1.Tell us about your upbringing and early career days.
I moved to Europe alone at 17 years for study. When I graduated at 23, valedictorian at both my business college and an investment fund program that I took in my last year of study, with French bank BNP Paribas, I was offered 3 permanent contracts with BIG4 companies and an American bank, and one fixed-term contract with BNP Paribas. While my friends were negotiating their salaries, I was negotiating my manager, a Chief Sales Officer at BNP who was my role model in business, and I was willing to take the fixed-term contract if the bank would find me a position in his department. Through a couple of negotiation rounds with a bank’s executive who sponsored my promotion, I made it clear that the only reason I would consider a fixed-term contract over 3 permanent ones was to work for that person.
My wish was granted, and I started my career reporting directly to an executive in one of the largest banks in the world. I was blessed to work for a great leader who made me grow, empowered me to take action, supported me to make significant changes in a complex organisation at one of the most sensitive times in the bank’s history, when BNP Paribas was fined $ 9 billion dollars in the United States. He got my voice heard in the top management, he always gave me the credit, he exposed me and put me to talk before the U.S. Prosecutor to present our model and the changes we implemented, and I also assisted on the investigation process for two years, and the model we both put in place was congratulated by the U.S. authority and later on replicated globally in the bank’s branches. In 2015, I won the Grand Prize Innovation Award at BNP Paribas.
Those early years in my career were so precious. I loved every aspect of my job. And my manager was the best manager I could have asked for. However, I decided to leave a few years later when my management and reporting line was about to change, and I had to refuse to work on some top executives’ terms, which was a very difficult experience, but sticking to my values and to myself was totally worth the expensive price I had to pay.
I moved to work for State Street bank, then Accenture, where I led the Financial Crime service offering. Both were good experiences that made me look at the business world from different angles.
I completed my MBA in the meanwhile and, in the process, I realised that I needed to jump far out of my comfort zone. I started a couple of businesses such as The Leadership Academy in Europe and Zeyneb Cosmetics, which were my first steps as an entrepreneur.
Today, I am a Chief Executive Officer in Technology Company “LEVO”, a platform where people can learn, grow and elevate.
2. What is the one mistake you wish you did not make?
I made many mistakes in my life. We, human beings, are imperfect, and I think that this is how we grow and we become better. But, if I am to pick one mistake, I would say mistaking priorities. In the past, when I was much younger, there was a moment in my life where I was giving too much importance to what people thought of me, said about me, if they appreciated me, especially when I was so much exposed at BNP Paribas in an early age. I also lost a great deal of my energy trying to prove to someone who mattered to me that I wasn’t the person he thought I was. I was also giving too much importance to some situations and events. Today, I know what matters and what does not.
3. What does you typical day look like?
My days look very different from one day to another, but there is a short video called “My Life As A Businesswoman” on my Youtube Channel (“Aabir”) that was created to promote entrepreneurship, among women in particular, and which can walk you through a typical day in my life. In a nutshell, I wake up with a positive mindset, because I truly believe that the mindset you start your day with sets the tone for the rest of the day. Before anything else, I take 15 minutes to organise my day, set my priorities and goals, and eliminate all sorts of distractions. I have my coffee and read a bit. Then, I go running for 30 minutes, I shower, I have my breakfast and I start my working day between 9 and 10 a.m. I spare my mornings to creative works, where I build, design, draft, analyse and review. At noon, I often have business lunches. My mediterranean side gets me to prefer business lunches for my most important meetings, because for me, it’s never been about closing a deal, it’s about building relationships. In the afternoon, I carry on my work with conference calls, emails, and also meetings with my teams for reviews and approvals. Early in the evening, I generally have a meeting with my partners to discuss business strategies and updates. Afterwards, I use my evenings to read and research, I like to understand business concepts and to read fiction and non-fiction books.
4. What new evolutions are you making in your company & processes to be more future ready?
At Levo, we understand that the world evolves so fast and so are our needs and environments. Therefore, our executive team is visionary and always try to predict the future directions that the world is going to take. We are very innovative and we try to always change the status quo to bring the best experiences to our users, customers and partners. We obviously work in agile modes and we develop technologies that would benefit the world.
5.What kind of a leader are you and what tips would you have for other leaders?
I think that I don’t have a specific leadership style, but I tend to adapt my leadership style to the person or the situation. And for other leaders, the best advice I can share is to always be yourself. The top of an organisation is a very uncomfortable position, between politics and strategic decisions that often require a big dose of courage, we have to be ourselves, always remember who we are, where we come from, and why we started in the first place.
6. What is your favourite book, and why?
I have many favourite books, because I read a lot. Nonetheless, the book that I enjoyed the most is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Although it is an ancient military treatise, but it still showcases too many valid strategies in business.
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