“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” – Simon Sinek
Eric Smith’s leadership philosophy is rooted in this belief, where empathy, precision, and trust are the pillars that define his approach to operational excellence. From steering early career challenges to fostering transformative changes at Cascade, Eric’s journey is a testament to his commitment to empowering teams, cultivating growth, and maintaining a high standard of excellence. His experiences highlight the importance of learning from mistakes, aligning strategies with an organization’s mission, and championing diversity and inclusion. As Eric looks toward the future, his leadership continues to advance, aiming to drive operational success and inspire others to lead with integrity and authenticity.
This experience shaped Eric’s perspective on leadership. He believes that mistakes are inevitable, but how a leader reacts to those mistakes is critical. Maintaining calm in the face of errors allows teams to focus on resolving issues effectively without undue stress. Eric points out that while mistakes must be acknowledged, escalating tensions only hamper the team’s ability to deliver a polished final product. He stresses that leaders should never belittle their teams during such moments. Instead, they should serve as enablers, helping their teams navigate challenges constructively and confidently. This approach, he believes, is essential for fostering a supportive and productive work environment.
Approach to Operational Excellence and Leadership
Eric reflected on key milestones in his career that have profoundly shaped his approach to operational excellence and leadership. One particular incident stands out, not as a milestone but as a significant learning opportunity that taught him the importance of precision in his work and how to handle errors as a leader.
He recounted an experience early in his career when he was tasked with producing a large spreadsheet containing fixed-income analytics for the head of insurance asset management. While reviewing the data, he disliked the visual representation of absolute zeroes for certain securities. In an attempt to refine the presentation, he used Excel’s “replace all” function to remove the zeroes. Unfortunately, this action not only removed the absolute zeroes but also cleared out zeroes within numbers. As a result, while zeroes disappeared as intended, numbers like “10.0425” became “1.425.” The error affected thousands of securities and multiple columns, and Eric only realized the magnitude of the mistake after sending the spreadsheet. Within minutes, a call confirmed the error.
From this experience, Eric learned a vital lesson: always ensure final checks are conducted on the final version of work. He emphasizes the principle of “measure thrice and cut once,” highlighting the importance of rigorous quality control to produce excellent output. This event also reinforced the need to double-check work after making even minor changes.
Alignment between the Operations Committee strategy and Cascade
Eric shared his perspective on the alignment of committee strategies with an organization’s mission, highlighting that this principle applies to any committee, not just an Operations Committee. He firmly believes that no committee’s strategy should diverge from the overarching mission of the organization. Committees, he explained, are established to advance the organization’s mission and broader strategic goals.
Eric noted that, in his experience, misalignment with the organization’s mission is rarely the issue. Instead, questions tend to revolve around the timing or prioritization of committee actions. One of the critical aspects of managing a cross-functional committee, he pointed out, is balancing differing priorities and establishing a clear decision-making framework or voting mechanism. This approach ensures forward momentum on initiatives.
He highlighted that committee initiatives typically arise from senior managers across the organization, a group built on trust and shared alignment with the organization’s mission. Thanks to this trust, Eric and his colleagues have not had to grapple with alignment issues frequently. However, for organizations that do face such challenges, he suggests embedding alignment considerations into the decision-making framework or voting process early on. This proactive approach, he explained, prevents committees from investing time and resources into initiatives that may later be deemed misaligned with the organization’s mission.
By focusing on alignment from the outset, Eric believes organizations can ensure that their committees work efficiently and remain true to their strategic objectives.
Leadership Philosophy Toward Driving Transformative Projects
When taking on larger transformative projects such as the industry’s T+1 acceleration of the settlement cycle, Eric applies a philosophy of starting early and gathering as much information as possible is key to building a strong plan, executing it effectively, and maintaining agility through constant re-evaluation. The approach began well before custodians and brokers had fully formulated their execution plans. This early preparation ensured Cascade’s readiness when industry counterparts were prepared to proceed with the initiative.
