PWA » Women on Boards

Woman of the Month – Interview with Manuela D’Onofrio

Maria — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:00:37 +0000

by Martaeleonora Paiar

This is the second in a series of interviews of outstanding women who share their experiences and advice. PWA is proud to list Manuela in our Ready for Board Women project

This month PWA spoke with Manuela D’Onofrio, Head of Global Investment Strategy in the Private Banking Division for Unicredit Group.

Manuela studied mathematics before embarking on her extensive career in the financial services industry, both in Italy and the U.S., working for Chase Manhattan, J.P. Morgan and BIPIEMME, before joining Unicredit. She started in the banking industry at a time when bankers, especially the upper management, were mostly men. Read her full professional background here.

PWA:
Manuela, could you please share with us the skills that you have found to be your most valuable, the ones that have helped you the most to succeed in business?

Manuela:
A definite set of skills which helped me in my life and in my career include passion, intuition, analysis and synthesis competencies, topped by the ability to think quickly, to concentrate very easily and to go deep into every subject, instead of staying on the surface. There are perhaps three more skills which have enabled me to have a successful career: technical competency in my job, understanding for my limits and the managerial capacity to allow my team to achieve their full potential, to grow and shine, instead of holding them back. Moreover, I think that for me it was important to understand not only finance, but also the big picture. That means understanding the global trends (i.e., macroeconomics and demographics) that are shaping the world, trends which give us an idea of where the world and the global economy is going. Plus, I never stop learning: I read plenty and, as somebody that entered the financial world from a different field [Manuela studied mathematics], learning something new has been a constant in my life. In a nutshell: passion, intuition, competency and the understanding of your limits are critical to success.

PWA:
How important do you think is the ability to network?

Manuela:
I think it’s extremely important. In my opinion, it determines thirty percent of everybody’s career. It is a “do ut des” relationship, not to be confused with friendship. Networking has to be focused. Your goal should be to create a network of contacts in order to be remembered when needed, stand out in the crowd, and to be used as a referral. If you need to hire somebody, you prefer to hire the people that you know, that you trust, and that you can work well with together, instead of taking the risk of hiring somebody you don’t know, nor do any of your contacts. For example, when I have to hire somebody and I have to choose among candidates with comparable experiences and skills, I usually call my contacts to ask them if they know any of the candidates, so as to have some information about the candidates.

Having just stated the importance of networking, I have to admit that I could improve my networking skills, since I don’t have currently a “proper” network.

PWA:
What about the ability to network with other women in particular?

Manuela:
It’s important to network with both men and women.

PWA:
What suggestions would you give to younger professionals to establish a network that could help them to enhance their professional career and make the most out of it?

Manuela:
First of all, networking has to be focused. Second, you could organize dinners to gain new contacts and invite people to talk about their experiences. You could do something like this at your company or in your spare time. Last, but not least, I suggest that you ask questions at different events (e.g., conferences). From the questions you ask, other professionals can get the idea of who you are and how do you think.

PWA:
What are the main differences you need to consider when working in an international environment?

Manuela:
It is very important to be aware of the cultural differences between different nationalities. For example, Germans are more formal than Italians. They are very fond of procedures and, by converse, they tend not to be pleased when something happens not in accordance to the established rules.

PWA:
What are the most significant aspects to be considered to establish the right working climate?

Manuela:
In my opinion it is important not to take yourself too seriously, to allow some time also for laughter and an occasional joke in the office.

PWA:
What is your strategy to achieve a good balance of work and home life? Are there any rules you would like to share with us?

Manuela:
My all-embracing rules are the followings: do what you love–I truly love my job. Then prioritize carefully and be a bit selfish, meaning that you have to be aware of your value and of whom is the most important person in your life: yourself. One big issue with which I have had to cope has been overcoming the feeling of guilt towards my family that I had by pursuing my time-consuming career. In my opinion, as a woman you may feel guilty if you are not dedicating the majority of your time to your family. Whereas a man might not feel guilt at all. How I manage to overcome this issue was by being honest to myself and understanding that by changing careers and working less, I would have been unhappy. Since an unhappy or depressed mother is much worse than an absent mother, I basically made a deal with my son: I would pursue my dreams and thereby provide a good example for him, and encourage him to pursue his.

