A Woman’s Place …
... is in the boardroom. Highlights of this year’s Women on Board Corporate Governance Symposium in Kananaskis
by Natasha Mekhail
Sheryl Kennedy holds one of the top jobs at the Bank of Canada. Born in Kingston, Ontario, Kennedy’s career led to economics but began in urban planning. In a rare public appearance without an entourage of handlers, the BoC deputy governor attended the Kananaskis conference in the company of only her younger brother from Calgary. Warm and friendly, with a down-to-earth attitude that defies her high rank, Kennedy talked to Alberta Venture about her roots and what it’s like to be a woman in the world of high finance.
Alberta Venture: Describe your job.
Sheryl Kennedy: I work at the Bank of Canada. I’m a deputy governor and that means together with the governor and four other colleagues we form the governing council that decides monetary policy. In Canada we have a very clear mandate for monetary policy: keep inflation at 2%. That is how we analyze what’s going on in the economy and our actions are all designed to keep inflation there. The Bank of Canada also issues currency. We are a fiscal agent for the government of Canada, and we promote efficient and sound financial systems. Each of the deputy governors is responsible for one of those aspects of the bank and my responsibility is for the assessment of what’s happening with the Canadian economy and what that tells us about monetary policy. I’ve been with the bank for 13 years so I have looked at each of the different areas.
Sidebar: Thinking like a leader
AV: You’ve done so many things in your career, from urban planning in Nova Scotia to serving in Canada’s embassy in Paris as finance counsellor. You also have a master’s in public administration. How did your diverse background lead you to the central bank?
SK: I didn’t have a clear career plan. I kept finding things ahead that looked interesting and challenging and where I thought I could make a difference. Those were the jobs I accepted. I started out as a town planner. I remember for a period I was at the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration and the geologists asked me how I could be working there. But large, offshore oil exploration projects were very much like the town planning communities that I had been involved in. So if you go from job to job, there is a connection from one to the next, but if you start at the beginning and leap to the end it’s not evident. My passion, though, is systems: how in society we organize, establish the rules of game; how we compete and perform to be more successful, more productive, and give our children a better standard of living. So whether that was cities or whether that was the whole economy, I liked looking at interconnectedness and understanding how we could change the rules for the better.
AV: What’s it like being a woman in your discipline?
SK: The first thing that’s important is that finance and monetary policy and economic policy is a very fascinating field. It’s true that there aren’t a lot of other women involved in the work I do, but there are some women. So, in that sense, the men are all very civil and approachable and the business is very much conducted around the ideas, the issues and the policy. It’s easy to work together because you have a common framework to work in.
Sidebar: Working it on the Net
AV: How does a women’s voice change the dynamics of a group composed of mostly of men?
SK: Having different voices at the table does change things and it’s critically important. As women, we bring a women’s voice to the table but I suspect we also bring one or two other voices based on our education and our experience. So, my voice might be a women’s voice – my understanding of women in the economy – but I’m also bringing a voice that worked initially as a town planner and in government and in the department of finance. I bring a different voice as opposed to a colleague who has worked their whole career within the central bank. Having that diversity of views at the table makes for richer discussion, better decisions and fewer mistakes.
AV: What is your advice to women who aspire to be on a board or who are just starting out in a board role?
SK: Don’t take it on lightly. Make sure you talk with the board members who are already there to really understand how it functions and what the issues are. Talk with other board members in other firms because that will also give you insights. And don’t be shy about speaking up and raising questions. If everyone else is nodding but you don’t get it, it’s not that they’re wise and you’re stupid, it’s that there’s a question to be asked.
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