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DEI + Leadership | Christine Lagarde & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Women in the economy and female leadership

Celebrate #WomensHistoryMonth with inspiring ECB podcast interviews between remarkable women - Christine Lagarde & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala!

DEI + Leadership | Christine Lagarde & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Women in the economy and female leadership

Hi All,

In light of the #WomensHistoryMonth, I wanted to share some interesting interviews, podcasts, and books that I found inspiring. We are all here standing on the shoulders of giants - our ancestors, colleagues, and friends. So, why not celebrate each other?!

March is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women throughout history. Women have played crucial roles in shaping society and advancing progress in a variety of fields, yet our accomplishments have often been overlooked or undervalued.

In this series of blog posts, we (you and I) will explore the lives and legacies of remarkable women who have broken barriers and made significant impacts in their respective fields. From trailblazing CEOs and policymakers to artists and mums, these women have paved the way for future generations and inspired countless individuals along the way. Join me as we delve into the stories of these remarkable women and honor their enduring legacies!

Here is the first one to kick off. The annual International Women's Day ECB podcast. This year, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, discussed women in the economy and female leadership in a podcast. I hope this tradition continues even long after Lagarde retires in the future. I still remember the day she appeared on my radar as I was watching the news on TV - she became the first female finance minister of France and the only female G7 finance minister in 2007. Since then, she continues to be the source of inspiration for me and many women and men.

Let me know if you have any female heroes you want me to study or if you want to contribute to this blog!

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😎 Summary

Lagarde and Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged the progress that has been made by women, but also pointed out that more work needs to be done, especially in light of recent setbacks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change. Lagarde emphasized the need to address discrimination, improve access to education, ensure equal pay, and increase the number of women in leadership positions. Okonjo-Iweala warned that gender equality is fragile and can be derailed, and notes that it will take another decade or more to catch up to where we were before the pandemic.

💯 Key Takeaways

  • Pay tribute to our grandmothers and mothers who have paved the way for us to be where we are now. I was particularly surprised to hear even in the Western developed economies, there are generational gaps when it comes to women's basic rights - such as Lagarde's mother could not open a bank account without her father's signature, etc.
  • Dress the way you feel comfortable, happy and proud of to boost your confidence and take control of the room. Don't be shy to wear your ethnic clothes or hair. And just be in the room.
  • It is an issue of confidence. Read 'Confidence Code' - Lagarde recommends the book. Lagarde mentioned she and Angela Markel had a conversation about this and Markel said she is also short on confidence. They are briefed to the extreme, granular details, working and studying, preparing for the meeting next day - women do much more so than our male colleagues - that's to make up for the confidence shortfall we all have. Confidence comes with age, but it is there. If you identify the issue, if you appreciate you have to work on it - it helps in the long term.
  • "When the going gets tough - grit your teeth and smile. You just have to get over it and keep going." Lagarde learned it from her national team coach when she was 17. Esp. to you women - there will be obstacles you - no question about that - you have to face them, just get over it and keep going.
  • Promoting stability of finances for women and the financial system at large by regulating credit institutions to prevent deceptive and improper campaigns and decisions.
  • Increased participation of women in peace negotiations can lead to better settlements and agreements.
@Watch House in Somerset House in London - I listened to this podcast for the first time and felt like I was struck by a peal of thunder. I wanted to capture that moment.

🏆 My Favorites From What Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Said:

The World Economic Forum had estimated the amount of time it would take to get gender equality or gender parity to be a 100 years after giving all these crises. The latest estimate is 132.
So, we've been set back 32 years already - 100 years is so difficult to imagine that my granddaughter's granddaughter you know would be there and we may still not have gender equality, but now it's 132 years.
The World Bank has estimated that 70 million people have fallen into absolute poverty. Because of this, Oxfam is saying that 47 million people in poverty are women and girls, so when you look at all of this in terms of impact, we've really been set back and it's going to take us another decade or more to even catch up to where we were before or more.  

Re: sub/unconscious gender bias -

Not because people are bad or men are bad; no we have wonderful productive and fantastic male colleagues or sometimes in built-in biases can just be there and you don't even know. So we have to really work hard; it will take time.

