By Melanie A. Hahn

When she began working in the male-dominated banking industry after graduating from Krannert, Marjorie (Marge) Magner, MSIA ’74, found to her surprise that women simply weren’t cut out for the business world.

At least, that was what she was told.

"People told me I was taking a job away from a man, so I should just go home," recalls Magner, now chief operating officer for Citigroup's Global Consumer Group. "Or, that as a woman, I couldn’t possibly do whatever I was trying to do."

Magner, normally an easygoing person, found herself arguing this subject often. After awhile, she decided that arguing wasn’t the solution.

"Sometimes, the most important thing isn’t being right," she says. "It’s getting the job done."

With that in mind, Magner learned to handle difficult situations creatively.

"I went to some meetings that I should have been invited to but wasn’t," she recalls. "I would show up and say, ‘I’m so sorry I’m late; I know you meant to include me. What did I miss?" Being excluded meant being prevented from doing her job properly, and Magner wouldn’t accept that.

Today, the facts speak for themselves. As Citigroup’s highest-ranking female executive, she is responsible for Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group, which is made up of three of the financial services giant’s largest consumer businesses, Citibanking North America, Primerica Financial Services and CitiFinancial, as well as consumer banking operations in Western Europe and Japan. Her division generated $6 billion in profit in 2001, and generated 25% income growth for the second quarter of 2002 despite the unstable economy. Magner has been one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business three years in a row; rising to #22 in the 2002 rankings.

No one is arguing now.

A question of fate

The youngest of three children growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Magner didn’t foresee her current career at all, let alone her success. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a policeman. Her only exposure to business was through the family-operated enterprises in her neighborhood.

After receiving her BS in psychology from Brooklyn College at 20, she worked for four years in an insurance actuarial department but found the work uninspiring. She considered getting an MS in psychology. Her sister Lois, a Purdue history professor (now retired), suggested Krannert’s MSIA program.

"I was ambivalent," Magner recalls, smiling. She still isn’t sure why she changed her mind, but says she thinks it was just destiny. "At some point, I had to stop fighting the tide," she says. "It led me on a path for which I am very grateful."

So she applied to Krannert, saying the famous last words that have come back to haunt many a naive MSIA applicant: "It’s a one-year program. How hard can it be?"

Perhaps a challenge was just what Magner needed.

"The principles I learned at Krannert helped me rise through the ranks of Citigroup and allow me to manage competently and confidently every day," she says. ‘I don’t believe I could have received a better education anywhere in the country."

After graduating, Magner worked as a business analyst for Chemical Bank, whose executives actually recruited her because she was a woman--an idea nearly unheard of in banking at the time and not always accepted. She joined CitiFinancial (then named Commercial Credit) in 1987, eventually becoming CEO in 1998, chairman in 1999, and assuming her current responsibilities in January 2000.

Priority issues

There’s no doubt about the two most important things to Magner: her work, and her son, Andrew Koss, 23, from her former marriage to Stephen Koss, MSIA ‘74. When Magner wasn’t at the office, she was with Andrew, and sometimes both at once when she brought him to work out of necessity or for events. She changed jobs to be closer to home, and in the beginning, most of her salary went to at-home child care. "I saw that as an investment," she says. "I wanted my son’s life to be as calm and reasonable as possible."

In balancing work and family, she says, "You don’t have to be perfect at everything. You have to decide what’s important. A senior position takes a lot of work. You can make things work, and hopefully, there will be people around to help."

At work, Magner focuses on people--employees, customers, and shareholders. "I want all the employees to take ownership," she says. "We work very hard for our customers and shareholders. When everyone involved is happy, then I call it a good day."

Do things get overwhelming? Sure.

"One would think that at this stage, I have no insecurity," she says. "I like to present that. But I used to think, "When are they going to think I don’t know anything?" Many women feel that they are not prepared or competent enough. Men feel it too, but they’re less likely to admit it." Yet worry merely makes Magner more careful to have reliable data and stay on top of it. Yesterday’s facts don’t matter today. "You learn how to tackle each issue from the beginning," she explains.

Magner says her upbringing has proven an asset in dealing with people. "In many ways, I could have plopped down from another planet," she says. "But I relate to people at all levels. First I’m in the branch talking to tellers, and then I’m chatting with people on the board. I enjoy both."

Listening is easy when you like people. So is forgiveness. She usually credits prejudice and other unfair treatment more to people’s lack of information, rather than downright meanness. "I like to think the best of people," she says. "I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, or that I’m entitled to anything other than what I’ve earned. I’ve been truly fortunate to have associated and worked with people who’ve given me such wonderful opportunities. It’s very humbling."

Magner respects and tries to emulate people like her parents, who get things done or come to the rescue. "My father was a police lieutenant when he retired," she says. "To me, that was so cool." Sadly, her father passed away in July.

A strong supporter of Citigroup’s mentoring and diversity programs, she speaks frequently on diversity issues and also mentors female Krannert master’s students. Currently, she is working to help more professional women get experience in profit-and-loss-related jobs so as to put them on the career track for CEO someday.

"The value of understanding how things work is that you can make them better," Magner says. "Otherwise, you might as well have stayed home."

Marge Magner is a member of the Krannert Dean’s Advisory Council and has returned to participate in the Krannert Executive Forum for undergraduate students. In August, she gave the Krannert Distinguished Executive Lecture, in which a top industry executive finishes off the master’s program orientation week by providing tips for success in business and beyond. She currently lives in Manhattan, New York, with her British Shorthair cats, Thelma and Louise.