Stand out and succeed: Leadership tips for Financial Risk - Lauren Fanning

As part of our ongoing commitment to our specialist communities, we interview accomplished leaders on a monthly basis to bring you insights on their career progression and advice that will help you progress your career further.

Lauren is a 30 year old Irish woman who moved to Sydney 4 years ago. She loves living in Sydney, and outside of work can normally be found walking, running or hanging out on Bondi Beach.

For the past 4 years she has been working for Macquarie Group. Her role has developed and expanded over the past few years, and at present she is Senior Manager for Financial Risk projects.

Career Overview:

My favourite subject in school was always maths, so I decided to study a Bachelor of Science in Economics & Finance. After university, I went into a graduate program with Accenture in Analytics Consultancy based in Dublin, and spent 3 years there. While at Accenture, I learned how to apply my problem solving skills to real world problems, engaging with several banks on different projects. I then took some time out to travel, and moved to Australia back in 2020. I luckily managed to lock in my new job at Macquarie Group just before Covid, and haven’t looked back since! At Macquarie, I am a member of the Risk Management Group working on financial risk projects, across the domains of Market Risk, Credit Risk and Aggregate Risk. Initially I started off as a business architect, doing analysis, defining requirements, and managing delivery. Over the years I have progressed to a people manager role, and I now lead a team of BAs across a number of programs in the financial risk portfolio.

1. What factors do you think have been critical to the success you have achieved in your career?

There are a number of main factors I would refer to:

• Approaching a problem like an exam question: in general, a lot of people have a tendency to get lost in the details and miss the point at hand. Something that helps me remain targeted in driving business outcomes is to approach all problems like an exam question (which comes naturally to me as I was a real school nerd!) E.g. What am I actually being asked for? Am I clear on the question? Am I clear on what components I need to consider in answering the question? Only once I know that, will I start to put forward a solution to a problem. This also assists in ensuring all solutions are fit for purpose for the use case. Like in an exam, you won’t do well if you learn off an essay to apply to any question. Every question is different and every problem is different. Frameworks are a tool, but above all you have to consider the specific use case & desired outcomes. This even applies when simply responding to an email – always be targeted, clear and concise in your response.
• Being organised: over the years, the competency that my colleagues have commended the most has been my organisation skills. This is something that is really easy to do, and can go a long way in ensuring senior stakeholders believe they can rely upon you. Simple things such as sending an agenda & desired outcomes ahead of a meeting, having material ready to share on screen, showing up on time to meetings, sending minutes/ actions out after a meeting and sending concise summaries to your boss can make a big difference!
• Resilience: in order to progress to senior levels, I think the number one competency that is required is resilience. In projects, the only principle that can be relied upon is Murphy’s Law i.e. anything that can go wrong will go wrong! All we can do is logically approach problems based on the knowledge we have at the time, and adapt quickly when circumstances change. This requires resilience, as you can’t fall apart when things don’t go to plan. Also as you progress, there is a tendency to only be brought into conversations where things are not going to plan, and decisions have to be made. In general, women have a tendency to doubt themselves a lot more, so becoming comfortable in your decision making ability is something that requires a lot of practice and self-belief. I think you also have to become resilient emotionally, and not take it personally when you have a professional disagreement. As a sensitive person this is something I am always working on!

2. What's the most valuable piece of advice you have received in your career and how did it help you?

A division director who I have great respect for, once told me that being kind goes a long way. I think it is really important to build genuine connections with colleagues, and have always found that being personable and friendly contributes to overall success, while also making the office a nicer environment to be in! This is also crucial in a people manager role - while it is important to be someone your team respects, being empathetic in your leadership goes a long way in motivating your team to deliver.

3. What's the most challenging situation you have faced in your career and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging situation I faced in my career was probably transitioning from an individual contributor to a people manager role. I have an extreme type A personality, and have always preferred to own my own work so that I can control it. Becoming a people manager challenged this natural tendency, as I now had to trust other people to deliver, and also recognise that there are lots of different ways to approach things. It also requires patience to lead people to solving the problem themselves, rather than jumping in to solve it yourself. What helped me overcome this transition was relying upon the advice and guidance of more senior stakeholders. I am very lucky that I have a great support network in my current role, and they have been instrumental in helping me to push me forward and challenge myself!

4. If you were starting your career now, what would you do differently?

It might sound cliché, but I would try to enjoy the journey a little more. As an overachiever, I have a tendency to always be chasing the next goal. I have always put a lot of pressure on myself, so sometimes I have found it hard to go into new projects/new roles where I feel behind the curve. Looking back, I now realise that all of those times that I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, helped me to learn real world problem solving skills, and become more resilient. Climbing the ladder is great, but it is also important to take some time out and enjoy life while you do it!