‘It’s not a man’s world, it’s your world!’

FOR influential Jamaican women like Maureen Hayden-Cater, the metaphor, ‘women are the backbone of society’, is far too limited to describe their real importance to the country’s corporate sector, which she acknowledges “although changing, is still largely led and dominated by men”.

“You know they say ‘the man is the head,’ however, as someone said to me recently, we are more like the neck as we decide where the head turns,” the Jamaica National Building Society corporate executive and career banker recently quipped, as she participated in an interactive conversation with upper sixth form students at Wolmer’s Girls’ School in St Andrew recently.

“Become a very strong neck if you can’t be the head,” she counselled. And that is the advice she has been following her entire life.

The Montego Bay High School past student and mother of two daughters has had a trailblazing career in banking and finance, becoming one of a few women to head a commercial bank in Jamaica, when she held the presidency of First Global Bank from 2011 to 2015.

Hayden-Cater is also a former president of the powerful Jamaica Bankers’ Association; and, now at Jamaica National, she’s preparing to further impact the industry.

“It’s not a man’s world. That’s a mistake. It’s your world,” she continued to assure the Wolmerians. “It’s not about being male or female. It’s about what you have to offer. You have to prove that you’re capable.”

And she emphasised the importance of gaining as much knowledge as they could now, instead of at a later point in their lives when they may become too busy to pursue their goals.

Professing not to be a workaholic, the devout Christian told the young ladies that while they need to work hard, temperance is important, and noted that they can achieve balance by simply organising carefully and setting clear objectives and goals at each stage of their lives.

“I believe my greatest strength is that I organise everything. I can tell you right now where every item is located in my house, and I organise things so that I don’t waste time looking for them later,” she explained.

“Similarly, you have to organise your life. Pursue your education first, because it’s much harder to be taking care of a baby while you are studying.”

On the subject of mentorship, she related her personal experiences.

“And you also need someone to guide you too,” she added, acknowledging the influence of some well-known people today, such as Colin Bullock, the current director-general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, who mentored her during her undergraduate years at the University of the West Indies, and the eminent financier, Citibank’s Peter Moses, who guided her during the early days of her career at the US-based international bank.

Hayden-Cater also advised the young women not to confine themselves to traditional careers, urging them to think about emerging areas that can open new doors. She encouraged them to think as global citizens and not merely as Jamaicans living in Jamaica.

“Remember, there are many opportunities out there and you can never be overqualified,” she reminded the young ladies. “Whatever you do, you have to do it very well. Remember, we are the neck, and that’s how we are going to lead the people in that boardroom. Don’t be average, average is not good enough.”