On Leadership Style & Evolution 

You’ve built your career across geographies, but also across vastly different team dynamics and stages of growth. How has your idea of leadership changed with experience not just across borders, but across chapters of your own life? 

Leadership, for me, has evolved. Early in my career, leadership meant being decisive, clear, and action oriented. I thought my value lay in providing clarity and control to drive outcomes. That worked well in the early chapters, especially when teams were small, execution was everything, and ambiguity needed swift resolution. 

But as I worked across more geographies and with more culturally diverse teams, I now see leadership more as creating motivation and providing space for others to succeed. There is a fine line to know when to step in and when to step back. 

Also, the more I see, I realise questions, issues, and solutions are very rarely unique across geographies. It is important to connect with people and teach them to reach out to others so they can learn from one another’s experiences. 

On Culture & Human Connection 

You’ve had to lead in cultures that weren’t your own. How do you walk the line between respecting what’s there and still bringing your own perspective to the table? 

Leading in cultures that aren’t your own means starting with listening and understanding your audience. Respect begins with curiosity; asking questions, learning the “why” behind how things are done, and resisting the impulse to react too quickly to what you don’t fully understand. 

Bringing my own perspective is the value I try to bring to different parts of the company. It’s important not to communicate my perspective or ideas as better, but to show them as different and then debate the merits with local team members. I also try to have people open up, be willing to accept more ideas, and provide different alternatives. Sometimes a good idea cannot be used today, but speaking about it can help put it in the minds of others for the future. When circumstances change, it may be the right idea for that time. 

On People, Teams & Trust 

How do you build trust? Especially when you’re stepping into a team that’s already established? 

There is a formula for trust which I always follow. For someone to trust me, I must ensure I am credible, a person they can rely on, and that I operate for the company’s best interest and not my own. If I don’t meet these areas in the eyes of the person whose trust I am trying to gain, they will have no confidence in me at all. 

How do you keep people motivated when the wins are slow and the pressure is high which, in finance, happens more often than most people think? 

There are a few principles that really matter here: 

• Show gratitude for efforts contributed—even just for daily work—so people go home feeling appreciated. 

• Recognise the amount of work people have at times, especially around month-end, when there are never enough hours in the day. Stay away; don’t drown them in more activities. Be careful when to introduce the next question or task. 

• Make sure the team understands the why or purpose of their contributions and how they fit into the big picture. This means communication with team members is important—don’t just hand out tasks.