eFinancialCareers

After founding two successful fund management companies managing billions of pounds of assets, and raising a big family, Nicola Horlick is widely acclaimed as a ‘superwoman’ among City watchers. Here’s how she got ahead:

Feistiness

When Horlick got her first job working in the investment department of SG Warburg with fund manager Leonard Licht, she was told to watch out for his temper. “I said I can deal with it,” said Horlick. “My mother has a terrible temper, and I was right; he was just like my mother.”

Innovation

At that time, presentations to win investment mandates were weighty tomes outlining a fund manager’s advantage. As a 22 year-old graduate trainee, Horlick suggested drastically shortening the format to a single piece of paper. Despite initial hiccups, it proved a success.

Having a supportive mentor

Leonard Licht was a central influence in Horlick’s early career. If you want to get ahead in a large organisation, Horlick said it helps to have a sponsor: “You need someone who is sympathetic to you and who sees the value in having an intelligent woman around.”

If your employer isn’t supportive and won’t help you juggle work and life, Horlick says you should quit. “If someone’s being that inflexible, why should you want to work with them? At the moment I have five children at five different schools - there are a lot of pressure points.”

Talented colleagues

“One of things I notice about really successful people is that they are not afraid to be surrounded by people as good as, if not better than, them,” said Horlick. “That’s what I try and do: I employ successful people and try to make their life as interesting and as fun as possible.”

Delegation

Spending a lot of time out of the office taught her how to make the most of her team, said Horlick: “I never knew when I wasn’t going to be in the office. I had to teach everyone what to do when I was out. It honed my delegation skills.”

Squashing office politics

Nefarious goings on by the photocopier are not tolerated in Horlick’s world. “You have to stamp on office politics,” she says. “People are not here to go on a holiday camp, going out to dinner and on holiday with each other. You need to keep everyone looking outwards, not bickering inwards.”

Support systems

Having six children, and taking six months maternity leave for each, Horlick admitted it may seem surprising she got ahead at all: “I wasn’t in the office a lot of the time.” Help at home was crucial to her success: “You need support systems – a mother, a nanny, or a husband.”

Using parenting skills at work

According to Horlick, nurturing skills are much needed at work: “I use a lot of my parenting skills in the workplace,” she says. “I’ve had great PAs who’ve turned into great marketing people and administrative staff who’ve become great fund managers. It’s important to give people a break.”

Perspective

Georgie, Horlick’s eldest daughter, died of a leukaemia-related infection in 1998. She said the tragedy put her life into perspective: “I’d become a director by the age of 28, I drove a Mercedes and lived in a large house. But did work matter compared to the death of a child? No!”

Working woman

Being a woman in a man’s world can be advantageous according to Horlick. “It’s more a positive than a negative,” she said. “If there are 10 people making a presentation and you’re the only woman, you’ll be remembered.”