No. 8: Lisa Pollina, RBC Capital Markets

Lisa Pollina
Vice Chairman, RBC Capital Markets

Lisa Pollina is a banker's banker. She oversees relationships with RBC Capital Markets' largest financial institution clients, entities like Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and State Street that are also counterparties and competitors.

Building stronger relationships with these companies has been a key goal for Pollina. One strategy has been holding meetings of five executives each from RBC and the client. At these meetings, she gets the backing of a "co-sponsor" from the client's executive team to keep the lines of communication open.

Pollina also has worked internally to improve how RBC interacts with these clients. This meant trying to break down the walls between the different divisions at RBC. She's set up internal planning sessions in which all employees — regardless of business line or geography — examine all aspects of the relationship. She's also launched a system of examining the profitability of each client, an initiative that has helped increase revenue in her areas by 27% since she was named vice chair in 2012.

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