ABA chairman advises bank women to learn, be mentors

Northwestern Financial Review, Jun 15-Jun 30, 2005 by Hilgert, Jackie

Five percent of bank CEOs are female even though women occupy 65 percent of the industry's workforce. That's the type of statistic some point to as proof the banking industry maintains a solid glass ceiling. Yet Betsy Duke, the first female to chair the American Bankers Association, disagrees. "Women comprise 16 percent of executive management in the top 100 banks," Duke said citing a study conducted by Financial Women International. "That's up from 3 percent in 1999 - almost a five-fold increase."

In smaller community banks, women hold close to one-third of the executive management jobs, Duke told a group of 90 women gathered at a diversity conference jointly sponsored by the Minnesota Bankers Association and the North Central District of FWI. "It's taken a long time to break through the lower barriers and now we have a lot of bench strength in that layer just below the CEO level," she said. "That's where the next generation of CEOs will be drawn."

In addition to being the first woman to lead the ABA, Duke was the first woman to lead the Virginia Bankers Association, the first female senior vice president at SouthTrust Bank, her employer prior to an acquisition by Wachovia, and the first female president of the Virginiabased community bank that was earlier acquired by SouthTrust. "It sounds like I've been busting through barriers all along, but I really only broke through one," Duke said of her experience. "That was in 1988 when the good-ole-boys at the Bank of Virginia Beach named me president." She was referring to the bank's board of directors, a group long hesitant to agree that Duke was deserving of the title - and the responsibility - of running their bank.

"Nothing is ever just about you being a woman," Duke advised. "You sell yourself short when you say, 'well, it's just because I'm a woman and it's just not fair.'"

Duke, who entered banking as a part-time teller and combined hustle and education to work her way to the top, admitted there had been times being a woman had been a disadvantage for her. Conversely, there also have been times when being a woman had been an advantage. "On balance, it's usually been an advantage," she said. "Everything usually works out for the best - if you let it."

Financial Women International has been mentoring women in the industry for years; three years ago, the Minnesota Bankers Association launched an initiative to reach out to women in banking with educational opportunities at the behest of Mary Ellen Domeier, its 2001-2002 president. The two groups merged efforts for the first time this year with positive results. Gail Mikolich, Twin Cities chapter president for FWI, reports the group has expanded its membership, adding 13 people this year. In addition to Duke, the day-and-a-halflong conference featured topics on leadership, competition and the economy.

Speaking to a group of professional women eager to consume the minutia of being ABA chairman, Duke admitted she had no secret formula for her success. Duke studied acting in college and her first boss in banking was unapologetic when he announced he didn't believe in training women because women couldn't be counted on to keep working.

"I've told that story to women who are horrified by it," Duke explained. "But to me it was great because I viewed it as, 'hey he doesn't hate women, he just hates investing in people and then losing them.'" Duke convinced her boss she had every intention of staying in the field, and opportunities opened for her. It was that boss who convinced the board of the Bank of Virginia Beach to make Betsy Duke its president.

When it comes to reacting in the workplace, Duke said women have four options: join the culture, fight the culture, change the culture, or leave. "The culture of most companies in the United States has been shaped by men - older men," she said. "Men don't hate us, but they don't understand us either." The result is it becomes easy for men and women to misinterpret each other because they never truly communicate. "It becomes too easy to retreat into what's familiar," Duke said, explaining that for many men what's familiar is their relationship with their mother, wife or daughter. "Sure, it's not fair, but it is understandable."

Duke advised women bankers not to get caught up in the issue of fairness. "Think of the world of men as a foreign culture; try to understand it, then try to find your place in it," she said.

Duke cautioned women not to change who they are, but to adapt their style to the culture of their workplace. "Hold fast to your integrity," she added. "You can adjust your style to fit your company, but find a company that fits your values."

By Jackie Hilgert