You can get ahead without being aggressive or pushy

FRIDAY, NOV. 09: HSBC Bermuda Women’s Development Association committee held a panel discussion on Monday of this week at Harbourview for the female members of staff at the Bank. Kirsten Faria, senior vice president, Bermuda and international product line manager, healthcare at Allied World Assurance Company and Deborah Hazell, CEO of HSBC Asset management, North America were two of the panelists on the committee.

Whether you’re a man or a woman do you have to be labeled as aggressive, pushy or even more colourful adjectives in order to succeed? What are the key methods that you found in getting support within your organization at the senior level and what do you attribute your success?

Ms Faria: In order to be successful, you have to want to be successful. That sounds so basic and fundamental but you have to want it before you get married and after you getting married; before you have a baby and after you have a baby. We talked about the glass ceiling but we also have to acknowledge the sticky floor that a lot of women have to deal with.

It’s all well and good to want to progress but you have to make sure that your lifestyle will allow for it. You’re making the decision to prioritize that progression forward.

You not only have to want to progress, you have to ask for it. I can remember at two distinct parts of my career where I sat down in front of my boss and said ‘I think deserve a promotion and let me tell you why.’ I made my case to him. I didn’t always necessarily get promoted at that moment, but I put it on the radar and showcased important to me and how I was benefiting the company as a result.

I call that being an advocate for yourself and it is very important just to be yourself as a priority. After all, if you don’t prioritize yourself who will? Who is going to take that step forward for you?

You don’t have to be aggressive or pushy to prioritize yourself. I certainly do think you have to be assertive; You have to be confident and you have to have passion for what you do.”

Aggression and passion are two sides of the same coin. As I’ve matured and progressed, I’ve turned that natural tendency towards aggression and try to channel it into something more positive.

I’ve been passionate in a positive way rather than that aggressive with a tinge of anger.

Ms Hazell: I am actually very shy and I had to come out of my corner to take this role. When I became CEO, there’s running the business and then there’s all of the other things that come with it.

I didn’t quite understand that when I first took the role so I just had to keep pushing myself out there because it’s naturally who I am.

People just don’t expect me to be a CEO and to have the job that I have.

It could be that I’m not aggressive.

For me it’s about knowing your business and knowing your people so you don’t have to have all these aggressive attributes to succeed.

So what do I attribute to my success? I never aimed for this. Every step of the way, the roles that I got, I didn’t specifically set out to get.

What I did set out to do, whatever job I was given, was to make sure it was the best job I could do. I worked harder than everybody else.

I married very late in life so I had the advantage of being single for many years so I didn’t have to worry about running home to the kids. That probably helped me a lot, but I didn’t realize it at the time.

But what really propelled me, was I had a bunch of my peers who wanted me to take on the CEO role. They got behind me and wanted me to step up. It took several months before I finally said ‘okay’ and put myself forward.

The minute I put myself forward, my boss, a man said ‘You know what? You’re exactly the right person for the job’.

Part three will run next Wednesday.