Behind the Breakthrough – Christy Barwick

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Behind the Breakthrough – Christy Barwick

October 8, 2015

For this week’s Behind the Breakthrough, we’re profiling Christy Barwick, treasurer at Intellectual Ventures. Christy led the team that recently received the Treasury Today’s Adam Smith Award for Best Financing Solution. Her work is expanding the market for invention, turning ideas into innovations. 

Check out Treasury Today’s profile of Christy and read on to learn more about her background, lessons for leaders, and, of course, her recent award.

On her journey to IV:

“I wasn’t looking to leave Microsoft, but the opportunity to join IV as its first treasurer was exciting. I’ve always enjoyed having new experiences and staying challenged, in this case, the opportunity to join IV allowed me to create something from the ground up and take my vision and develop the treasury function.”  

There wasn’t one role that prepared Christy for her current career phase but the accumulation of all of them.

“What helped me to be successful is a portfolio of diverse finance experience that gives me a broad perspective. If you’re narrowly focused for too long you don’t have a broad orientation. When you do take on additional projects or stretch assignments, it truly demonstrates to senior management that you want to grow your career. I’ve also had a series of incredible opportunities and mentors throughout my career in treasury that have allowed me to take on additional responsibilities and lead or contribute to projects that have been both professionally and personally rewarding.“

On lessons for leaders:

Speak up. Don’t wait for new assignments to learn new skills. Ask for them.

Don’t dismiss criticism. Whether true or false, you need to address that perception of you.

Engage a mentor or career coach. A mentor/coach can help even more if they understand your field.”

On what makes IV unique:

“IV isn’t shy about taking risks; we’re innovators. As one of the first global invention companies, we continue to lead by example by being the first to create a new asset class in the debt capital markets.”

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