Robert W. Baird &

Robert W. Baird & Co.

Rodney Tyson — Director of Business Development/Mergers & Acquisitions Rodney Tyson is a director in the investment banking division of Robert W. Baird & Co. Mr. Tyson joined Baird in 1998 and has participated in a number of mergers, acquisitions and equity financing transactions. Mr. Tyson completed a two-year secondment in Baird’s London office from 2002 to 2004, where he was primarily focused on developing Baird’s transatlantic mergers and acquisitions practice. In 2006, Mr. Tyson was promoted to the role of director of M&A business development and became responsible for enhancing Baird’s M&A franchise through an increased focus on identifying and sourcing potential acquisition candidates for Baird’s corporate and financial sponsor clients. Mr. Tyson is a member of Baird’s M&A Fairness Opinion Committee. Mr. Tyson also serves as co-chair of Baird’s Business Diversity Council, where he has been responsible for the development and implementation of a long-term diversity strategic plan for the company. Prior to joining Baird, Mr. Tyson worked in the consumer finance and commercial lending areas of Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank and First Chicago NBD. Mr. Tyson received his MBA degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a holds a BS degree in finance from the University of Maryland.

Q&A with Rodney Tyson

What are some steps that you took to get to the position that you are in now? My job is to identify and develop merger and acquisition ideas for our corporate clients, which tend to be public companies, and our private equity clients. The objective of my role is to develop an understanding of the strategic and corporate development objectives of our core clients and then use Baird’s substantial industry knowledge, industry contacts and skills as merger and acquisition, or M&A, advisors, to provide our clients with M&A ideas that match their strategic objectives. Basically, my job is to create more M&A opportunities for our clients, and ultimately, Baird.

The first step in preparing me for the position was pursuing a formal postsecondary education. I earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Maryland. I then worked for six years in the commercial banking industry before deciding to continue my education by earning an MBA degree with a concentration in finance and accounting, from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. The MBA degree was particularly important because it opened me to a vast set of career opportunities that I had not known were possible, including investment banking. The degree also gave me a “credential” that was widely accepted in the world of investment banking. Without the MBA, I think it would have been a little more chal- lenging for me to make a successful transition from commercial banking to investment banking.

As an M&A banker, my job is to work with a team of colleagues to advise companies on buying another company, divesting a non-core division or selling their company. Over the eight years that I have been at Baird, my responsibilities have increased from doing the support work involved in analyzing and completing an M&A transaction, to managing a team responsible for completing all of the tasks our firm may undertake to assist a client in an M&A transaction, to what I do today, which is to work with other senior bankers to further Baird’s relationships with CEOs, CFOs and private equity firm partners so they will hire Baird to serve as their financial advisor. All of this became possible because of my education.

The second thing was sponsorship, which means having senior bankers take an interest in you and your career development. Sponsorship is very important. Typically, sponsorship arises as a result of you doing your best on each transaction and asking questions to the senior bankers to show your interest in the job. Although most senior level individuals have very busy sched- ules, my experience has been that you will find they are interested in explaining their job to a younger professional. Asking intelligent questions about their job or why they are taking a certain approach in a transaction or how they may view changes in an industry they cover will convey your interest in the job. Conveying a sincere interest in the job or industry is often the key to getting a senior person’s attention. If people know you are interested in the work you are doing then they are more likely to invest in you. If people think you are simply “punching the clock just to get a paycheck” then my experience is that they will not invest in you. I asked a lot of questions to the senior people with whom I worked and in turn, they took an interest in my development. I think having senior people pay attention to me be concerned about my career development and eventually speak on my behalf to other senior people provided me with a level of sponsorship within the organization that has been incredibly valuable and has helped me achieve my current position.

It also helps if you attempt to make friends, not enemies, in the workplace. Our world is incredibly small and a good reputation is very difficult to build but very easy to ruin. So it should be part of your daily practice to avoid taking actions that can tarnish your reputation.

The last thing that helped me achieve the position I am in has been my confidence, but not arrogance, in my ability to do the different jobs that have been asked of me.

