Marie Dzanis
The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Marie Dzanis emerges in this interview as a Catalyst, someone who ignites potential in people and organisations by connecting values to performance. She repeatedly frames leadership as the art of unlocking others, citing unconstrained thinking exercises, three-coach mentorship models, and deliberate diversity accountability as tools for transformation. Dzanis speaks with conviction about Northern Trust's fiduciary identity, arguing that disciplined product standards and personal integrity are inseparable. Her Shackleton reference is telling: she is drawn to leaders who sustain collective confidence through uncertainty rather than heroic individual action. She positions ESG and generational wealth transfer not as trends to chase but as catalysts for redesigning how the firm serves clients, reflecting a leader who sees institutional change as fundamentally human before it is structural.
“If you can do it alongside people that share a common goal and a common vision and feel empowered and feel that your voice matters in an organization, I spent a lot of time up front understanding how my contribution would be heard and whether or not it would be valued.”
“I like to have the discipline and encourage my leaders to think: if you could solve this problem in any possible way without constraints, what would that be? When you are unencumbered by limitations, you get to the right solution.”
“We left products on the cutting room floor to say it didn't meet the standard we were expecting. That takes great discipline because product manufacturing takes a lot of investment in time and research.”
Money Maze Podcast: “Marie Dzanis, Head of EMEA for Northern Trust Asset Management”
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