Dee Sawyer, the Baltimore-based head of U.S. intermediaries and retirement plan services at T. Rowe Price, learned an important lesson about leadership early in her career: A leader needn't be the subject-matter expert to succeed.
What matters is knowing how to bring the right people and resources to the table, Ms. Sawyer said.
It’s a lesson she’s repeatedly relearned from the many mentors she’s had throughout her career at T. Rowe, people who nudged her into roles she would never have considered.
When a new leadership position opened in human resources, for example, Ms. Sawyer at first balked as HR had never been part of her background. “Why not you?” her mentor challenged her. “You know how to lead a team.”
“I’ve had the good fortune to have a lot of mentors who then turned into sponsors in my career,” Ms. Sawyer said. “I wouldn’t be in the role that I’m in today without them.”
To give back, Ms. Sawyer has championed women’s career initiatives, and racial and ethnic diversity at T. Rowe. She was the executive sponsor behind a program, for example, that offers mentoring for midcareer and underrepresented minorities at the firm. The program, which is now offered firmwide, was “one of the most fun” for Ms. Sawyer to be part of because she could interact with staff one on one. As head of T. Rowe’s U.S. intermediaries and retirement plan services, Ms. Sawyer leads two business segments that account for 55% of the firm’s $1.4 trillion in assets under management. She is also a vice president at T. Rowe Price Group Inc., a member of the firm’s management committee and chairwoman of the T. Rowe Price Retirement Leadership Council.