What are some effective ways to show that you have confidence? Preparation is key. You need to work hard to make sure you have fully thought through what you want to say and why you are saying it. Being well prepared allows you to be more confident in the manner through which you may ask a question, chal- lenge a point or develop and provide advice. Offering advice or asking a question that has not been well conceived can dimin- ish people’s confidence in you. Part of your success hinders on your ability to convey that you have been thoughtful in your approach. The more prepared you are for a situation the more confident you will be when you articulate a position to others. The more confident you are when you articulate a position, the more likely people will believe in what you have to say. To me, confidence in yourself can translate into a view by those with whom you work that you are also competent. Competence is the second major part of your success.

The other way you display confidence without being arrogant is to have a sense of humility. One of the mistakes young professionals often make early in their career is to assume they are always right. At 22, you are not always going to be right. Even at 35, you are not always going to be right. What some young professionals may not realize is that if you are willing to ask questions and admit that you might be wrong, or that you do not know something, you can still be highly effective in the workplace. Our industry is full of people with very large egos. My advice to young professionals is that they should show some humility and focus on gaining competence in their job and building confidence in their skills with other members of their team. In most situations, arrogance will hinder, rather than help, your professional success.

How did you develop an interest in finance? My interest in finance came through a national internship program called INROADS. In many ways the INROADS program changed my life. Prior to the start of my freshman year of college, Citibank hired me as an INROADS summer intern. I sub- sequently stayed with Citibank for three consecutive summers. My positive experiences with Citibank and the INROADS organization are what changed me from wanting to be a psychology major to becoming a finance major. Citibank was my first exposure to the world of finance and I have remained interested in finance since my freshman year of college.

My interest in investment banking arose from another significant event in my life. Just before I was about to begin business school, I received a call from the Robert A. Toigo Foundation. The Toigo Foundation is an organization that specifically tar- gets ethnic minority students who are attending the top business schools in the country and have an interest in pursuing a career

Visit the Vault Diversity Channel for diversity program profiles of 100s of top employers, insider advice CAREER 19 from executives about workplace diversity and more. Go to www.vault.com/diversity LIBRARY View from the Top: Advice from Top Minority Executives Robert W. Baird & Co.

in finance. The foundation provides you with a fellowship to help pay for a portion of your business school tuition. More importantly, the foundation provides you with an opportunity to meet and speak with a broad cross section of individuals within the world of finance. It was through the Toigo Foundation that I learned about investment banking prior to entering business school. I had always worked in commercial banking, but did not have any knowledge of the activities of investment banks. Today, that sounds a bit strange because so many commercial banks have securities divisions, but that was not the case in the early 1990s. The Toigo Foundation had an orientation session in New York City that was sponsored by Goldman Sachs. By the end of that day, I was pretty much hooked on pursuing a career in investment banking because it perfectly suited my interest in finance

Do you think there is a glass ceiling in your industry? If so, how can minorities avoid hitting that glass ceiling? I honestly do not believe there is a glass ceiling in our industry. I think investment banking is one of the great places for minorities to succeed, because success is significantly driven by your individual performance. If you perform well, you will continue to progress. If you do not perform, you will find there are limited opportunities for you. In my experience, the “exit door” has been shown to people regardless of gender or the color of their skin.

That said, I think one of the factors that influences our ability to succeed, at least in investment banking where your job is to advise companies, is that we may lack the social capital that many of our majority colleagues may bring to the job. At the senior level, investment banking is about building relationships. What I have learned is that many people in this business have attended certain schools, belong to certain organizations or are members of specific clubs. To the extent that we, as minorities, are not involved in the same activities, then we may lack a certain context or reference point that others are able to use to build more personal relationships with chief executives, board of director members or private equity firm partners. Over time, we are able to compensate for our differing level of social capital, typically through excelling at other endeavors. However, I believe social capital is one of those forces that take a significant amount of time to equalize and part of our success at the senior level is slowed until we are able to compensate in other ways.

Many of us who enter the industry get frustrated at the senior associate or vice president level and we choose to exit the industry. People then say, “They exited the industry because they felt there was a glass ceiling.” I honestly do not feel there is a glass ceiling in this industry because the industry is so performance focused. Plus, I have had the pleasure of meeting several people who have shattered the so-called ceiling. I simply believe the issue is one of preparation and access rather than a mali- cious intent to keep us out of the senior ranks.

