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From the highest-ranking woman on Wall Street to an imploding career and personal life, Erin Callan Montella knows the dangers of leaning in too far.
Though Callan Montella certainly never expected her life to take such a drastic turn – finding herself CFO of a collapsing Lehman Brothers – she can now recognize the factors that contributed to her swift downfall. And those factors are not unique to her story.
“I think a lot of my experiences aren’t very different from everyone else’s. They just took place on a bigger stage. But I think we’ve all had a lot of experiences that aren’t that dissimilar.”
During an FEI NYC Chapter fireside chat, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers shared the message of her recently published memoir Full Circle: A memoir of leaning in too far and the journey back.
“This is the story of someone who didn’t necessarily intend to be the CFO of a company, didn’t intend to start out to make work the absolute top priority of her life, almost to the exclusion of everything else. But I ended up there. And it was a series of subtle everyday decisions, a little erosion here and there. And that was an important message.”
Many of us are familiar with the slippery slope that starts with staying later at the office, working weekends, and increasing travel. And if your work environment reinforces those tendencies, we run the risk of total immersion, and losing sight of our outside lives.
“While I didn’t have any children while I was working, I was in relationships and I gave them nothing. I didn’t give them much of myself at all. And work was always my excuse. In some ways we live in a society where that’s okay and that is a good excuse.”
Along with maintaining a healthy work-life balance, Callan Montella’s advice to aspiring CFOs in the audience was to be sure there is some sort of apprenticeship situation when you step in. Shadowing your predecessor is a must, especially for those new to the department. Callan Montella also stressed trusting your gut when choosing an organization and developing strong communication skills.
Moving to the executive floor was alienating for Callan Montella. No longer in the “trenches” with her colleagues, it was often difficult to feel connected to the thousands who suddenly reported to her. A resulting challenge, and a familiar challenge for many CFOs, was being beholden to the quality of information being given to her.
“I’ve been asked, ‘What struck you when they told you that was the valuation?’ Well, you tell them to explain how they got there. Does it sound rational and logical? What else can you do? And that’s one big challenge of the position.”
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is no easy feat, but Callan Montella concedes she likely still would have reached her level of success working fewer hours. Though the accolades, promotions, and money can be intoxicating, she stressed the importance of focusing on the quality of your personal life and having strong and grounded people around you.
“I started to believe the hype,” she said. “I lost my way. You really need people around you who can say, ‘Think about what’s important. You’re not making good decisions when you’re spending all your time on other stuff and not on your relationships and things that are really important in life.”