Tips for career management from The Most Powerful Women in Finance

October 16, 2024 2:45 PM

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

From JPMorgan Chase to Fidelity Investments, the women leading the world of finance are no strangers to the importance of hard work and continuous education — just two of the core values that empowered them to rise up within their companies' ranks.

This year's honorees of The Most Powerful Women in Finance were polled on what advice they had for their younger selves when it came to improving their career paths.

Below is a compilation of the insights each woman shared on what it took to build their career paths and how future generations of young women can follow suit.

Honorees from the ranking of The Most Powerful Women in Banking also shared tips for which skill sets are the most valuable for women professionals on the rise.

Honorees are not listed in rank order.

What would you tell your younger self about managing your career trajectory?

Mary Callahan Erdoes

CEO, Asset & Wealth Management
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"I'd tell myself three things. Remember the basics: Sit in the front, take notes, ask questions, dress for success and always send thank you notes," Erdoes said.

"Work hard, play hard and live in the now [because] if you're always thinking about what's next, you'll miss out on enjoying the present and won't be your best self," she said. "Become a 'subject matter expert' at what you do every day by diving deep, staying curious and [continually] learning. ... The rest will take care of itself."

"In any company, big or small, you'll face challenges, [so] be a great listener and understand all sides of a discussion. ... This will lead to better, faster decisions," Erdoes said.

Learn more about Erdoes' advice to rising bankers and her passion for cultivating talent.

Tom Kates

Yie-Hsin Hung

President and CEO
State Street Global Advisors

"Stepping off the beaten path was probably the most important thing that happened to me," Hung said.

"Part of the advice that I'd give myself is not to be so focused on where I'm trying to get to, but to really enjoy and appreciate the journey. ... Because through the very different kinds of roles that I had, I learned a lot about the business but I also learned a lot about myself," she said.

Understand more about how Hung's leadership is helping to boost the bottom line at SSGA.

Thasunda Brown Duckett

President and CEO
TIAA

"Be OK being uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable," Brown Duckett said during a 2022 interview with TV journalist Shaun Robinson. "Life doesn't necessarily move in the trajectory that you may have in your mind, but it doesn't mean there is not the opportunity forward."

"There was no job that was too big or too small for me, and I wanted to make sure that whatever I did, I did it with excellence," she said. "I was fortunate enough to perform, but also fortunate enough to have people around me that would give me the shot, and once you get the shot, it's what you do with it."

Learn more about how Duckett is working to increase diversity in the financial services industry.

Jenny Johnson

President and CEO
Franklin Templeton

"You have to own your own career," Johnson said. "Don't expect it to be a passive journey. ... You've got to be thinking about what you love about it, what you're good at and look for opportunities."

Being able to work with ambiguous opportunities is also important, Johnson said. "Sometimes an opportunity comes up and it's not really clear exactly what it is. Maybe somebody will say to you: OK, I think you could be good at this. The people that I see who ultimately reach a ceiling, it's because they're not willing to take a risk; they don't have confidence in themselves."

Learn more about Johnson's plans to create new digital asset products.

Adena Friedman

Chair and CEO
Nasdaq

"In two words: constant curiosity," Friedman said. "The world we operate in constantly evolves, so we need to be prepared to evolve with it. ... By identifying the culture, people and roles that will stretch you and help you build new skills and capabilities, you can position yourself to have real impact."

"Everyone's career path will be different, but if you focus on your goals and the problems you find most interesting, you'll craft a career path that's both compelling and fulfilling," she said.

Learn more about Friedman's plans for Nasdaq's ongoing transformation.

Lindsay Hans

President, Co-head of Merrill Wealth Management
Bank of America, Merrill Wealth Management

"Get mentors and get them early," Hans said. "It's easy for people with a long career's worth of experience to tell others to avoid the mistakes they've made, but it's hard to predict the unexpected dynamics that will eventually affect a young person's career."

"Things go the wrong way for people when they don't have a solid framework to be able to make decisions in those moments," she said. "Get input from people who aren't as close to the situation and maybe have a little bit of a fresh, unemotional perspective on things."

See how Hans's parents helped influence her to pursue a career in the financial services industry.

Emily Portney

Global Head of Asset Servicing
BNY

"You don't have to have a plan, and any plan you have is probably not the trajectory that you will likely take," Portney said. "Adaptability is very important."

"Being yourself, and showing up as you, is a secret to both happiness and to excelling at work. ...You evolve your style, but at the end of the day, everyone has her own style," she said. "Embrace that."

Learn more about Portney's ascent in the financial services industry.

Lynn Martin

President
New York Stock Exchange Group

"Don't be afraid to take risks and say yes to jobs that you don't necessarily feel 100% qualified to take on," Martin said. "If someone is asking you to take on a position, it's because they believe you are more than capable of taking on that role."

Learn more about how Martin upgrades NYSE's technology without skipping a beat.

Sharon Yeshaya

Chief Financial Officer
Morgan Stanley

"I try to look at it with grace," Yeshaya said about her younger self, explaining she made the best choices she was capable of at the time.

For advice, Yeshaya encourages young bankers to focus on developing as much knowledge as they can, and leading with their knowledge base when meeting with prospective clients or employers.

"Know the right answer," she said.

Learn more about Yeshaya's career path and influence at the firm.

Kara McShane

Managing Director, Global Head of Commercial Real Estate
Wells Fargo

McShane would tell herself to "be confident. Don't be afraid to take risks, including jobs that you may not feel entirely ready for; believe in yourself and your abilities because hard work and grit can help you accomplish anything."

Discover how McShane found opportunities to grow market share for Wells Fargo and stay a step ahead of risk.

Kourtney Gibson

Chief Institutional Client Officer
TIAA

"Be you, stay intellectually curious, lean on those that have your best interest at heart, keep doing the right thing, allow that to guide you and everything will work out as it should," Gibson said.

