In this week’s episode of the CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast, CNBC Senior Media and Tech Reporter Julia Boorstin spoke with TIAA Retirement Solutions CEO Kourtney Gibson about how she is redefining retirement for a new generation, retirement inequity issues, her leadership superpower, advice she’d give to the next generation, and more.
Listen to the full episode here. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
All references must be sourced to CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast.
GIBSON ON RETIREMENT INEQUITY ISSUE
JULIA BOORSTIN: Retirement is an equity issue, and this is something that you’ve been focused on to close equity gaps, both for women and for people of color. How important do you think that is to your work? And how do you elevate these issues?
KOURTNEY GIBSON: You know what the surprising thing is, retirement inequity does disproportionately impact minorities and women, but 45% of all Americans are at risk of running short in retirement. That’s all Americans. That’s a big number. That’s a big number, and when you think about two thirds of Gen Z just not knowing what to do. That’s not talking about just black and brown, it’s not just talking about women, it’s talking about all and so when you think about that, it takes away what sometimes can be divisive, like, oh, why are you focusing on, well I’m focusing on it because candidly, there’s a huge inequity here, but we can all rally around the ability for people to live the retirement that they want to live. And that’s something that I think is incredibly important.
GIBSON ON GROWTH & LEADERSHIP
BOORSTIN: What’s so interesting is you were in this world of big finance, but it was also a
startup, and you started from the very bottom as an intern. How has your
perspective been shaped as a leader, from having been at a real startup for so
many years, for your career?
GIBSON: Growth really happens on the journey. It’s not when you get to the destination. And so having the privilege of 20/20 hindsight, and I look at all of the things that I’ve gotten a chance to experience over my career, all of the people I’ve had the chance to meet, to work with, to help, you know, you get an appreciation for how it works. Realistically, how do you build a business from the ground up? How do you build relationships? How does real business get done? You’ve got to have the substance. But I don’t care if you are in a big tech company or if you are running a hospital system, people still do business with who they know, like, and trust, and those fundamentals have to stay within the fabric of an organization within a business in order for it to be successful.
GIBSON ON HER LEADERSHIP SUPERPOWER
BOORSTIN: What do you think your leadership superpowers are?
GIBSON: One of the things I love to say is that growth happens in the process, right? And so as I have grown and evolved, I’ve looked at leaders that I appreciate. I’ve taken some of those good skills, I’ve looked at leaders that maybe I don’t appreciate, and I’ve said that’s not going to be me, and I’ve pivoted. So, I think my leadership superpower is probably, if I had to name one thing, it’s probably resilience. I’m incredibly resilient. I’m not going to win all the time, but I am going to get back up. As long as there’s a breath in my body, I’m going to keep going.
GIBSON ON ADVICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
BOORSTIN: You’ve thrived in an incredibly male dominated field. What’s your advice to other people who want to succeed in areas where maybe there aren’t a lot of examples?
GIBSON: Stay curious. Be agile. Be resilient. Just because one thing didn’t work. You can go cry. You can go be sad for a weekend, but on that next Monday morning, get back up and get after it because you have one life to live and so if you’re going to make the impact that you personally want to make, whatever that is, go after. It. That’s, that’s my hack. You know, if you, if you are set in why you’re here, even if you don’t know why you’re here, but you know you’re great at something. You know you’ve got breath in that body. Go find it, seek it, and be great at it, and keep going.
For more information contact:
Stephanie Hirlemann
CNBC
m: 201.397.2838