Leslie Lawrence was a self-described "funky math whiz" in school.
Later, when she applied for a corporate bank trainee job early in her career, she was up against five other applicants, all male. She didn’t get the job, but after the choice was announced, the head of personnel called her and said she had been his first pick. "Please promise you’ll come and apply next year," she recalls him urging. And she did.
Lawrence, who is senior vice president and chief credit officer at NUVO Bank & Trust in Springfield (and as of January 1, 2013, its compliance officer) relayed this story as one of three panelists at a recent conference, Women in Banking, held in Newport, R.I. The panel also included Amy Tierce, regional vice president of Needham, Mass.-based Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. and Sarah A. P. Cowan, senior vice president of National Bank of Middlebury, Vt., and current chair of the Vermont Bankers Association. The focus was on why more women should seek positions as lending officers.
Lawrence cautioned that being a good credit analyst does not guarantee being a good lending officer. Cash-flow analysis may be easy to teach and learn, she said, but the human interaction and psychology that goes into the lending process is something that must be experienced.
"Bring them on a call," she exhorted would-be mentors. "Let them sit in meetings with customers."
The dynamic of the closing is trickiest of all, she said. After the talking is done, and when the loan document is presented to the prospective borrower, the prospect often raises questions about the terms, rate and other issues. Whether the outcome is successful most often boils down to trust.
Women are really good at the trust part," Amy Tierce said, noting that when male mortgage loan originators talk about their work, they tend to talk about how much money they make; female mortgage loan originators tend to talk about relationships.
For women, "it’s more about the experience than about the money," she noted. But if the experience has integrity, the money will follow, she explained: A well-made loan results in a healthy financial institution.
This requires attention to sustainability and accountability, both of which were sorely lacking in the frothy financial markets of the early 2000s. Women often fit the sustainability and accountability bill, the panelists agreed.
Taking Risks
But to get to the top, panelists agreed, you have to have the leeway to make mistakes. Lawrence took on a management position in her early 20s – "a real milestone," she said.
"Just do it whether you’re afraid or not … I learned on the job," she remarked.
Lawrence became a loaned executive for United Way. In that capacity, she felt trepidation about being away from her job for the amount of time it took to fulfill the obligation. But the experience brought her in contact with company CEOs to whom she had to present a case. It was an unexpected training boon that also contributed to the community, she said.
Tierce warned that the clock is running on the careers of the women groundbreakers who entered the financial workforce decades ago.
"I do see people aging out," she said. A big divide is technological skill. "If you can’t operate a laptop, you can’t work in my organization. I can’t be the data entry person for you."
Cowan concurred, saying older workers often lack the technical skills that younger workers have absorbed since childhood. She reported seeing seasoned lenders asking younger co-workers to do their technical work for them, and stressed that organizational and technical skills are of vital importance, as mortgage lending goes more and more electronic.
Editor’s Note: This article replaces a previous, incorrect version that appeared online and in print. Banker & Tradesman apologizes for the error.