Read about her plans to encourage everyday Americans to think and act more proactively about retirement.

Anna Marrs

Group President, Global Commercial Services and Credit and Fraud Risk
American Express

"I would tell my younger self to enjoy the ride," Marrs said. "When I look back on my career, it's been incredibly fun. ... I've gotten to do interesting things and meet interesting people, and I've loved it."

"I'd tell her to pursue things that are fun and energizing," she said.

See more about Marrs' role and responsibilities at the financial services giant.

Samara Epstein Cohen

Senior Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer of ETF and Index Investments
BlackRock

"I would give my first-day-of-work self a big hug and say, 'You totally belong here.' I was a theater major and a lot of my work experience before finance was in theater," Epstein Cohen said.

As passionate as she was about learning about finance and the markets, she had reservations about the role and wondered if they made a mistake in hiring her.

"Those places of self-doubt are generally where I perform the least best. ... My moments of doubting, 'Should I be here? Should I be in the room?' I would tell her, she totally belongs in any room that she has a passion to be in," she said.

Find out more about how Cohen's skill at public speaking has benefited her career in finance.

Michal Katz

Head of Investment & Corporate Banking
Mizuho Americas

"Try to become a subject matter expert, a 'go-to,' someone that others come to when they're trying to solve a problem," Katz said.

Also, persevere. "Stick with it. ... You're going to stumble and you're going to fall, but you've got to figure out how to pick yourself up," she said. "Build a support network around you because you will need someone you know who lends a hand now and again to help pull you up once you have stumbled."

Learn how Katz seized on an opportunity to double down on M&A when others were backing down.

Hanneke Smits

Global Head of Investment Management
BNY

"There are really two pieces of advice I would tell my younger self and any other young professionals starting out in their career. ... Personal resilience leads to professional resilience [and] make sure to set boundaries for yourself so that you can prioritize self-reflection and find the space to recharge," Smits said.

"Feedback is a gift, both to give and receive," she said.

Learn more about how Smits works to meet BNY's clients' needs.

Tom Kates

Donna Milrod

Chief Product Officer and Head of State Street Digital
State Street

"A career is not a straight progression," Milrod said. "You may have a plan coming out of school, but it is OK when your career path inevitably deviates."

She also would say to trust herself and be patient with all the twists and turns along the way.

Find out how Milrod helped State Street prepare for T + 1.

Katy Knox

President, Bank of America Private Bank
Bank of America

"I would tell myself to be more intentional around technical training," Knox said.

"Early in my career, I knew I loved being around clients, I knew I loved sales and I stayed in that role for a really long time," she said. "Maybe I would have done different things early to acquire different technical skills in different areas."

Learn more about how Knox is building a younger and more diverse workforce at the private bank.

Anu Aiyengar

Global Head of Advisory
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"Sleep."

After pushing herself for years on four to six hours of sleep, Aiyengar said she "now realizes sleep is a weapon" and gets six hours for better clarity of judgment.

Learn more about Aiyengar's newly created position at the bank and her outlook for dealmaking.

Ida Liu

Head of Citi Private Bank
Citigroup

"Think big," Liu said. "Communication is key and networking is everything."

Banking is numbers and analysis, Liu said, but it's just as much a relationship business.

Learn more about Liu's unique leadership style.

Martina Cheung

President, S&P Global Ratings
S&P Global

Cheung would tell herself to learn, be intellectually curious and give back.

She has always been interested in learning as much as she can about topics outside her core responsibilities and she sees giving back to communities as a crucial component of personal and professional development.

Learn more about Cheung's ascent at S&P.

Christina Minnis

Head of Global Credit Finance and Head of Global Acquisition Finance
Goldman Sachs

"Envision the leader you want to be and you will achieve it," Minnis said. "Family isn't a deterrent to focus and drive but rather a reason for them to remain consistent, while motherhood will give you many transferable skills."

Minnis highlighted that both drawing on these skills and relying on your network of supporters are crucial for obtaining success.

"Some days will be more family focused, while others will see work take the priority. ... Net-net, it will all balance out," she said. "Your work achievements over the course of a month or a quarter will be equal to the wins at home, so don't get bent out of shape over the day-to-day."

Learn more about how Minnis managed a high-level career in finance while raising three children.

Kate El-Hillow

President and Chief Investment Officer
Russell Investments

"In hindsight, I probably should have focused more on what I was bringing to the table than what I didn't have," El-Hillow said.

Advancing one's career, she says, is a balancing act of risk-taking and patience about those risks paying off.

Learn how El-Hillow diversified what clients invest in and how she helped the company reassess its approach to risk budgeting.

Maria Hackley

Global Head of the Industrials Group
Citigroup

"I would tell my younger self to take risks earlier on," Hackley said.

"Be adaptable and flexible, take assignments outside of your comfort zone that give you a diverse set of experiences and be more deliberate about identifying mentors and sponsors and nurture those relationships," she said. "The responsibility of growing that network is on you and you should focus on building that earlier in your career."

Hackley also highlighted the opportunities afforded when taking an international assignment if given the opportunity.

"Let your managers know that you're interested in a global experience," she said.

Discover how Hackley helped Citi diversify its ranks over the last 30 years.

Penny Pennington

Managing Partner
Edward Jones

"I would remind my younger self to 'never disqualify yourself' [and] don't be afraid to raise your hand for opportunities you don't feel fully qualified for," Pennington said. "Believe in your abilities and the experience you bring to any role."

Pennington stressed that professionals need to recognize the value of their points of view, "experiences, personal strengths, desires, potential and aspirations," she said. "You can learn the technical aspects of any role as you go along."

Learn about how Pennington is investing in client-facing technology and improving financial advisors' pay.