85 Broads...Past Head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney....Investor....Board Member...Crazed UNC Basketball Fan....Mom
The 7 Things I Learned When I Got Fired (Again)
Ok,
my exit from running the wealth management businesses of Bank of America was
called a restructuring. But it sure felt like I was fired. I learned a lot of
lessons the first time I was fired. (See “What
I Learned When I Got Fired…The First Time.”)
Here
are the lessons from the second go-round:
Lesson
Number 1: If it feels too good to be true, it probably is. Were
you ever offered a job that seemed to be tailor-made for you? When I was asked
to join Bank of America to turn around its Merrill Lynch and US Trust wealth
management businesses, I couldn’t have scripted a more perfect opportunity: one
that was challenging but that I believed was do-able. It was so perfect that
when I received the offer, but was not allowed to meet any of my soon-to-be
peers (to maintain confidentiality) or anyone on the Board (because that was
never done), I shrugged it off. What could go wrong?? (I know, I know, cue
deafening alarm bells.)
Lesson
Number 2: The power of culture. Happily,
my bet that the Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors retained a culture of
underlying client focus was correct. Unhappily, my implicit bet that the parent
company culture was one I could navigate effectively was incorrect. Heck, I
thought, I had managed to do well at Smith Barney and at Sanford Bernstein, and
those two corporate cultures had little in common, besides an openness to
energetic debate. But in fact, at this new shop, there was a melding of several
cultures brought together through acquisition and changing through a leadership
transition; thus, while I was learning the culture, it was itself shifting and
changing. I asked for, and was given, lots of advice from lots of people on how
to navigate it, sometimes conflicting.[1] I'm no shrinking violet, so I knew there was
no real alignment of values when I found myself second- and third-guessing my
comments in management team meetings before I made them.
Lesson
Number 3: Face time still matters. I was
based in New York, the company’s headquarters were in Charlotte, the real center
of power was in Boston and other senior managers were based in California. And
most of the management team spent a good deal of time traveling. As the new kid
on the block, I found it hard to achieve a camaraderie with the team; it’s hard
to be part of the inside jokes when you’re not there or you aren’t having the
few minutes swapping stories while grabbing a coffee between meetings. I was
never part of the meetings-before-the-meeting, or the
meetings-after-the-meeting, or the “real” meeting; I was just part of the
official meeting (which in some companies can be the least important meeting of
them all). And, no, Telepresence and all the other technology didn’t help a bit
with this.
Lesson
Number 4: A sponsor matters even more. And
in part this was because I didn’t have time to develop a real sponsor at the
company. The CEO who hired me had told me he would stay in his role for at least
two more years; he announced his retirement less than two months later. This
left me without the person who was most invested in my successful transition to
the company, and with significantly changed marching orders. While I asked (and
asked and asked) for feedback on how I was doing, I lacked a real sponsor at the
senior leadership table….and my peers who were also negatively impacted in the
restructuring were similarly “square pegs.” This was in contrast to prior jobs,
when I’ve had people who invested a lot of time in me; in some cases, this took
years off of my career trajectory.
Lesson
Number 5: Business results are not everything I am
not a dumb woman; I realized I wasn’t part of the “inner circle.” But I
mistakenly believed that if my team delivered strong business results – and, as
I repeatedly told the team, if we were the business no-one had to worry about –
we would be successful. But on the day I left, the business was ahead of budget
and gaining share.
The
Good News: A strong outside network helps a lot. I was
fortunate that I have maintained a strong outside network over the years. While
my internal network faded pretty quickly (many, many fewer holiday cards from
former BofA colleagues that holiday season!), I was touched by how helpful
people outside of the company were.
Research
has identified networking as the number 1 “unwritten rule of success” in
business. It also shows that one's next professional opportunity is more likely
to come from one's extended network than from friends. And, in fact, my recent
investment in 85
Broads (itself a
professional woman’s network) was the result of a string of nine business
introductions, one contact leading to another, starting with a conversation with
a seatmate on an airplane a few years ago and resulting in the announcement a
few months ago.
The
Best News: Gratitude helps even more. I
don’t want to get too "new age-y," but I am grateful. Even on the day I was
fired, I was grateful. Not to take anything away from all of the hard work over
the years, but it's pure dumb luck that I had the good fortune to be born into
the extraordinary circumstances of this day and age, and that I have had the
opportunities I have had. It could have easily gone another
way.
Oh,
and a big glass of wine (or three) the night I was chucked out didn’t hurt
either.....
(1)
The classic was when I was told by a Very Important Senior Person that Merrill
Lynch needed to be "led, not managed" within days of being told by another Very
Important Senior Person that Merrill needed to be "managed, not led." (Cue music
from "Jaws.")