Networking is one way to improve your social capital. Sometimes people do not actively network with individuals outside of their comfort zone. Networking can take many forms. To be effective, I think your network should include several individuals from within your industry as well as a number of individuals from different backgrounds. The combination of a deep network in one respect and a broad network in another respect can provide you with access that extends far beyond your imme- diate circle of friends/contacts.

But at the junior level, it is about working hard and being smart, prepared and willing to make sacrifices. If you exhibit these characteristics early in your career, you will eventually find sponsors who help you develop the skills for success, regardless of whether a glass ceiling does or does not exist.

What are some effective ways to network? Joining your school’s alumni organization or joining a professional trade organization or becoming an active volunteer in a community organization are potential ways of establishing a network. Make sure you join organizations that mean something to you. Your “free” time is likely to be in short supply, so joining an organization simply because everyone else belongs to the organization is not a sustainable motivator. You have to choose an organization that speaks to you at a very personal level. I believe, particularly at the senior level, that a meaningful, personal involvement with a philanthropic organization can provide you with good business contacts. The various committee functions within a nonprofit organization provide you with an opportunity to get to know people who can ultimately be helpful to you from both a personal and professional perspective. Plus,

your shared commitment to something personal will give you and the contact an opportunity to talk about non-business activities, which is actually a highly effective way of solidifying business relationships. Such conversations allow individuals to get to know one another in a much more personal way, which ultimately allows the individuals to develop a trusting relationship. Developing trusting relationships are a key factor in developing and maintaining business. Being an extrovert is incredibly helpful. It helps if you play golf because many people in the industry play golf. The four hours you get on the golf course is a great opportunity for both business and personal conversations.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? The most rewarding aspect of my career is the experience of closely interacting with the CEOs and CFOs of companies and the partners at private equity firms. Most of my clients are in their 40s and 50s and they have built really successful businesses. Interacting with and providing financial advice to this group of people is not something I could have ever imagined I would do when I was growing up and this particular aspect of the job is incredibly rewarding.

The second most rewarding aspect of my career is that I am involved in helping our clients undertake major changes in their businesses. I work with middle-market firms, so my clients are not multibillion-dollar companies doing multibillion-dollar transactions. Although my deals do not appear in The Wall Street Journal, I am rewarded by the fact that our clients view Baird as their trusted financial advisor. They turn to us because while they may be exceptional at operating their companies, they do not access the markets as frequently; be it to raise capital through a stock offering or to buy another business. Being involved in helping those companies change their direction is incredibly rewarding.

What would you most like to change? The long and unpredictable nature of the hours I work each week. I average around 65 to 75 hours per week. Since I work in a client service industry, if a client wants something, it means I have to shift any personal plans I may have to ensure we prop- erly service that client. This can make it hard to plan a vacation or truly get away from work because the hours can be so unpredictable. If there is one thing I wish I could change it would be the amount of hours it takes to do the job.

Why are the hours so long in investment banking? There is a sense of urgency. When a client calls, they are not interested in waiting three weeks to get an answer. They want an answer in two to three days and you want to make sure the client has an answer before the competition even realizes a question has been asked. If you are working on projects with multiple clients it means you tend to be working late in the evening in order to deliver those answers fairly quickly. The hours are also long because so much of our work requires human inter- vention. The job is not the same every single day, so there is no way to automate some of the thinking, planning and analyti- cal work we may undertake on a transaction. You need many people to be involved and they all have to contribute significant amounts of human capital to achieve the desired results. You may become more productive as a result of both experience and access to better technology, but then we simply ask you to assume more responsibilities. The other part is that some of the work is complex. It may take hours to think through everything that has to be done and then check the work several times before the work product makes its way to the client.

