On 16 January 2013, 200 CFA charterholders and candidates attended CFA Society Toronto’s 5^th Annual Professional Development Day, “Leadership, Soft Skills, and Standing Out in the Crowd,” at the Toronto Board of Trade. As the global financial markets have become more dynamic and competitive, CFA Society Toronto has been proactive in developing leadership, communication, networking, and other soft-skills programs to complement the technical capabilities promoted by the CFA program. During the Professional Development Day, senior industry practitioners shared their insights on industry trends, new opportunities, and how to develop a professional competitive advantage.

During the day, the following seven compelling key themes emerged to help charterholders stand out from the crowd and take hold of their careers:

1. Determine your strategic vision of You, Inc. Take control. Otherwise, someone else will.
2. Articulate and play to your strengths and passions. Identify your best technical and interpersonal skills. Figure out your personal value proposition. Assess how you add excellent value to a team.
3. Learn what it will take for you to reach top calibre in the field that you have chosen. Using the Olympic Games as an analogy, figure out how you can become the Usain Bolt of your chosen field. Research and reflect honestly. Commit to that development plan since teams will always want to hire exceptional players.
4. Develop mental flexibility to rebrand and repackage. Map your value proposition to broad opportunities instead of just a job position. Better chances come to people who put themselves in situations to meet other people and go beyond their comfort zones. A narrow view of the world will only limit you.
5. Identify the sponsors and stakeholders that you need to succeed. Carve out time to network and keep in touch with key people, especially those who can help you achieve what you want to do next. Discern who you want to influence you and surround yourself with difference makers. Explore opportunities to expand your own influence and leadership profile, either through professional or volunteer work. Cultivate broad relationships as certain networks can become stale as your life changes.
6. Nurture your connections and figure out how you add value in each relationship. It is not all about you, nor is it all about the number of connections or business cards you have. Bear in mind that social media is not networking. It is more effective to develop relationships by approaching networking as helping others accomplish what they want to accomplish. It also means developing the ability to communicate to help others make better decisions. Be generous in helping others as you do not know who will end up being crucial and successful connectors as your career goals evolve.
7. We are in a slow growth and competitive environment that will have periods of volatility. A good understanding of developing relationships and creatively strengthening your value proposition is crucial in this environment.

Agenda at a Glance

Session 1: Leadership and Soft Skills for Career Advancement
Chris Cummins (Head, Cummins Media Inc.)

Session 2: Opportunities and Skills for the Future
Dr. Catherine Chandler-Crichlow (Executive Director, Toronto Financial Services Alliance)

Session 3: Shifting from a Selling Model to a Relationship Model
Margaret Franklin, CFA (CEO , Kinsale Private Wealth) and Barbara Mason (EVP , Global Wealth Distribution, Global Wealth Management, Scotiabank)
Panel moderated by Pat Bolland (Senior Counsel, Corporate & Public Affairs, SunTV).

Session 4: Leadership and Expanding into Non-traditional Career Paths
Steven Rostowsky, CFA (CFO, Sprott Asset Management), Timothy Thompson, CFA (SVP, Mass Affluent Strategy, TD Canada Trust) and Mary Anne Wiley, CFA (Managing Director, Head of iShares Canada, BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited) Panel moderated by Randy Cass, CFA (Anchor, BNN Host Market Sense)

Session 5: Social Media as a Business Tool
Randall Craig, MBA, CMC, CFA (Founder, 109ideaspace)

Session 6: The Power of Networking and Relationship Management
Nancy Bertrand, CFA (Director, Citi Private Bank), Peter Rusheleau, CFA (Managing Director, BNP Paribas Canada) and Andrew Duncan Turnbull, CFA (Managing Director, Strategy and Business Development, CIBC Wealth Management)
Panel moderated by Peter Jarvis, CFA (Executive Director, CFA Society Toronto)

Do you have ideas for topics you’d like to see addressed at our next Professional Development Day? Email us eventregistration@cfatoronto.ca