Remaining connected to advancing information—whether from custodians, industry groups, or brokers—allowed for the creation of a solid, adaptable plan. The team continuously reviewed and refined this plan, incorporating new information to stay ahead. By acting as though Canadian and Mexican markets were already aligned with the T+1 timeline, readiness was ensured regardless of their final decisions. Even if those markets didn’t transition simultaneously with the U.S., the effort was never wasted, as their eventual shift to T+1 was inevitable.
Another critical leadership philosophy at play was the importance of trusting the team. Staying involved and asking the right questions provided oversight, but the team was empowered to lead their initiatives independently. The goal was not to micromanage but to maintain enough familiarity with the process to step in effectively when needed. This balance ensured proactive support and avoided reactive intervention during critical moments.
Challenging Aspect of Implementing Operational Transformations
Eric often reflects on the most challenging and complex aspect of any transformation: the people involved. Unlike processes, technology, or data—which lack feelings, alliances, or resistance to change—people bring complexities that must be carefully navigated. He recognizes that while people can empower and enable transformation, they can also detract and derail. For any transformation to succeed, allies and sponsors are crucial.
Eric candidly shares that his personal struggle lies in understanding the importance of allyship and sponsorship, especially as someone who initially believed that “the work should speak for itself.” Over time, he realized that execution and results alone are not sufficient for driving successful transformations. This realization remains a challenge for him, as it requires balancing technical execution with building relationships and securing support.
To navigate this, Eric has focused on fostering relationships with the most fragmented departments or individuals. He believes that addressing these divisions helps build the political capital needed to drive transformation forward. By mending these fractures, he creates the allyship and sponsorship that are particularly vital when he is new to an organization.
Integrating Principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Eric often reflects on a quote by Quita Beeler Highsmith: “Somebody’s going to be talking about you when you’re not in the room; what do you want them to say?” This perspective resonates deeply with him and encapsulates the importance of navigating difficult relationships and fostering meaningful allyship and sponsorship in any transformative effort.
Eric finds the subject of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging deeply personal and profoundly important. As a member of multiple marginalized and protected groups, he brings a unique perspective to the table, one shaped by his own experiences of discrimination and inequity throughout his 20+ year career. Eric often finds himself in environments that lack diversity and inclusion, and he uses these experiences to create workplaces where these values are not just present but actively encouraged.
Eric emphasizes the importance of ensuring all voices in a room are heard while respecting team members’ decisions if they are not ready to share their ideas. He is particularly mindful of biases in hiring practices, challenging instances where resumes with nontraditional names are overlooked despite meeting qualifications. Similarly, he addresses situations where team members face discrimination based on their speaking voice, accent, or diction. Eric does not shy away from confronting these biases and takes pride in advocating for fairness and equity.
For Eric, fostering true diversity and inclusion means moving beyond the narrow concept of a “cultural fit.” He believes that prioritizing “fit” often stifles growth and innovation, failing to promote the diversity of thought that organizations need to thrive. He challenges the notion that diversity can exist when everyone in the room shares similar backgrounds and appearances. Instead, Eric champions the idea of embracing differences—differences in appearance, background, and opinion—to achieve the best outcomes and solutions.
Eric’s leadership philosophy is rooted in encouraging diversity in all its forms, ensuring equity in opportunities, and fostering an environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging. By confronting biases and challenging outdated practices, he strives to create spaces where diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are more than just values—they are a reality.
Motivation Towards Industry Forums
Eric is deeply motivated by the lack of diversity he has observed at senior management tables, conference panels, and advisory boards. While his participation in these forums is driven by a commitment to contributing to the industry, it is equally fueled by a sense of responsibility to ensure diversity is represented in these spaces.
Eric acknowledges that forums, panels, and keynotes would continue without him, but his presence adds an important layer of representation. He notes the progress made in recent years, observing more women and people of color participating on panels than before the pandemic. He recalls the personal significance of no longer being the only Black person among an entire day’s lineup of speakers. For Eric, knowing that audience members might see a Black person on a panel for the first time in their careers is a powerful motivator. Representation, he believes, truly matters.
