In Personal Board of Directors, top business leaders talk about the people they turn to for advice, and how those people have shaped their perspective and helped them succeed. Previous installments from the series are here.

Margaret Keane became one of the handful of female chief executives in banking partly because her boss made room for her years ago.

Months after joining middle management at General Electric Co. in 1996, she felt nervous about presenting to CEO Jack Welch in his conference room. She sat down on its back-row bench.

Her boss, Mike Neal, insisted that Ms. Keane move beside him and several male colleagues who were sitting closer to Mr. Welch. “You deserve a seat at the table,’’ Mr. Neal told her.

His persistent championship of Ms. Keane helped her assume command of Synchrony Financial shortly before it began separating from GE and went public in 2014. The first-time CEO ran Synchrony until April 1.