Professional and Personal Lessons from a Successful Female Executive - Part 2

This is Part 2 of the CFO NOW virtual fireside chat with Jessica Holscott, EVP & CFO of WarnerMedia Entertainment and very first female CFO in HBO's history who was interviewed by Jenny Rooney, editor of CMO Network Forbes. Over 200 female finance leaders were in attendance!

In Part 1 I talked the importance of finding the industry we feel passionate about as this will help us become better at our job. Jessica also focused on the importance of culture and used some examples of mistakes that were important lessons on her career journey. The discussion then focused on how in her senior leadership roles Jessica has been able to find the work-life balance and what conscious decisions she has taken to achieve this balance. 

Part 2 will focus on further conscious decisions Jessica has taken and whether she has ever felt that she needed to choose between her family and career aspirations; her thoughts on the importance of innovation and staying relevant and how she is thinking about the responsibility of being a thought leader. Jessica also shared some of the ways she networks and mentors. 

Jenny asked Jessica about some of the short-term and long-term decisions she has taken about her career; how she decided to step on the accelerator or don’t press that hard. Jessica’s career decision all revolved around her family and mostly have been driven by the ages of her children. When they were very young she decided to stay longer in roles and decided to travel less. These decisions were conscious despite new opportunities knocking on her door. She also talked about volunteering ins school, being on boards and coaching her children’s sport teams but for now these activities have been put in the back burner. 

In my case, my husband and I have always discussed our personal and professional priorities and decided to accept new challenges depending on its impact on our personal lives. If one of us had the opportunity to accelerate our careers the other took a ‘step back’ to keep the family life also balanced. This has worked for us. We are one unit and we win or loss together. 

In light of the incredibly successful Jessica has had so far despite her young age and the young family she is raising. Seemingly nothing has held her back personally and professionally. Jessica felt that both the personal and professional priorities can be achieved under the right circumstances. Jessica emphasized the importance of trying to align her personal values with those of the company she worked for. She also emphasized the importance of a great team and that at the end of the day she gets the job done and that is what matters.   

Jenny asked Jessica about the impact of change and innovation on Jessica’s work and also on the industry. As Jessica is responsible for Strategy this is a very important part of her job, embracing change and driving it. She was quick to point out that she has a wonderful team around her helping her formulate strategy. 

Then the conversation turned to the importance of shaping the culture of the organization. Jessica emphasized the importance of ‘leading by example, creating an open and honest culture supportive of people and their aspirations and how they balance it with their personal lives’. She views her role as ‘live the values’ and talk passionately about what matters to you’.

I am very passionate about creating highly engaged cultures and Jessica’s words resonated with me. Leading the way and walking the talk is critical and to be seen, of course. Change is here to stay and when employees see us model the organizational values they remain engaged. 

Jenny turned the focus to being a thought leader and taking board seats. Jessica said it was important for her knowing when to lean in and lean out. She has been trying to share as much as she can, her time allowing. She talked about “Earn and Return” Phase in her career. At this moment she is in the ‘Earn’ Phase where most things revolve around her family. This phase will be followed by the ‘Return’ Phase, currently she spends only ~2% of her time on this phase.        

As my four children are now more ‘grown’ (12-19 years old) I have been recently able to spend more time on the ‘Return’ Phase. Each phase is important, it is all about timing. 

When talking about board seats Jessica mentioned that she sits on volunteer boards and when the timing is right she is looking forward to sitting on public company boards as she believes that it is important to have a voice.   

I have recently joined two boards (SHRM-Atlanta (Society of Human Resource Management) and CFO NOW (Network of Women)) and am looking forward to learning in these new roles and bring value to these organisations and their members.

When asked about Networking Jessica said she consciously sets herself monthly goals to evolve/grow her network. She seeks to network with leaders of companies whose business needs to evolve; learn from a CEO about Podcasting; learn from women she has always admired and also meet with people who worked for her and help them navigate their careers.  

Networking has been very important to me, paying it forward, learning from successful people and helping people navigate their careers. I have come across many inspirational women while networking and six months ago I created an invitation-only female professional group (‘Meeting of the Minds’) where each member comes from very diverse backgrounds. As a result of this group we continue expanding our networks, learn from each other and share experiences and learnings openly without being judged. 

Jenny’s final question to Jessica focused on Mentoring. Jessica said that she is trying hard to help people navigate industry, connections, skillsets, etc. She enjoys connecting people. 

For me Mentoring is something that I do without even thinking about it. Some people approach me and I also approach people. I have been fortunate to have had several mentors on my career journey whom I still call on for advice. Realising the impact of these Mentors I have committed a long time ago to Mentor and help your professionals or ones who are at career junctions to move their careers forward.

Jessica talked about the “Earn & Return” Phase which I love as it simply ‘explains’ where one is with her career journey and personal demands on her life. 

Early 2006 we moved to Warwick, England and at this time LinkedIn has not yet taken the world so keeping in touch with my network from the other side of the pond was quite challenging and raising four young children and focusing on my career. When we returned late 2014 I had to ‘work very hard’ to reconnect with my network. Since then I have made a conscious decision to remain connected despite the demands of my professional and personal lives. I have been able to give back sometimes in very small ways and other times I was able to do more, always trying to keep a balance.

Jenny’s interview with Jessica was very insightful, I particularly enjoyed her transparency and her readily sharing personal experiences to bring the topics more alive. I hope you enjoyed reading my recapture of the interview including some personal examples on how some of the topics relate to my professional journey.