PWA:
How do you cope with stress?

Manuela:
I cope with stress by using two strategies: First, I think that nobody is essential and everybody is just an atom in the universe. Secondly, I am aware that stress is negative and aimless. So, everyone should try to cope with it by finding something nice to do to distract themselves in order to avoid stress. In fact, everybody should find something, a hobby or a sport, to distract and stop their brain from the repetitive loop of negative thoughts and to fix themselves on a different pleasant thought.

PWA:
Based on your experience, what would you suggest to younger professionals aiming to develop their careers?

Manuela:
They should understand what they want and where they want to be, asking for it and take risks to get it, to get there. To understand what they want, I recommend they analyze carefully what they have done and understand what they like and what they don’t like about their past actions. After that I suggest they discard what they don’t like and to understand how to achieve again what they liked, to achieve more of the same, to repeat regularly this behavior. Don’t be shy. Ask for what you desire, ask for a desired position, for instance. In my understanding of people, they are generally not good at asking for what they want.

Step by step, we are getting to the top

Maria — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:54:51 +0000

by Monica Pesce

PWA Milan’s Ready-for-Board Women initiative was first envisioned in 2008, together with Simona Cuomo and Adele Mapelli , of SDA Bocconi, and Rosanna D’Antona, of D’Antona & Partners.
At that time no one was even talking about a legislation on quotas. The goal of our project was twofold 1) to show decision makers that excellent women ready to be appointed were available – it was only a matter of making them visible, and 2) to mobilise both men and women around the idea that it would benefit everyone to have more diverse and high-quality boards that would improve the governance of our companies.

Since 2008 two editions of the RFBW list have been published, a legislation on quotas in both listed and state-controlled companies has been approved thanks to Lella Golfo and Alessia Mosca and will be enforced starting in 2013 and the new Mayor of Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, has decided to apply a balanced distribution of positions among genders not only to his City Council, but also to the board positions the City Mayor appoints.

After a few years of slow improvement, it looks like things have started to happen in the last three months. Our congratulations go to the Ready-for-board Women for their recent appointments:

PWA member Laura Iris Ferro to Istituti Milanesi Martinitt e Stelline e Pio Albergo Trivulzio board on October 4

Elisabetta Magistretti to Mediobanca board on September 21

Tamara Laudisio, to SO.GE.M.I board of statutory auditors as deputy statutory auditor on July 27

We are honoured to have concretely contributed by officially proposing Laura Iris Ferro, Tamara Laudisio and Elisabetta Oliveri as board candidates.

It seems that the strong personal ideas of one (or more than one) man and the moral suasion effect of the quota legislation are starting to generate concrete outcomes. We are still very far from a balanced representation, but it’s good to see the first outcomes of our RFBW initiative. And it is indeed rewarding to know that PWA Milan is contributing to this improvement.

So thanks to all of you – whether actively involved or through the word-of-mouth you generate or the suggestions you provide – you have all been part of this challenging initiative.

Keep on supporting us, because the road is long and winding!

More good news: Milano sempre piu’ rosa

Maria — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:03:32 +0000

Alfemminile.com reports on 2 positive developments.

ATM’s Board of Directors has added Elisabetta Oliveri and Alessandra Perrazzelli, both of whom were included in the 2011 Edition of PWA’s Ready For Board Women project (RFBW). Elisabetta Oliveri was in fact nominated by PWA for the board position, making us doubly proud!

Universita’ Statale di Milano announced that on their future Ateneo board, at least 3 out of the 8 positions will be women.

