6 Jennifer Publicover

RBC INSURANCE

My dad was an investment adviser. I remember going into his office as a kid, and they didn’t have computers; they had a ticker machine on the floor. He introduced me to the world of markets, and I bought my first stock when I was five or six years old. And guess what stock it was? RBC.

I spent most of my career at Morgan Stanley in various roles. Sometimes when you grow up within an organization, it can be hard to convince those around you that you’ve evolved and are ready for further advancement. When I was up for managing director, I didn’t get the job, and the feedback I received wasn’t that I’d done the wrong thing or that I’d been lazy; it was that I wasn’t doing enough of what the guys were doing, like networking and promoting themselves. Meanwhile, I had my head down and was always working while also trying to balance the needs of my young family. I remember being devastated by that feedback.

After leaving Morgan Stanley, I spent three years running strategy and products for wealth management at RBC. To be honest, I wasn’t necessarily looking to be the CEO. But our last board chair, Kathleen Taylor, was very passionate about finding opportunities for women.

The first time I presented to the board of RBC, people around the table were sending me notes that said “You’ve got this; you’re gonna do a great job.” I didn’t experience that kind of support when I worked in the U.S. Or in Europe, where there seemed to be deep-rooted views of women.

I’ve never had the sense that I shouldn’t be here. Still, for a long time in my career, I wasn’t great at saying what I wanted. Was I getting paid right? Was I getting the right assignments? But I’ve gotten more deliberate in advocating for myself, and my confidence in terms of what I bring to the table has increased.

I wish we had more women running companies in Canada. It’s good for business. Women tend to solicit a very broad set of stakeholders for feedback, which typically leads to more optimal decisions being made with more complete information. Women are also very comfortable making tough decisions, particularly when the interests of the collective are at stake.

I’m a big believer in setting bold goals. When I became CEO, I and my senior leadership team recognized that to grow our business and win in the future, we would need a much more ambitious strategy. That really energized and excited the team. We’re in an environment where change is happening so fast, and incrementalism is just not going to work. Setting bold goals—and then giving people the belief that they can achieve them—is the most important thing you can do as a leader.