NEW YORK, N.Y. – One of the top executives at a world-renowned banking, securities and investment management firm began her career of leadership as the captain and two-time most valuable player of the Yale Squash Team.
Christina (Baird) Minnis '87, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group, is co-Head of Global Credit Finance and co-head of the Credit Finance Group.
Her maneuvers on the court helped the 1986 Bulldogs win the seven and nine-person team national championships and an Ivy League title. Now she arranges capital and finds creative solutions for her clients, who benefit from her experience as an elite athlete.
Unlike today's Yale squash players, Minnis did not receive distinction with admissions. Her father was in the Class of 1948, but Yale Head Coach Dale Walker wasn't calling her, though there was interest from most Ivy League squash programs, especially one in New Jersey. In fact, she was about to mail her Princeton acceptance letter when she had an epiphany.
"I suddenly wondered why I wouldn't want to go where my dad went," said Minnis. "I was quite intimidated by Yale, but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try to get in. I was basically a walk-on, but Dale Walker knew who I was and saw a converted tennis player with fight and grit."
Those were the days when many on Walker's team were tennis converts, but the kid from Dedham, Mass., and Milton Academy was more than just a skilled racquet player. Minnis proved that in 1986 by winning all her dual-match competitions at No. 5 while earning a No. 13 national ranking.
"I had a great rhythm and comfort playing in that position, and I really had command of my competition. But the top half of the ladder graduated the next year, and I had to play No. 1 as the senior captain. I lost most of my matches while trying to lead the team, which turned out to be one of the most important learning experiences."
There were over a hundred matches in her collegiate career, but one left an indelible imprint in her mind. It was a 1986 match at Princeton, and it may have typified her education on the court.
"I was in a brawl of a match against a very stocky and broad opponent, someone who really intimidated me and boxed me out. I had been taught to play respectful squash, but she was refusing to clear and I got off the court at 2-2 with Dale waiting to talk. She said, 'send her a message to get out of the way, drill the ball into her butt.'
I did what she said. My opponent moved out of the way, and I won the match," said Minnis.
She still thinks about the dynamics of the 1986 team, which could help explain why Minnis is such a successful manager.
"There was incredible team karma. I can still picture us in a van driving to away matches and having my first realization of the importance of the team. Squash is a very individual sport, but our captain, Phoebe Trubowitz '86, had an amazing ability to bring out the best in all of us to win as a team. It was so important to learn the lesson of team fabric and how you bring each other up a level."
Her overall Yale experience, highlighted by the delicate balance between academic and athletic pursuits, ingrained a philosophy she preaches today: the 80/20 rule (a.k.a. Pareto Principle, which is used primarily in business and economics), where 80 percent of the results will come from 20 percent of the action.
"Many of us came to college as super excellent generalists. If you want to excel athletically or academically, you concentrate on the 80 percent," said Minnis, a member of the Yale School of Management Advisory Board who earned a Masters of Management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University before joining Goldman in 1998.
That futile senior Yale Squash winter as the No. 1 on the ladder also left a good mark on her. "I learned how to lose gracefully and how to pick myself up. It's an important trait to own failure, even if 100 percent of the blame is on the organization. There must be some self-acknowledgement and awareness. You have to say to yourself, what do I need to change to be better," she said reflecting on her current management style.
Minnis' managerial wings span far at Goldman. She is co-head of the Global Credit Financing Group and Global Head of Acquisition Finance, while serving as a member of the Firmwide Capital Committee, Investment Banking Division (IBD) Executive Committee, IBD Risk Committee and the Partnership Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Advisors of Launch With GS, Goldman Sachs' $500 million commitment to invest in companies and investment managers with diverse leadership. If that's not enough, Minnis is also on the Board of Directors of Susan G. Komen, the largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the United States.
While she is working with corporations and private equity firms and arranging capital with creative solutions, Minnis has a motivating force working beside her.
"I started my career focused on gender diversity. And then, 10 years ago, I looked around and noticed we had work to do to include more black and Hispanic employees. Like Yale University and Yale Squash, we must be open to every element of our society," said Minnis, who has been mentoring black and Hispanic professionals and has established a scholarship at the Yale School of Management to support those minority groups.
Minnis has never allowed anyone to box her out on or off the court, and that's because of her relentless focus on fairness.
