Most Powerful Women in Banking: No. 14, U.S. Bank's Kate Quinn

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Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer, U.S. Bancorp

Among the many attributes of successful business leaders, Kate Quinn says there’s one that is critically important for working mothers: compartmentalization.

Navigating a high-powered banking career and a busy home life at the same time involves juggling multiple priorities. The best way to address them all is to focus fully on one at a time, she said.

“I’ve gone from dealing with a sick child at home to jumping on a call with our CEO about serious issues without missing a beat,” Quinn said. “I move on to the next thing easily, which also has helped me as a working mom.”

Kate Quinn, Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer at U.S. Bancorp.

It’s how Quinn balances the competing demands on her time. “It enables me to be thoughtful and deal with many different things at once.”

As chief administrative officer, Quinn is responsible for human resources, marketing, corporate communications, customer experience and analytics, among other business areas.

Quinn this year also oversaw U.S. Bancorp’s marketing blitz during the Super Bowl, typically one of the most-watched broadcasts of the year. The Minneapolis company holds the naming rights to the stadium where this year’s game, between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots, took place.

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Quinn put the U.S. Bancorp brand in the national spotlight, launching a social media campaign that made light of the sense of humility that Minnesotans are proud of. She also set up lounges near the stadium where attendees could try out new technology, such as contactless transactions.

The promotions provided a national platform for U.S. Bancorp’s brand, as it looks for ways to expand its retail bank to major markets across the country.

“It was an interesting shift to start to think about us as a national brand — and this is one big step toward that,” Quinn told American Banker in January.

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