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Putting the leadership lessons she gained at Seton Hall into play in the world of finance.<\/h2>\nPutting the leadership lessons she gained at Seton Hall into play in the world of finance.<\/h2>\nHometown:<\/strong> Clifton, New Jersey<\/p>\n Seton Hall Stats:<\/strong> Finance and marketing double major; The Stillman Exchange (student newspaper); Dean\u2019s Advisory Committee; Alpha Phi Fraternity; Stillman Finance Club; president of the Stillman Marketing Club; graduate of the Gerald P. Buccino Leadership Program<\/p>\n Career:<\/strong> Finance associate on the sourcing and vendor management team at BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest asset manager<\/p>\n “Being able to adapt to the environment and understand companies\u2019 ever-changing needs is important. It\u2019s so crucial to be open and to be willing to change as needed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2013 VINA TAILOR<\/cite><\/p>\n In the LEAD:<\/strong> Thanks for taking time with us, Vina. Can you describe your current position at BlackRock?<\/p>\n Vina Tailor:<\/strong> At BlackRock, I\u2019m on the sourcing and vendor management team, responsible for supporting the marketing and communications spending for the firm. Our team leads negotiations using industry best practices to achieve an optimal balance between value and cost, ensure consistent contract execution, and assist with risk assessment of vendors. I also help drive strategic category planning, vendor rationalization and preferred supplier lists for areas including creative agencies, creative production, market research, media, public relations and print marketing collateral across a number of vendors globally. Our ultimate goal is to mitigate risk and ensure value for the firm.<\/p>\n In the LEAD:<\/strong> What skills and experiences did you gain in the Buccino Leadership Program that you think served you well in landing your job at BlackRock?<\/p>\n VT:<\/strong> While there are many \u2014 such as working with large teams, networking and group mentoring \u2014 what sticks out the most is the FAIR acronym I learned from Professor [Jack] Shannon in our Ideas & Trends course. FAIR stands for Flexible, Adaptable, Imaginative and Resilient. These four traits have not only helped me during my time at Seton Hall, but they\u2019ve helped me every day interning and working at BlackRock.<\/p>\n When I joined BlackRock through the Graduate Analyst Program, I had to rotate through four teams in the finance department, so I had to be flexible and learn to adapt to different types of role, team cultures and management styles. But I was afforded the opportunity to be innovative and to learn new skills and perspectives when joining a new team from a previous rotation. While diversifying my skill set and serving on different teams, I also needed to be resilient to overcome new challenges and learn new processes.<\/p>\n Having the opportunity to really put FAIR into action at Seton Hall through my various leadership courses was a tremendous help and created a mindset that I routinely employ in my role at BlackRock today.<\/p>\n In the LEAD:<\/strong> I\u2019m sure Professor Shannon will be beaming when he reads this! What skills do you think young leaders need more of when coming out college?<\/p>\n VT:<\/strong> The first two skills that come to mind are openness and adaptability. Being open to opportunities and learning new skills that young leaders might not have ever imagined or considered. It\u2019s easy to say we\u2019re only doing this and that is it. I was fortunate to join a firm where I had rotations, where each one offered a different experience. Just when I had the hang of one rotation, a new one started, and I had to start over again and learn new things. It was a mindset, and I felt like there is a real value to that, which has helped me.<\/p>\n In the LEAD:<\/strong> Being adaptable and open to change is especially important in these uncertain times. What leadership skills do you think will be in higher demand in your field as we navigate our way through the pandemic and a changing economy?<\/p>\n VT:<\/strong> I believe communication and relationship-building are key. It\u2019s so important to communicate and have a good relationship with your manager, especially now. It\u2019s all built on trust. When you can\u2019t be there in person and in the office physically, you need that excellent relationship with your team to have a sense of belonging and to help you with your own productivity.<\/p>\n I also think cybersecurity and digital skills are extremely important. Being able to use technology and understand cybersecurity is key now that many of us are working from home. There could be limited corporate controls in place in a work-from-home environment.<\/p>\n Finally, I consider empathy and adaptability to be critical. I\u2019ve talked to people who have enjoyed the quality time that they\u2019ve spent with their families during the quarantine. Some can\u2019t imagine going back to the same lifestyle they had prior to COVID, and as a result, there might be some impact to the industry overall such as greater demand for remote working. It is important to understand those different circumstances and determine the best solution.<\/p>\n In the LEAD:<\/strong> What do you know now about leadership that you wish you knew in college?<\/p>\n VT:<\/strong> This is a tough one. I\u2019d say that it\u2019s not always about the end result, but more about the process to get there. It\u2019s about understanding the impact, influence and overall benefit. It\u2019s knowing all of the individuals involved, all of the collaborative thinking, and the valuable experience you gain in the process. Oftentimes, those can be more important than the end result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Putting the leadership lessons she gained at Seton Hall into play in the world of finance. Hometown: Clifton, New Jersey Seton Hall Stats: Finance and marketing double major; The Stillman Exchange (student newspaper); Dean\u2019s Advisory Committee; Alpha Phi Fraternity; Stillman Finance Club; president of the Stillman Marketing Club; graduate of the Gerald P. Buccino Leadership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4550,"featured_media":355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-spring-2021","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/inthelead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nKeeping the task at hand and the mission at the top of your mind is critical, even if how you envisioned it would play out and how it actually turned out is not the same. Being able to adapt to the environment and understand companies\u2019 ever-changing needs is important. It\u2019s so crucial to be open and to be willing to change as needed.<\/p>\n
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