Kathleen Murphy has again been ranked in Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” feature.
Yet, the Fidelity Investments president of personal investing invoked her inner Vince Lombardi and the gridiron — not the office — in offering advice to the 300 supporters and users of the local Junior Achievement’s JA Girl$ initiative during its annual “Smart Women Make Change” event Wednesday.
The football coach-style advice was unconventional, but works in the business world, Murphy said. She learned the advice growing up after reading her brother’s football-related stories.
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence,” she said, quoting Lombardi, the longtime Green Bay Packers coach.
Murphy told the crowd that while rising through the ranks in the legal and business fields, “you weren’t going to outwork me,” and that a dedication to providing excellence delivers results with clients — especially now in the financial services industry, when people are skeptical about investing their money.
Fidelity Investments is a multinational financial services corporation with headquarters in Boston.
“In the financial services industry, we need to take that to heart,” she said. “If you deliver with excellence, you’ll be on your way to success.”
Murphy also advised in embracing risk, which is how she said people learn about realizing their full potential. She said the bigger turning points in her career came when she moved on to something new — and the biggest was when she took on a challenge she did not think she wanted.
“In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail,” she said, using another Lombardi quote.
Another Lombardi-style bit she gave to the crowd was to be both a team player and a leader. She said being a leader is a responsibility and a privilege, and the two traits are not mutually exclusive.
Murphy also briefly spoke of Fidelity Investments’ relationship with Jacksonville, calling the talent pool “terrific” and the reception it received when it came to the city in 2005 a positive one. In 2006, she said, the company made a commitment by opening a regional site and hiring more than 800 employees and that it is still growing despite other companies in the financial sector facing challenges.
“We’re thrilled to be here,” she said.
Murphy was ranked No. 32 on the list of the 50 most powerful women in business feature that will appear in the Oct. 8 issue of Fortune, according to its website.
Murphy was the keynote speaker at the local Junior Achievement JAGirl$ event. The program is an initiative founded in Jacksonville that focuses on educating girls and young women for economic success through means such as mentorship. In the program, participants learn how to budget, develop a work ethic and prepare for the working world.
The local branch of Junior Achievement is part of the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurships and financial literacy through hands-on programs, according to its website.
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