What impact has your career had on your personal and family life? Do you have any special techniques, methods and philosophies that help you main- tain a work/life balance and be a successful professional? I am the first to admit that I have not been very good at creating a work/life balance. It takes a lot of effort for me to make sure I reconnect when I am at home. My schedule means I am either traveling for several days, or if I am in the office, I may not get home until very late in the evening. I have become better at creating a work/life balance as I have become more senior in the organization, but I still have more of a balance to create. The techniques people use are specific to their home situation so, unfortunately, I cannot offer any specific advice of how you make it better. Today, I simply have the benefit of being able to delegate more of the work that needs to be completed. You do not have that luxury as a junior banker. The way in

Visit the Vault Diversity Channel for diversity program profiles of 100s of top employers, insider advice CAREER 21 from executives about workplace diversity and more. Go to www.vault.com/diversity LIBRARY View from the Top: Advice from Top Minority Executives Robert W. Baird & Co.

which someone ultimately creates a work/life balance will look very different depending on your experience level within the organization.

Who is/was the most inspiring person to you in your career path? The most inspiring person to me was my mentor from the Toigo Foundation. His name is Tim Legesse and he currently works at the Lumina Foundation heading the foundation’s alternative investment strategy. Tim worked at Morgan Stanley before he went to business school and he was assigned to me as a mentor once I received the Toigo Foundation fellowship. Tim believed in me when I did not, and he made me believe that a career in investment banking was completely possible. Tim was crucial in helping me prepare for interviews and provided me with some valuable career advice. His willingness to help me when he had no real personal connection to me, except through the Toigo Foundation, has made Tim one of the most inspiring people to me.

What advice do you have for a young person considering a career within your company/industry? You have to prepare yourself. I believe education is the best way to get prepared. If you are interested in a career in finance, then make sure you do well in college. Many people may underperform their freshman year. If that happens, make sure you put in place better study habits so that your grades show significant improvement during the rest of your college career.

Be prepared to do the work. The worst thing that can happen to you is for people to lack confidence in your abilities and that comes from turning in subpar work. Try to talk to as many people as you can that are doing the job so you know what to expect, so you know the kinds of things you need to be prepared to do when you arrive. Every piece of work product you produce should be “A+” work, at least in the quality of your attempt because you will certainly make mistakes. Be committed to learn- ing as much as you can. That means admitting that you do not know something and asking people questions. If you do those things, you’ll find that success will come. It also helps if you have a sense of humor. You can’t take yourself too seriously. People do not like being around individuals who take themselves incredibly seriously.

Have you ever been mentored, or mentored others? How can someone find a mentor within their company/industry? Tim has been a tremendous mentor to me, and he knows it because I mention it every time we see each other. He made it clear to me that we all get ahead by helping each other. I continue to think about the obligation I have to give back to others. If someone has an interest in pursuing the same career and they are committed to it, I have an obligation to help them because someone helped me.

Finding a mentor in your own company tends to come from developing a relationship by having worked for or with someone. It is difficult to walk up to a stranger in the organization and say, “I want you to be my mentor,” because you do not really have a basis on which the two of you can openly talk. Our firm has a formal mentoring program that is designed to help get a relationship started between junior and senior level people. In the end, friendships and ultimately mentorships cannot be forced. That is really what a mentor relationship is about; creating a friendship that is oriented around your professional development as opposed to just your personal life. The best thing you can do is work hard with the people you are around. Over time, you will find that you end up developing a good relationship with someone who is senior. When that senior person extends their hand to help you, you should take the hand.

If you were not in your current position, what would your dream career be? My dream career is to own a regional theater company. I love and enjoy the theater, probably because I am significantly lack- ing in the creative arts department. But my dream career would be to have my own theater company where we could put on plays that touch people, expose them to a life they have not seen before and to make people think. That is the kind of thing you can do in the theater. Sitting in a dark theater for two-and-a-half hours allows you to get away from what is happening to you in your everyday life and to hear and see a different point of view.

Is there anything else you would like to add? People should consider studying or working abroad. I had the good fortune of being able to do my last semester of under- graduate study in London. Then I spent two years working in our London office to help build our industrial mergers and acquisitions practice. Living in Europe gave me the chance to travel extensively and see different parts of the world. America is a great place, but being able to live abroad gives you an opportunity to think about yourself and our country in a different way.

Visit the Vault Diversity Channel for diversity program profiles of 100s of top employers, insider advice CAREER 23 from executives about workplace diversity and more. Go to www.vault.com/diversity LIBRARY