Read the full article (in Italian) here

Women on Boards in Italy, new study from Consob

Monica — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:39:16 +0000

CONSOB, the public authority responsible for regulating the Italian securities market, just published the study Women on Boards in Italy.

“In this paper we investigate the state of the art of women representation in Italian corporate boards, trying also to assess its determinants”.

Download the report here (in English, despite the first pages in Italian)

Cranfield’s 6 Month Monitoring Report published

Monica — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:24:53 +0000

Cranfield last week presented to David Cameron the 6 Month Interim Davies Report on Women on Boards.
Since the first Davies Report numbers have slightly improved with 21 new women appointed.
Download the report here: http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/p1087/Research/Research-Centres/Centre-for-Women-Business-Leaders

Woman of the Month – Interview with Francesca Fiore

Monica — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:18:10 +0000

By Martaeleonora Paiar

This is the first in a series of interviews of outstanding women, who will share with us their experiences and advice.

This month features Francesca Fiore, Director of Terminals for Southern Europe at Vodafone and member of the Vodafone Senior Leadership Team. Ms. Fiore is responsible for managing the Terminals business (i.e., mobile phones and other electronic devices) for Vodafone in Italy, Malta, Greece, Albania and Romania. Specifically, her focus is in relation to the selection of the portfolio of devices, the development of their commercial offers and the go-to-market activities. A Harvard graduate, she is also responsible for the implementation of strategic and operational integration in Southern Europe for Vodafone and for strategic projects at the Group level (e.g., negotiation of the iPhone 4 contract, launch of the new DSL modem). For more details of her biography, you can click here.

PWA: Francesca, could you please share with us the skills that you have found to be your most valuable ones?

Francesca: I believe that my most valuable skills are energy, ambition, commitment and a positive attitude towards life that helps me to let things happen. I have always been very independent and active during my studies, showing a great deal of interest for extracurricular activities. For example, I worked as a market researcher during my university time and understood right from the beginning the importance of networking and listening to people with different backgrounds and experiences.

These skills have been partly inborn, partly nurtured by a great deal of empowerment from my family–I have to thank them for their support. They also taught me to be open minded and gave me a passion for travelling. My skills also come from my education and from what my first boss taught me. He always supported me in my professional growth and gave me plenty of trust and important advices.

PWA: Which skills are the ones that have helped you the most to succeed in business?

Francesca: Among the skills that have helped me to succeed in business, I would definitely count a good understanding of the people surrounding me, to include their fundamental values. From this I try to provide good management and a conducive working environment. As a manager, relationship skills are very important in order to create quality work.

Moreover, I could also count as one of my most significant business strengths my energy that helps me to focus on different problems and solve them.

Analytical skills were [more] important in the first stage of my career. These skills serve to the extent of gaining credibility with an audience [e.g., management, clients]. In fact, in order to be credible, a manager should present facts which are justified by figures.

PWA: How important do you think is the ability to network?

Francesca: I think that the ability to network is extremely important: first, you can interact with other people and gain insights from them and build on their responses and advice. In fact, surrounding yourself with people of various ages and backgrounds can be a life-enriching experience that can enable you to be able to make better and weighted decisions. Second, you could even find role models by networking with senior and successful people. Last, but not least, networking helps you to stand out in the crowd and be remembered, so that you will come to mind when an opportunity arises.

Networking has to be moderated and managed carefully. Also, it is healthy to be part of more than one networking organization. My personal advice is to look after a network with something that binds the participants together, instead of being part of networks that are too large or generic–in this case, the added value could not be perceived.

PWA: What about the ability to network with other women in particular?

Francesca: It is crucial. But, in my experience, women are not good at helping each other: we say that we would like to help each other, but the reality is different. We do not expect to get help from other women, because every woman is seen [by the others] as a potential competitor.

PWA: Which suggestions would you give to younger professionals to establish a network that could help them to enhance their professional career and make the most out of it?

