Name: NYSE CEO Stacey Cunningham Says 'Focus on the Skills You Have'
Uploaded: 2019-01-23
Duration: 3 min 56 s
Description: The path from floor trader to chef to the boss of the world's biggest stock exchange

[ MUSIC ] Stacey, you made a lot of news when you were named the new president of the New York Stock Exchange, first woman in 226 years to head up the Big Board. What's the most important leadership lesson you've learned so far? I think what's really important is that you remain true to yourself, who you are, Your employees need to know that you haven't changed, as someone who's taking on that role. And so, our team is really what makes us what we are. And it's not just about one person. And I think that's important to recognize, that when you're step Stepping into a senior role it's not a one man show. Because you're a woman and there's still only one female currently working full time on the NYSE floor, there's a lot of expectations that you're gonna open the way to more female leadership On the big board. How do you feel about that responsibility? Attracting women to the trading floor is a challenge. And it's been that way for a very long time. Why is that? Because it's not necessarily an environment that everybody wants, you know, it's a very unique work environment. And it doesn't always appeal to all, and so there aren't that many women on the trading floor. That's separate from the New Your Stock Exchange itself, so if you look at our corporation, NYC Group, we've a lot of senior women in senior roles. Our general counsel is a woman. Our head of government affairs is a woman. Our executive vice chair is a woman. We have a large number of women throughout our leadership team. hard to get that same ratio on the floor. Where we actually don't control that hiring practice as well too. But, how important is diversity for you? And I'm not talking just gender diversity. Whether it's racial diversity. Diversity of experience. How important is that for building your team and reaching your goals? I think diversity of thought is the most important thing. If you don't think differently, you're not going to- the business isn't gonna do as well as it could And you're not gonna have different perspectives. And I think if you focus on building a team that is very diverse in how they think and how they operate, you're also going to have a very diverse team. That's certainly been my experience, and what we've seen. Because when you focus on getting people of different backgrounds and different genders, they end up having different perspectives. And so that's a really important part of the team. It's interesting that none of the big US banks, whether it's J. P. Morgan, Citi, Bank of America, and even the investment bank like Goldman Sachs, has ever been led by a woman. Do you think your promotion could change the way that people feel about female leadership in banking? I think there are a lot of senior female leaders in banking, and we need to get somebody in the top spot at some point in time. I think there are a lot of social Biases conscious or unconscious that exist that often prevent women from getting to that very top spot. And so I think we need to address that more holistically than just that at an individual company level and more as a society. Your personal journey to the presidents job was somewhat unconventional. You started out as an intern on the floor. You broke off at some point to go to culinary school. You worked for a while at the NASDAQ which is arch competitor to the NYSE. How do you use your story to mentor young women and also men? Well, I think it's important to recognize your career doesn't have to be linear. And you're limiting yourself if you think you have to go climb a ladder. It's not about climbing a ladder. And it's not about focusing on what job you executed. It's about what skills you have. So I think anything that you do, whether it is working in a kitchen, working on a trading floor, running a household, any job that you have is preparing you for the next job. That is what I think is really important for people, and that is what I tell young girls and men. when they, when they come out of schools. Focus on your skills and making yourself adaptable. If you can learn how to communicate effectively, how to work on a team effectively, how to collaborate, how to problem- solve, how to think, you know in an analytical way; you could go do anything.

NYSE CEO Stacey Cunningham Says "Focus on the Skills You Have"

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The path from floor trader to chef to the boss of the world's biggest stock exchange