Eric draws a distinction between his work at Cascade and his participation in industry forums. He views his work as a foundation for the insights he shares at these events. He is careful to contribute only to panels where he can provide real-world experience or meaningful advice, choosing not to speak on topics outside his expertise. This approach underscores his respect for these platforms and his commitment to adding genuine value to the discussions.
Eric’s participation in these spaces is not just about professional contribution but about inspiring others, fostering diversity, and paving the way for greater representation in the industry.
Balancing Professional Duties with Personal Well-being
Eric reflects on balance as a relatively newer concept in his life. Earlier in his career, particularly in investment banking and investment management, his focus leaned heavily toward professional responsibilities, often at the expense of his personal well-being. The culture of these industries demanded both hard work and smart work, leaving little room for anything else.
As Eric progressed in his career and became more self-aware, he recognized the importance of forcing balance into his life. He came to understand that balance doesn’t require perfect daily equilibrium; instead, it involves ensuring that no aspect of life is completely ignored over time. For him, this means that if work demands tip the scales heavily in one direction, they must eventually tip back in the other to focus on personal well-being.
Eric attributes his natural inclination toward balance to his Libra nature, but he also emphasizes the realistic understanding that priorities shift over time. Balance, as he sees it, doesn’t mean everything is always equally distributed but rather that everything remains upright and receives the attention it needs. He no longer tolerates burnout and actively manages his energy to ensure both professional and personal “candles” are properly tended.
He firmly believes in the principle that everyone has only 100% to give. If 80% of his energy is directed toward professional responsibilities one day, it’s perfectly fine for that to shift to 40% the next week. Eric stresses the importance of nurturing personal relationships, family, and friendships, as they provide essential support when work becomes challenging. For him, watering both gardens—professional and personal—is key to maintaining balance, sanity, and longevity.
And yes, Eric often humorously acknowledges his use of both candle and garden metaphors to illustrate his philosophy on balance.
Staying Updated Ahead of Industry Trends
Eric stays informed on industry trends through a combination of industry forums, consulting partnerships, vendor relationships, prospects, and news outlets. While he acknowledges that he doesn’t stay ahead of all trends—given the need to prioritize his time—he strategically focuses on trends that directly impact his business or major business lines.
When an emerging trend is particularly relevant, Eric takes a deliberate approach, deciding whether to get ahead of it or become a fast follower once the industry’s direction becomes clearer. For instance, he led efforts to position ahead of the industry regarding DTCC accelerated settlement cycles. In other cases, such as emerging technologies, Eric has opted to be a fast follower, allowing time to ensure the technologies have proven their value before making significant investments.
Eric emphasizes the importance of leveraging industry networks to stay informed. He believes that partners within the industry play a critical role in synthesizing information, making it far more efficient to rely on these connections rather than attempting to sort through vast amounts of data independently. This collaborative approach allows him to stay updated and strategically positioned without being overwhelmed by the constant flow of information.
Advice to Aspiring Operations Leaders
Eric believes in executing with excellence, being an empathetic leader, and encouraging authenticity within his team. He upholds honesty and integrity as non-negotiables and emphasizes the importance of not belittling people. Eric understands that delegating tasks empowers team members, and he advocates for extending faith and building trust. He is committed to creating pathways for his people to succeed, grow, and become better individuals by the time they leave him.
Eric recognizes the tremendous impact leaders have on people’s lives and careers, and he never takes that responsibility lightly. He believes that leaders must always give their best to their people.
As for Cascade, Eric has moved on from the company and no longer has long-term goals associated with it. However, he is confident that the foundation of hard work, operational excellence, and continuous improvement he helped establish will continue with the team and organization. He wishes them even greater success in the future.
Looking ahead, Eric is focused on seeking success in his next endeavours and driving operational excellence and continuous improvement in his future roles. He encourages people to stay tuned for the continued development of his career trajectory in 2025 and beyond.
