Women In Action
Women In Action | Executive Women | Career Mothers
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Liz CacciottoloThere’s a lot to learn from Liz Cacciottolo. At the helm of UBS Wealth Management in Australia, she is an impressive, innovative manager. |
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While I spend the interview listening to her confident dissection of a career that has placed her at the helm of UBS Wealth Management in , the company’s new communications manager sits in the background. Madly taking notes, she attempts to capture her CEO’s impressive command of managerial and finance ‘speak’. Cacciottolo is in the business of advising the world’s wealthiest individuals and families on their financial affairs, but she’s also a master of successful start-ups and an impressive, innovative manager with a reputation for hiring a new generation of finance ‘intrepreneurs’ – smart, creative thinkers that promote internal change and growth. She estimates that at least a third of her time is spent on recruitment, which is based on her belief that top-calibre people will gather equally talented people around them, creating a culture of excellence. “B-grade people tend to hire C-grade people. So don’t ever hire ‘B’ people,” she advises. “Having the right people in the right role is what makes things run very smoothly, and my role as the leader of the business is to make that happen.” Cacciottolo makes it sound simple, and her philosophies are efficient and practical: keep meetings brief, and action them immediately. Expect mistakes to happen, but keep the lines of communication open, so that problems are identified and quickly ironed out to allow for swift organic growth. Work smart, focus on what will have the most impact, and “keep the main thing the main thing”. Encourage debate and empower your staff. The CEO has regular lunches to meet with every member of her staff, and sitting with the engaging, bright-eyed woman for any length of time puts the basis of her recruitment talent on display: Cacciottolo is an excellent salesperson with an innate sense of confidence. “Leadership is about changing what people think is possible,” she says. “It’s about creating the problems that are worth solving.” A self-described “high-performance individual”, Cacciottolo travelled to the UK with UBS in 1988, working on the trading floor for four years before hitting her first start-up, establishing an equity derivatives business for UBS that encompassed 10 European countries. “I learnt by asking successful people around me how they achieved what they did. I always came to my managers with ideas and solutions, and I was lucky to have some great mentors.” In a year, the venture’s revenue was running at over $200 million. “The luxury of start-ups is that you can hire people who know what they’re up for - you can be very clear about what the goals are,” she says. In 1999, she moved to her second new initiative, becoming UBS’ head of Wealth Management UK. Cacciottolo believes in aiming high, very high, then simply making a plan to get there. “The thing that’s said about high-performance individuals is that it almost doesn’t matter where you set the bar, that person will find a way to get there. They’ll think outside the square.” After five years of rapid growth, the Wealth Management business had over 900 staff and $50 billion in assets. During this period she and her husband also welcomed two baby boys into their lives, and Cacciottolo seems to have successfully juggled motherhood and career. “I’ve always run high-growth, high-impact businesses for UBS and it’s important to me that this can be achieved with work/life balance. You need to plan and prioritise well, but you also need to know how to turn off. You come back to work refreshed and more efficient.” Moving back to Australia in 2005 with family in tow was another change embraced enthusiastically, and with a third child on the way at the time of interview, Cacciottolo seems just as confident about her new venture. When asked about the pressures involved in managing super-wealthy clients, Cacciottolo looks a little blank. It seems that doubt has never entered her mind. It is simply her nature to embrace challenges and set high goals. If she has a regret, it’s in not selling some of her initial ideas strongly enough. She concludes that she’s thrived due to the meritocratic nature of the banking sector – and would recommend the career to other women for that reason. But it’s obvious Cacciottolo also has a skill lacking in many women: she’s always believed she can do it. “It’s important to have big goals, and big ambitions – you can set your sights too low. I don’t just want to climb the mountain. I want to move it.” This article first appeared in Vive – the magazine for Women Who Mean Business, Feb-March 2007 Edition. To subscribe to VIVE go to: http://online.pol.com.au Back |
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