“You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple.”
― Adena Friedman
“Starting a new job can be nerve-racking , but it’s also exciting. You’re embarking on a new future, positioning yourself to write a fresh story on a clean slate.”
― Adena Friedman
“Even the mundane task may have something to teach you – especially if it’s a task you haven’t performed before.”
― Adena Friedman
“If you’re not making use of even the most routine assignment to learn something, realize that many of your colleagues and coworkers are.”
― Adena Friedman
“Rejection should ignite soul-searching, and the soul-searching must be absolutely honest.”
― Adena Friedman
“We have the Nasdaq private market. But we also want to make sure that every investor has an opportunity to ultimately join in growth and the success of these great companies that we have that have been formed in the United States.”
― Adena Friedman
“Be the optimist in the room.”
― Adena Friedman
“The best thing we can do with rejection is to make it a learning experience – rejection is a great teacher.”
― Adena Friedman
“New products, new markets, new investors, and new ways of doing things are the lifeblood of growth. And while each innovation carries potential risk, businesses that don’t innovate will eventually diminish.”
― Adena Friedman
“I’ve always been on the business side – running P&L and working with clients.”
― Adena Friedman
“Nobody gets through life without experiencing some form of rejection, which is why everybody knows how awful it feels.”
― Adena Friedman
“I like the idea of using all this science and technology to allow for our clients to have a deeper insight into the market.”
― Adena Friedman
“Empowering those around you to be heard and valued makes the difference between a leader who simply instructs and one who inspires.”
― Adena Friedman
“Listen to clients, employees, and peers and stay open to their ideas, feedback, and answers. Doing so is vital to the success of any leader.”
― Adena Friedman
“If someone gives you an opportunity, you better maximize it so that he wants to give you the next one.”
― Adena Friedman
“One of many strengths that I often see in successful women on Wall Street is a responsible balance between risk taking and risk mitigation – the ability to assess situations smartly and make the right medium-to-long-term decisions without being lured into reckless, short-term profit-taking.”
― Adena Friedman
“We need to make sure we are constantly staying ahead, thinking about what is coming.”
― Adena Friedman
“If it’s a cliche to say that intellectual curiosity keeps your mind sharp, your senses alert, and your capabilities cutting-edge, that’s because it’s true.”
― Adena Friedman
“We believe behavioral science, cognitive computing, and machine intelligence are essential to a successful, holistic surveillance offering and critical to efficient and effective organizational compliance with an increasingly intricate global regulatory environment.”
― Adena Friedman
“You need to have a lot of human judgment involved in the financial industry in terms of risk management, in terms of investment decisions, and things that really allow us to blend the best of technology and the human brain.”
― Adena Friedman
“In 1998, Nasdaq started a project called Next Nasdaq – or what Nasdaq was going to become – and they decided to handpick some of the up-and-comers. I was chosen as one of the people. It was a great opportunity for me and, I guess, a reflection of the fact that I was seen as someone who was developing her career pretty well.”
― Adena Friedman
“Don’t assume that opportunity will come to you. Put yourself forward when there is an opportunity.”
― Adena Friedman
“It’s hard not to take it personally when being wait-listed, passed over for a promotion, or losing a client to a competitor. But while feeling aggrieved may be an understandable reaction, it’s not productive – it’s not a good use of the experience.”
― Adena Friedman
“By definition, risk exposes businesses to danger.”
― Adena Friedman
“The companies that choose to list on Nasdaq are among the most innovative, risk-taking businesses in the world, and they are proof to us all that prudent risk-taking drives our economy forward.”
― Adena Friedman
“Entry-level jobs are excellent opportunites to educate young women about the realities of the financial world and can prepare them for the next move up within the firm or another area of the financial industry.”
― Adena Friedman
“Regardless of how or where you enter Wall Street, use your inherent skills and strengths to succeed.”
― Adena Friedman
“It’s important to experience as many parts of an organization as you can – because some day, you may have the chance to lead that organization.”
― Adena Friedman
“Many women try to advance in their careers by having all the answers; by being the go-to person for information and advice; or by building expertise in a particular field. However, as they progress, gain broader responsibilities, and grow into leadership roles, they realize that their span of control is too vast to be able to know every answer.”
― Adena Friedman
“A leader who listens is one who is malleable and willing to refine her views and actions as she learns new information or hears a better idea.”
― Adena Friedman
“Flat-out, the time I wasn’t working I was spending with the kids and my husband.”
― Adena Friedman
“You can get wrapped up in that megamerger mentality.”
― Adena Friedman
“We definitely are a supporter of lowering corporate income tax and managing through the reprehension of cash for companies because we do think that’ll give them more ammunition to grow their businesses and expand what they do.”
― Adena Friedman
“We tax our companies more than any other country in the world, so we really are not really encouraging businesses to grow and expand, and over time, that’s going to make it so that we diminish our role in the global economy.”
― Adena Friedman
“The financial service industry has an image issue.”
― Adena Friedman
“If you really think about the fabric of the United States, or the finance of any economy, finance is a true underpinning of what makes the economy great – if it can be done successfully, responsibly, and with a client orientation.”
― Adena Friedman
“You never stop learning.”
― Adena Friedman
“There are a lot of jobs in the financial industry that do need a math major.”
― Adena Friedman
“To be the best CEO you can be, you have to be passionate about the business you’re running. And I have true passion for the financial markets and the financial industry.”
― Adena Friedman
“The ability to have influence and create change and drive the strategy of an organization is really what excites me.”
― Adena Friedman
“Some companies have a very well-defined program that they bring young people into to help them figure out what they really like to do to get them exposure to senior management early.”
― Adena Friedman
“Nasdaq is investing in the technologies, talent, and capabilities that solve the complex challenges our clients face.”
― Adena Friedman
“I just think of myself as a hard-working person who loves my job.”
― Adena Friedman
“I was always first in, last out, but not inefficiently.”
― Adena Friedman
“One of the things I liked about the movie ‘Minority Report’ was they used a lot of futurists as consultants to really try to understand what the world really would be like in 50 years.”
― Adena Friedman
“I feel like I grew up in the investment business. My dad was at T. Rowe Price his whole career. We lived in Baltimore and had a small social circle, so most of my dad’s friends also worked for T. Rowe.”
― Adena Friedman
“I would like to be known as a great leader, not as a great woman leader.”
― Adena Friedman
“My favorite kick is the roundhouse. I’m very capable of kicking a tall person in the head with a roundhouse.”
― Adena Friedman
“When I was a kid, I’d always wanted to take karate, but my parents wouldn’t let me because I did a lot of other things, including ballet.”
― Adena Friedman
“Ideas are only as good as your ability to communicate them.”
― Adena Friedman
“Always be listening and learning.”
― Adena Friedman
“Play well with others.”
― Adena Friedman
“I have been measured on my merit and on my accomplishments.”
― Adena Friedman
“I’m hoping that other people can learn from me, both the mistakes I’ve made or the opportunities I’ve had, or for the decisions I’ve made: for instance, not to go and take a lot of different jobs in a lot of different places, but to stay in one place for most of my career.”
― Adena Friedman
“I really believe that I’ve been a better parent from being a working mother.”
― Adena Friedman
“I had children very young. You go through a period of immense guilt about being a working mother.”
― Adena Friedman
“Every time you feel entitled, you’re making a mistake.”
― Adena Friedman
“I come to work every day thinking I have to earn my job, and I really believe that. I don’t have a given right to my job; I need to prove my value in my role every single day.”
― Adena Friedman
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