Francesca: Nowadays the Internet can be a great help in finding new groups and making new contacts.

So, at first, you should surf the web and choose carefully which network you would like to be part of.

Then, you should think of using other available resources that you would never think to use. For example, don’t feel sorry for yourself if you don’t have a vast and established network. Instead, try to ask a more senior colleague for concrete advice.

To make the most out of a newly established network, I think you should have someone that could act as your role model. Therefore, it is important to find a role model who would be approachable for you–not with too high of a profile or inaccessible. For instance, you might consider the professor that helped you developing your master thesis.

PWA: What is your strategy to achieve a good balance of work and home life? Are there any golden rules you would like to share with us?

Francesca: Good stress management, valuable people who can help you, and to delegate–you are never going to make it alone.

I have only two golden rules: to choose carefully your priority and not to think in stereotypes. In my case, my first and only priority has been work until I was 31 years old. Then I chose to reorganize my life, allocating subsequently more and more time and space for myself, my partner and my family.

PWA: How do you cope with stress?

Francesca: I don’t stress myself. I learned how to cope with stress by being positive and not giving a damn. I can do that because I think that there will always be another chance. Additionally, I learned to channel adrenaline. Only one thing is able to stress me now: when I know that my children are ill and I don’t have the resources to solve the problem–for instance, I’m not able to speak with the doctor or not able to be present physically–then I’m stressed. Otherwise, nothing stresses me.

PWA: What suggestions or hints could you share with us about minimizing stress?

Francesca: My suggestion is to think that you will always be given another chance and that life is not all about succeeding. There will always be some failures in life.

Remember that you are not accountable for everything and that you do not have to take everything on yourself. Normally, women tend to take every problem 150% on themselves. This is not a good approach.

PWA: Based on your experience, what would you suggest to younger professionals aiming to develop their careers?

Francesca: Abandon every stereotype and dare to be yourself with a bit of bravery.

PWA Milan supporting Deloitte’s event on quotas in Rome

Monica — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:24:31 +0000

Deloitte together with Fondazione Marisa Bellisario, Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili, Egon Zehnder International and PWA Milan has organized an event entitled “Le quote di “genere” nei Consigli di Amministrazione e nei Collegi Sindacali. Un’opportunità di crescita per tutti”.

The event will take place on July 11th at 16 in Rome at Palazzo Marini, Sala delle Conferenze della Camera dei Deputati.

If you wish to know more about the agenda of the event and how to register, please click here to download the brochure.

PWA President Monica Pesce and RFBW Paola Profeta interviewed on quotas

Monica — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:53:42 +0000

Radio Colonia recently interviewed PWA Milan President Monica Pesce and RFBW and Bocconi Professor Paola Profeta on the impact of quotas on our economy and society.

Listen to the interview (in Italian) here.

European Commission asking for more women in boardrooms

Monica — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:19:10 +0000

Read this very interesting article, entitled “Women in the boardroom” written by Jerzy Buzek – EU Parliament President – and Viviane Reding – EU Justice Commissioner for the International Herald Tribune.

“The ball is now in the companies’ court. We would like to see Europe in the fast lane when it comes to women in boardrooms. Let’s set ambitious targets. By 2015, at least 30 percent of boardrooms should be female. By 2020, this should rise to 40 percent. In an ideal world, businesses would achieve this voluntarily. But we also stand ready, starting in 2012, to intervene with regulatory pressure if necessary”.

Read the article here

UK to introduce a code of conduct: 20% of board seats go to women by 2013

Monica — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:01:39 +0000

25% of seats to women by 2015, if the code is not effective, the imposition of quotas might come back on the agenda.

See the article on FT here.

In Italy quota legislation under discussion tomorrow in Senate, 40% of board seats to women immediately. Huge reaction from both politicians and entrepreneurs association to try and stop the legislation process. If you want to know more check our post “Are you pro or against quotas? Express your opinion on Il Sole 24ore“.