In a great sense, Patricia Dunn’s business career reflects the growth in importance and stature of women in the workplace.
Dunn, the keynote speaker at a women’s business conference at Bryant College was hired by Barclays Global Investors 25 years ago as a temporary secretary. Today she runs the company.
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“I believe the best is in front of us for women in business,” said Dunn, Barclays chief executive officer. “I think it comes down to a major change in the economy of the world.”
It was a standing-room-only crowd for Dunn at Odyssey 2001: Journey to Success, the Women’s Summit at Bryant College.
The fourth annual event, held on March 14, attracted 750 persons and had been sold out for weeks.
“You know the Women’s Summit has arrived when we have our logo on bottles of water,” joked Bryant President Ronald Machtley, whose wife Kati chaired the event.
Dunn began her career at Barclays as a temporary secretary in 1976.
Since then, she has worked at Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in consulting, portfolio management, trading, marketing and client relationships. Today, Dunn directs the strategic development of BGI’s businesses in the Americas, Australia/Southeast Asia, Europe and Japan.
The shift from an economy dependent on physical strength to one reliant on knowledge and information has leveled the playing field for women, Dunn said.
“What service is about is creating value by organizing people and what they know,” she said. “The training and core capabilities of women are extremely well-suited to the industries that encourage people to share what they know.”
“I think that what women bring to business is the role women have played in society, which is to bring people together.”
As a young woman, fresh out of college when she started at BGI, Dunn was surprised by what she found at the company — “true revolutionaries. They were seeking nothing less than the complete transformation of the investment banking business.”
“As smart as these people were, and as untrained as I was to work with them, they were open to my assistance,” she said. “It has taught me to always try to associate with greatness. Always try to work with class A people. I believe it was Steve Jobs who said you always want to work for A people, because A people hire A people, and B people hire C people.”
Dunn urged the predominantly female audience to surround themselves with “enlightened meritocrats” — employers focused on an individual’s ability instead of “what’s on the surface.”
Dunn cited technology giant Hewlett-Packard and the Ford Motor Company as examples of corporations that have recognized the importance of talent first, casting women in major roles.
“It starts at the top,” she said. “If your workplace is not supportive of you as a woman, unless you really like beating your head against the wall, I would move on.”
Dunn also stressed the value of cooperation and collaboration: “What any of us know individually is not that valuable. If you link what people know with what other people know … one and one equals three.”
Likening workers to the Navy aerobatic team, the Blue Angels, Dunn said, “They fly in formation, wing tip to wing tip, and perform amazing tricks. They are the elite of the elite. They are capable of trusting each other. The only time the Blue Angels fail is when one member loses confidence in another and turns to look.”
“People have to be individually great, but they must be able to trust their colleagues to be as capable of excellence and get the job done.”
