The art auction business has long been a man`s domain, especially at the top management levels.
It`s an industry where women may have the opportunity to manage individual departments of major auction houses, but rarely a whole company. That is until an ambitious woman with an MBA from the University of Chicago made an unorthodox career move.
In 1989, Doris Meister, then head of the portfolio-strategy department at First Boston Corp. in New York, received a telephone call from a former colleague who had moved to an executive-search firm and told her about an opening at Christie`s, the international auctioneers.
It was a challenge she couldn`t resist. She left her Wall Street office in January 1990 for an elegant, antique-furnished suite at Christie`s Park Avenue galleries, where, as chief operating officer, she is the company`s highest-ranking female, second in command to Christopher Burge, president.
Meister, 37, a native of Ames, Ia., began her career in 1976 as a management trainee at Harris Bank in Chicago and became a representative in the currency management department.
A graduate of Smith College, where she studied history and economics, Meister attributes her success to a combination of hard work, foresight, determination and rapport with her colleagues.
Christie`s appealed to her as an opportunity to build on an already-successful business, to apply her background in international management consulting and finance to a completely different field. ”Don`t think that because you have skills in one industry you have to stay there,” says Meister. ”If you`re a good, smart manager you have more opportunities than you probably realize.”
Although she didn`t have specific training in the arts, Meister says that the switch from Wall Street to the auction world wasn`t as drastic as it may seem.
”I love working in businesses driven by dynamic markets,” she says.
”The situation at Christie`s is similar to my experience at First Boston. Both industries function as intermediaries between buyers and sellers, both operate on a global level and both had experienced a tremendous growth in size and complexity within a short period.”
But how would a company where art specialists comprise more than 50 percent of the 430-person staff react to a newcomer? ”It took some time for the employees to get used to a new management position, and I had to go through a natural period of building relationships. Christie`s had grown to a point where it needed a chief operating officer.”
When she`s not busy traveling to group-management meetings at Christie`s London headquarters or to other Christie`s offices in Europe and the Far East, she`s visiting the company`s 12 regional representatives in the United States, attending special events for clients, delivering speeches to outside organizations and even handling phone bidding at Christie`s auctions. She says that it`s important to be accessible to employees at all levels.
”I like to wander around to see people informally as much as possible. People have to feel comfortable working with you,” she says. ”Your judgment and the style in which you operate is very important, especially at the senior level. And having a sense of humor is paramount. I try to be as nice and supportive as possible, but I can still be hard-nosed and make tough decisions.”
Meister, who received her MBA from the University of Chicago in 1979, said her interest in management was reaffirmed when she joined First Boston Corp. in 1984.
”I knew that I was very good at problem-solving, but I also wanted to manage people. My boss at First Boston recognized my skills and gave me a significant opportunity that helped to shape my career. It`s important to know yourself and to have advocates or mentors, someone who will support you because you deserve it. You have to look for these people.”
LIFELINES
Networking opportunity
The Oak Brook Business & Professional Women`s Club promotes the careers of professional women in a range of fields. The next monthly meeting will be at 6 p.m., July 16, Stouffer Oak Brook Hotel. Call Kay Benzin, 708-571-3906.
For working moms
Working Mothers Support Group, by the Virginia Frank Child Development Center of the Jewish Family and Community Service, 7:30 p.m., first Wednesday monthly, 3033 W. Touhy Ave. Cost: $6. Lorraine Perman, 312-761-4550.
To join
Women in Communications` Chicago chapter offers seminars pertaining to communications professionals. Membership details: 312-642-4331.
Career development
The Minority Women`s Center for Self-Development and Career offers a free listing of upcoming programs. For more information, call 312-421-5822.
Suggested reading
”Altered Ambitions: Winning Strategies to Reshape Your Career” (Donald I. Fine, $19.95), by Betsy Jaffe; ”Power Talking” (Putnam, $19.95), by George R. Walther; ”Women`s Job Search Handbook” (Williamson, $12.95), by Gerri Bloomberg and Margaret Holden.
