not just your own career. By positioning yourself where you’re working in your highest value, it will be easy to move ahead.

Anne Lester, Head of US Retirement Solutions for Global Investment Management Solutions, JP Morgan Asset Management

Manage yourself in high-stakes situations

Lester had a similar experience to Everett, noting that being a musician had taught her about competing and failing, taking risk, and getting back up from falling on your face. She cited the need to manage your own adrenaline in high-stakes situations, which often requires practice to get comfortable.

Work/life boundaries

Work/life balance is often discussed by women, but in reality, it’s about getting your priorities in the right order for your life. She cited a conversation with a single mother who said her first priority was earning money, next was improving job skills to get a new job in case something went wrong, then family, then enjoying what she did. Lester’s own order of priorities differed but found this framework valuable. Understanding what is important to you before you go into conflict (e.g., work event versus school play) will help eliminate the guilt and stress in making that decision.

Examine your support structure

Lester’s final piece of advice concerned examining your support structure. In the workplace, women have an advantage because companies are talking the talk about being more inclusive. Part of capitalizing on this is to figure out who your natural allies are within the organization, including men.

Courtenay V. Shipley, CRPS, AIF, CPFA, is the President and Chief Planologist at Retirement Planology.

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