Barbara Novick: Founder and Role Model
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As BlackRock employees, we are both guided and evaluated by our principles. Our founding partners built these principles recognizing the importance of the company’s culture early on. They acted as beacons, showing us how these principles come to life through our decisions, our actions and our work.
We are a fiduciary to our clients.
- Our clients’ interests come first.
- The fiduciary mindset is the bedrock of our identity. It reflects our integrity and the unbiased advice we give our clients.
- And it’s what inspires us to come to work every day and help people build better futures.
We are One BlackRock.
- We work collaboratively to create the best outcomes for our clients, our firm and the communities where we operate.
- A diverse workforce is indispensable to our creativity and success. It’s how we answer the biggest questions and solve the toughest problems.
- An inclusive, equitable environment makes us thrive. It enables us to draw on expertise and unique experiences from across the firm and bring out the best in each other.
- Aladdin unifies us, creating a common language for us to interpret the world, the markets and our clients’ needs.
We are passionate about performance.
- We are relentless about finding better ways to serve our clients and improve our firm. Since our founding, innovation has been at the center of how we deliver performance and stay ahead of our clients’ needs.
- We have continually reinvented our firm and our industry to help people achieve their goals.
- We are lifelong students – of markets, of technology and of the world.
We take emotional ownership.
- The people we serve entrust us to help them prepare for the future. Our culture is defined by the deep sense of responsibility we feel to our clients and to each other.
- In everything we do – from the investment performance we deliver to the technology we develop – we are emotionally invested in our clients’ futures.
- We are equally invested in the success of our firm and our colleagues. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of excellence.
We are committed to a better future.
- We are long-term thinkers, focused on helping people build a better tomorrow. We are deeply invested in the success of all of our stakeholders – our clients, our employees, our shareholders and the communities where we operate.
- We always strive to serve more people and to find new and innovative ways to help them achieve financial well-being.
Barbara Novick, one of BlackRock’s founders, exemplifies every one of these principles. And to celebrate her success as she transitions to a senior advisor role, we want to take a moment to shine a spotlight on the impact she’s had not only on the firm but also on the people she worked with, sponsored, mentored and role modeled for every day.
This article highlights three of the many lessons we have learned from Barbara that will continue to impact BlackRock, our leaders and our culture for decades to come.
Barbara Novick, BlackRock Senior Advisor and co-founder
1. Barbara demonstrated that it’s possible to excel at our jobs and our lives outside of work.
Stephanie Epstein, Managing Director, Global Head of Models Infrastructure in Multi-Asset Strategies & Solution
“I remember her with her kids; she was traveling a ton, totally invested in work but showed up for her kids when it mattered. I have vivid memories of her going to coach her kid’s soccer team. She made me think about the kind of role model I would be for my girls. She was one of those people that can make it work. She gave me a roadmap to follow.”
“People want relatable role models. She’s someone that women can look up to and say ‘I can get there.’ Barbara was a normal person that was really smart, worked really hard, and built something from the ground up. At its core, many women like me look at her and think, ‘I can do it.’ She’s done that for BlackRock and for the industry.”
2. From Barbara, we saw the importance of recognizing and rewarding outstanding work.
She has been instrumental in the trajectory of my career. She recognized talent and rewarded it. She invested more in me than I thought she really had to.
Director, Investor Stewardship
“She truly rewarded – not only praised – good work. For example, there was an annual trip that [BlackRock’s founders] would host where we would travel to the Saratoga Racetrack. Select employees were invited … I was an Analyst, and I got to go. … That day trip was such a treat, and I went because of Barbara.
She identified young talent, rewarded that, and acted as a mentor to them. Bringing that human aspect of taking an interest me, despite how senior she was, that impact on me was astronomical. It’s one thing to have your direct line manager think you do a good job, but to have the head of the group think that, I was walking on the moon … And it was very motivating to continue to do good work.”
3. Barbara showed us the value of listening deeply, recognizing potential and taking a chance on backgrounds that may not seem obvious.
“In our initial conversation about a governance role at BlackRock], she said, ‘Let me tell you about the work I’m doing in governance because some of the things you talked about in corporate access, align with what we’re looking for and may be transferrable’ … She then said, ‘We have a lot of people internally who are governance experts, but we need someone who can focus on the business side.’”“For me, it was a perfect fit because my core values aligned with the organization, and in addition to that, I was excited about the work I would be doing, and I love learning. It presented an opportunity to learn a completely new area of business . I’m in my third year, and I’m still learning which is fantastic.”
“I learned to value people and to get to know them. I spend a lot of time thinking about what we’re asking people to do in the investment stewardship seats , what are the core skills required and what is the direction of travel for the role … I look for parallel skills; just because someone doesn’t have product knowledge doesn’t mean they can’t contribute and bring value.”
Ray Cameron, Managing Director, Head of Americas Investment Stewardship
We thank you, Barbara, for all that you have taught us. You continue to be an inspiration every day.
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