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Despite years of diversity initiatives, senior management teams remain overwhelmingly male. Now a growing number of women are coming around to the idea that real change starts in the boardroom.
September 22 - WIB PH
A formal mentoring program Zions started in 2009 has helped to advance the careers of hundreds of women and some men inside the bank. Now Zions' top women leaders are sharing what they've learned with other firms in hopes of preventing women from leaving the workforce.
September 22 - WIB PH
LeeAnne Linderman became an advocate for homeless military veterans almost by accident. After hearing that no local shelters could take female veterans with children, Linderman started her own charity called Veteran Mothers. The Zions First National Bank executive even got support from KISS and Def Leppard.
September 22
LeeAnne Linderman
EVP, Retail Banking, Zions Bancorp.
LeeAnne Linderman is always up for a challenge.
Just weeks after starting a new job running retail operations for all of Zions Bancorp., Linderman in early February took on an assignment to co-chair the search for a new chief executive at one of Utah's biggest nonprofits, the United Way of Greater Salt Lake.
It was an intimidating task given the stature of many of her board colleagues, but Linderman saw it as an important test of her leadership skills. Linderman serves on several nonprofit and corporate boards and believes strongly that the more engaged she is as a board member, the better leader she will be at Zions. When the months-long search ended in the spring, Linderman felt it had been one of the most rewarding experiences of her entire career.
In her new role, Linderman is tasked with overseeing retail banking across the $54 billion-asset company's seven banking subsidiaries in 11 states. Previously she ran retail banking at Zions' lead bank, the $19 billion-asset Zions First National Bank.
Among her chief objectives is rolling out to the holding company's entire 460-branch footprint a promising new branch design that she piloted.
The promotion also earned Linderman a seat on the holding company's 21-person executive management team.
Long term, Linderman aspires to join more corporate boards. She's passionate about creating opportunities for women, minorities and the disadvantaged, and believes that, outside of holding elected office or heading a major corporation or nonprofit, the only way to effect real change is to serve on more boards. She also believes that more women in boardrooms will lead to more women in C-suites.
"I'd like to have the ability to have an impact as other women have had for me," she says.
