As part of our Women's LEAD series, we’re profiling women in leadership at Nicola Wealth. The series continues with a look at women leaders in our real estate team with Meaghan Sarazin, Vice President of Finance, Real Estate. Since joining Nicola Wealth nine years ago, Meaghan has held several different positions including Financial Project Manager, Finance Controller, and Director of Finance. She reflects on the transition to management and senior leadership roles and what works for her in keeping her team continually engaged and focused on performance and development.
When Meaghan Sarazin stepped into her role as Nicola Wealth’s Vice President of Finance, Real Estate, she oversaw a team of seven. Fast-forward to today, and she now leads 15 accounting professionals who manage the financial aspect for Nicola Wealth’s real estate limited partnerships.
It wasn’t just the growing needs of Nicola Wealth’s portfolio that led to the rapid doubling of Meaghan’s team. As she explains, she also found new opportunities for the team to add value to the business. “We’ve grown that much, not only because of the growth of the funds, but also because we were included in processes that we weren’t previously and found ways to create value through our different perspectives. Now, people are coming to us for our guidance, which has expanded our scope and enhanced our value-add.”
Envisioning success
Having a strategic vision has been key to expanding and maintaining her high-performing team, says Meaghan. It provides an anchor and helps team members understand their next progression and why their hard work matters. It’s also helped her earn the trust of senior leadership.
“As we continue to add people that are critical thinkers with the ability to challenge the status quo, it’s easy to prove the incremental value of expanding the team. Having a vision and direction on where the team is headed, and the current gaps allows for strategic hiring decisions,” shares Meaghan, who joined Nicola Wealth in 2014 as a contract consultant before moving into a series of leadership roles, including Controller and Director of Finance, Asset Management. “Mark [Hannah, Managing Director of Real Estate] trusts that if I’m going to advocate to hire a new role, it’s been thought through, and he’ll see results.”
Hiring smart(er) people—and being their champion
As she’s built her team, Meaghan says she’s often relied on advice she received from Karen Ikeda, Senior Wealth Advisor and Client Relationship Manager at the company who took her under her wing and helped her realize her potential. “One thing that always stuck with me was when she said, ‘Sixes hire fours, and eights hire tens,’” she recalls. “Someone who's an eight realizes that tens will drive the value for everyone on the team. It’s important not to feel threatened and hire the best people you can find. Good people support good people, and it only props everyone up by learning from each other.”
Nurturing young leaders
Ensuring everyone on the team feels heard is a priority for Meaghan, who plans regular and informal check-ins with her direct reports and their team members. “It's important to have regular touchpoints and open communication,” she says. “I meet regularly with my direct reports, but I also make a point to meet with junior team members. I take them for coffee, go for a walk, find out how they're feeling about things: what do they see as the roadblocks to their work and what do they want out of their career?”
Those relationship-building efforts not only support the team’s morale and motivation, but it also helps Meaghan identify leaders within her team and help them move to the next level in their careers. “You have to recognize who your key dial-movers are, and how you can continue to make them happy, and give them a path forward.”
She notes that Nicola Wealth’s culture of growth means people can shape their careers. “We're so fortunate to work in a company where you can define your own role. I can tell people, ‘What do you want to do with your career? Tell me how you can create value, and we can build a case for it. Let’s figure out how to set you up to do that.’”
Setting expectations high
Meaghan acknowledges that she has high expectations for her team—just as she does for herself. “Something I learned from Karen is that it's okay to have high expectations and expect the best out of everyone,” she says. “I think a lot of accountants typically self-doubt or don't realize how far they can go. I make a point to stretch people and give them breadth, so that they can see that they too can think critically and figure things out.”
She adds, “I love my team and the people I work with. Work is work, but what makes it enjoyable are the people that you work with. And when you can figure out how to motivate people and inspire people to do good work, it multiplies.”
