05-14-2019 Career Management Seminars for Professionals with 5+ Years Experience

Presentation Slides

A Career Development Committee Event

Do you have Leadership Potential?  Start the Journey!

Have questions about what it means to be a Leader or to move from Individual Contributor to Manager? Or maybe you’re curious about what your next career move ought to be based on your unique skills and interests. Join CFALA, in partnership with Focus Consulting Group (FCG), at an event designed to equip you for your career journey and enable you to explore the best path for you.

CFALA, with FCG, is offering 3 dynamic and focused educational sessions (you can pick 2) to assist our experienced CFA membership as you grow with your firms and transition to more demanding roles.

• Explore what it takes to be a manager of a team: How to assess and develop talent in an inclusive environment; how to delegate and assign tasks and follow up; how to evaluate your and your team’s contributions
• Three Leadership lessons every financial professional needs to learn
• Discover your Personality Style: how does this shape your journey; how to leverage your strengths for success; what are your blindspots that could derail your career

Members will be asked to select 2 of the 3 seminars below  during the registration process.

Lessons on Leadership: Jim Ware, CFA from his Newly Released Book on Leadership:

Good leaders in the investment world are in short supply. Most have strong technical skills but weak people skills. Investment leaders could improve by working on three levels of leadership: 1) Self, 2) Team, and 3) Firm. Each of these levels involves different skill sets. For example, leading the self involves greater emotional intelligence. Leading the team involves understanding the top five factors that drive high performing teams. And leading the firm requires skills in overall vision, mission, strategy, and culture. The workshop will provide an overview of each level with example from Jim Ware’s new book. Participants will assess themselves on each of the three levels so that they have guidance on what to work on in each area.

Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Manager: Keith Robinson, Managing Partner, FCG

Careers are full of transitions, like going from team member to team leader. New managers need new paradigms to manage this transition successfully.  It actually de-motivates the team if you do the work yourself!  Good manager’s get work done by developing their team and unleashing them. This requires new skills and approaches to work.  In the investment industry new managers are often referred to as “player/coaches” and the dilemma they face is how much to do of each.  The common pitfall is to revert to “player” simply because it’s comfortable and relies on past success.  In this workshop we will focus on the concepts of:

• Setting expectations to avoid resentment.
• Delegating v doing: what’s the right mix?
• How can I help my team perform at the highest level?

Join us for this highly interactive workshop so you can avoid the traps of this transition.

Taking Your Next Career Step: Elizabeth Severyns, Co-Author, Type, Talent and Teams: Using the Enneagram for Investment Firm Success

What is the right path for you given your personality and natural strengths?  When investment professionals choose their first jobs, they usually take a lot of factors into consideration — pay, skills required, reputation of the firm and opportunity for advancement.  But most haven't given enough thought to the ways that their jobs work with or against their personalities.  Taking a job that’s a bad personality fit is like swimming upstream – it never gets easier and eventually leads to burnout (or worse.)  To help identify which investment jobs really play to your strengths, this workshop will help you:  

• Determine your personality style of the nine basic types
• Gain a deeper understanding of the job activities that truly inspire you
• Make key career moves based on who you really are you

Join us for this highly interactive workshop so you can bring out the best in yourself in the next phase of your career.

*Please note: If you plan on taking this seminar, you will need to do the required reading and test beforehand. CLICK HERE*

Jim Ware, CFA | Jim Ware is the founder of Focus Consulting Group, a firm dedicated to helping investment leaders leverage their talent. James is also a highly acclaimed industry author and international speaker on the subjects of investment leadership, culture and building high performing teams. A frequent keynote speaker at CFA Institute, Mutual Fund Educational Alliance, Investment Adviser Association, U.S. Institute and other major industry conferences, James is recognized for his insightful, inspiring and entertaining presentations. His most recent books are, Type, Talent and Teams (2018), Lessons in Leadership (LOL) (2018) and Money, Meaning, and Mindsets (2017). Prior books include, Investment Leadership: Building a Winning Culture for Long-Term Success (Wiley, 2003) and High Performing Investment Teams (Wiley, 2006). They identify elements of leadership and teamwork that lead to sustainable success for investment firms. His articles have been published in the FAJ, JPM, and HBR. James has 20 years’ experience as a research analyst, portfolio manager, and director of buy-side investment operations. He has been a guest lecturer on the topic of investment firm management at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. His educational background includes a Masters in Business from the University of Chicago and a degree in philosophy from Williams College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.Back To Top ^^

Keith Robinson | Keith Robinson is the Managing Partner of Focus Consulting Group and brings over 27 years of global investment experience to his consulting and coaching work at FCG. As an expert in human resource and talent management at Allstate Investments, UBS, and Marsh & McLennan, he was selected to develop a cutting edge leadership development program for Northern Illinois University. At NIU he taught masters level accounting students how to lead, effectively communicate and collaborate with others. His specialties include: Management and Leadership Development, Compensation, Succession and Talent Assessment, Organizational Design and Performance Management. He is the co-author of various FCG white papers, and was recently published in Smart Biz magazine for his work on “Managing the Human Portfolio.” Keith holds an MBA from University of Illinois and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a business degree from Western Connecticut. Back To Top ^^