Since joining Schwab in September 2010, Marie Chandoha has made it one of her personal missions to foster an environment that promotes diversity.

It was one thing for Margaret Keane to lead the retail finance arm of GE Capital before it spun off from its parent company, General Electric. But completing the separation from GE in November 2015 was a wake-up call.

Networks are a big deal for Diane Offereins in more ways than one. When she's not busy running a worldwide card payments network, Offereins is often advocating for women's networking.

Since becoming President and CEO of PNC Capital Markets in 2002, Charlotte McLaughlin has been building up what had been a dormant business, making capital markets a profitable and strategically important part of PNC Financial Services Group.

Candace Browning has two very important roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch — both related to research. Not only does she oversee research for the investment bank, she also spearheads some of its work to evaluate innovative fintech startups.

Even with more than 250,000 applicants for its summer program and analyst classes each year, Goldman Sachs questioned whether it was doing enough to foster diversity in the pool of hopefuls. That's why Edith Cooper, its global head of human capital management, is leading an effort to refine the way it finds talent.

Rebecca Patterson might be a financial expert who journalists at CNBC and other news outlets seek out for commentary, but it wasn't so long ago that she was on the other side of the interview.

For the past four years Suni Harford has been co-chair of Citi Women, a global women's career-track initiative that involves more than 130,000 female employees.

Though some other investment banks have scaled back equity research efforts in recent times, Joyce Chang has successfully led continued investment and expansion at J.P. Morgan.

"To help teach, mentor and sponsor women to realize their full potential and contribute to our business and society inspires me, and keeps me motivated for both my colleagues and for my two daughters," said HSBC's Katia Bouazza.

"One of the most important responsibilities of a leader [is] motivating people and developing the future leaders of the organization," Citi's Julie Monaco said. "When you take the time to communicate these messages to your team you are creating a culture that is distinguished by a commitment to excellence."

Courage is key for Wells Fargo's Diane Schumaker-Krieg. Her 37 years in financial services is practically a road map on how to embody it.

Noticing that clients were placing more emphasis on planning for specific goals than on simple returns and performance benchmarks, JPM's Kelly Coffey oversaw the development of a new wealth management platform to help project wealth, monitor and adjust their portfolios, and deploy surplus assets.

Attacking a problem — whether it's structuring an acquisition or merger for a Citigroup client or mastering the crescendo of a complicated piece — is about approaching it with creativity for Elinor Hoover.

To help facilitate collaboration for employees spread throughout the world, Elizabeth "Liz" Myers convened a two-day gathering of her managing directors so they could discuss clients' needs. The event is now in its second year and is expected to be annual.

People who are used to doing something a certain way — and succeeding — often balk at being asked to do it differently. Without a deft touch from management, morale can suffer. That was the challenge facing Kathie Andrade when TIAA promoted her to CEO of its retail financial services business.

For Tracey Brophy Warson, there's little difference between building relationships and building her business.

You learn a lot about how Paula Polito got to where she is — overseeing four businesses with $160 billion of assets — by asking how she landed her first job.

Amy Carlson had to make a tough call last year about a business she had spent the three previous years building: whether to scale it back, hold steady or keep investing.

Dawn Fitzpatrick understands the importance of bench strength. When asked to name a significant management decision in the past year, she cited hiring her successor after being promoted.