Anne Finucane is the first female vice chairman of Bank of America and the first woman chairman of the board of Bank of America Europe, the company’s European banking subsidiary based in Ireland. She will retire from the bank at the end of 2021.
Brigitte LacombeBy Anne M. Finucane
This year, as I move on from Bank of America and step back from the list of the World’s Most Powerful Women, I’ve been thinking about the women on this list, both present and past whom I greatly admire. As I think about what, if anything, might be the “magical” ingredient to their success, I keep returning to the idea of resilience.
The Power Women list is, to me, a track record of hard-won accomplishments; the women in its ranks have endured pushbacks and demonstrated the unrelenting determination to press on when success is uncertain or perhaps seems unlikely. They’ve experienced the isolation of attending an event where the number of other female participants is so small that, during breaks, there’s no line for the ladies restroom. Many are also caregivers, cancer survivors, widowed too young, divorced or perhaps misstepped along the way, and yes, sometimes we fail all on our own.
So, how is it that they not only survived but prevailed? I know many of the women on this list. One trait they share—and one that is vastly underrated—is resilience.
If I had a piece of advice, it would be this: don’t let failure put you off, and don’t be daunted by resistance. You will encounter much of this throughout your careers. In fact failure is often the fuel, the motivation to push forward. I’d submit that the women on this list and so many others have fine-tuned and called on their resilience to propel them far more often than men. This is not a value judgment. It’s simply an observation as well as an unfortunate reality, one that is changing ever so slowly.
Resilience requires an energy force that’s not always intuitive or natural; you must work at it, force yourself to develop the emotional muscle to harness the stamina it takes. This reserve is often required when you least expect it, when you feel vulnerable and when challenges appear unending or beyond your control. Resilience is the ability to be present in the moment and act with intentionality. The resilient can land on their feet, sometimes from a crawling position. They can recover from disappointments. The resilient can find a way to resolve a problem when, at first glance, the problem seems insurmountable.
This year’s list is a catalogue of resilience. Regardless of your politics, Nancy Pelosi has nearly perfected resilience as Speaker of the House as she works through the negotiations and compromises necessary to pass legislation in a divided congress. Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health (full disclosure, I serve on CVS’s Board of Directors) lost her mother, who was a single parent, when Karen was 12. Karen is a monument to resilience, honing her grace under fire well before she should have. Ruth Porat, who has succeeded on Wall Street- and Silicon Valley - survived cancer, twice. Oprah Winfrey’s remarkable personal connection with a global audience, building an unparalleled media empire, and repeatedly taking risks with new platforms has almost certainly been informed by her life experiences. Reading of the personal challenges in her young life and professional obstacles in the early days of her career has made her the very definition of resilience. Each of these women has undoubtedly had numerous professional challenges to match the personal but I would submit that the focus which was required in one instance has informed and strengthened the other.
I know many of the women on this list. One trait they share—and one that is vastly underrated—is resilience.
Most of us know what it's like to weather disappointment at work, a family health crisis and even just a bad couple of months. Those moments of difficulty require a great deal of intentional energy and focus to avoid escalating adversity into something more career limiting. Earlier in my career, when my children were still quite young but I was professionally far enough along that I had entered senior management, my husband and I learned our daughter had a rare medical condition and, later, related learning disabilities which could not be easily or quickly addressed. Even with the help of a good boss and a great husband, client dinners, after-work events and travel were all a genuine challenge and for a few years as I watched others move forward my career stood still. Sometimes resilience also requires patience and a reordering of your priorities. For me, those years also helped me effectively handle future crises that were less personal.
Though resilience is a crucial tool in those moments of crisis it can also propel you at times that aren’t dramatic or life-threatening. After all, it’s often the stuff of everyday life—the mundane—that can wear you down if you’re not careful. A 2015 Harvard Business Review article noted that in a research study, out of more than 800 employees of public and private companies surveyed in England, 75% said the biggest drain on their resilience was “managing difficult people or office politics at work.” That was followed closely by “stress brought on by overwork and by having to withstand personal criticism.” If you look at rates of burnout over the last 20 months throughout this pandemic it is not surprising to learn how enervated so many feel. It’s also why we need to be intentional about restoring our energy and developing our resilience.
Challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane can grate on your spirit; but even if aspects of both the personal and professional change over time, or flexibility is required and outcomes are altered, the determination to push through can be the saving grace. Regardless of the circumstances, hard earned resilience can carry you forward. Just look at this list.