For women of color - (A-men to this!)

For everything you (white women) find that is difficult - it's doubly difficult for them...when you walk in a room you can just see the people judging you - especially if you're dressed the way I'm dressed, the first thing is they don't think you have anything intelligent to say and that they immediately innately feel a woman of color has less to say, is less intelligent and if she's dressed like an African oh my God she doesn't look like us, but this is me it's who I am and I love it.
It's good to be underestimated, because then you just take them by surprise.

🏆 My Favorites from What Christine Lagarde Said:

For advanced economies, I think women particularly since the Covid hit have been multitasking with limited assistance; they've been overworked and underpaid they've been pretty strong and entrepreneurial, but very poorly financed so you can see that there is a series of gaps that need to be addressed and need to be redressed, so for me it boils down to four 'L's that I keep repeating myself so for those of you who've heard me mention.
The four L's -
1) Law: There are still many countries that some of you represent here that is not equal where we still have discrimination against women so that's the first thing that needs to be fixed.
2) Learning: Girls have to be educated; need to be given access to education and special efforts need to be made in that respect that's not the case everywhere in the world far from it.
3) Labor: Access to the job market and equal pay for the same job even in the most advanced economies if you take the Nordic countries out because they are probably best in class, the gap between a man and a woman is still anywhere between 20% and 14% for the same job, so that needs to be addressed as well.  
4) Leadership: We still have too few women in leadership positions and they can do the job they can do it better sometimes, so now that you don't actually need to ask for that.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed the post on the importance of Women's History Month in recognizing and celebrating the remarkable achievements and contributions of women. Through the insightful podcast interview between Christine Lagarde and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, I certainly learned about the significance of women in the economy and the need for female leadership. There are various ways to promote gender equality, such as tackling discrimination, providing access to education, ensuring equal pay, and increasing women's representation in leadership roles. The key takeaways from the interview for me include paying tribute to female family members, dressing confidently, promoting financial stability for women, and encouraging their participation in peace negotiations. Hope you enjoyed the interview and post as much as I did and please continue celebrating inspiring women, engage in discussions, and suggest female heroes you want me to feature on the blog!!! Even better - please contribute to this blog - I invite you whether you identify yourself as a woman or not!!!

❤️ About Christine Lagarde

Christine Lagarde is a French lawyer and politician who has held several high-level leadership positions in international organizations. Born in France in 1956, she had a professor father and a linguist mother. The family lived in Le Havre, on the northern French coast. However, when she was 16, her father died, leaving her mother to raise her and her three younger brothers. Despite this adversity, Lagarde went on to graduate from Claude Monet High School in Le Havre in 1974 and later earned a law degree from the University of Paris X Nanterre. She has made significant contributions to the world of finance and economics. She served as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2011 to 2019, and since 2019, has been the President of the European Central Bank (ECB). Lagarde has been recognized for her leadership, including being named one of Forbes' "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" several times.

Lagarde's leadership journey began in the private sector, where she worked as a lawyer and later became a partner at the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. In 2005, she was appointed as France's Minister of Commerce and was later appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 2007, she became the first woman to hold the position of Finance Minister of a G7 country.

Lagarde's leadership skills were further recognized when she was appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2011. During her tenure, she led the organization through several financial crises and worked to reform its governance structure. She also continued to advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment, a cause she has championed throughout her career.

Lagarde's path to leadership has not been without its challenges. In 2016, she was convicted of negligence for her handling of a dispute involving a businessman and politician while serving as France's Finance Minister, but was not given any penalty or sentence. She has also faced criticism for her policies and actions while at the IMF and ECB, including accusations of favoring austerity measures over supporting economic growth. Despite these challenges, Lagarde has persevered and continued to make significant contributions to the field of economics and finance. Christine Lagarde can be seen as a source of inspiration and motivation for women who want to break the glass ceiling and reach the top positions.

Overall, Christine Lagarde's leadership journey is a testament to her resilience and perseverance in overcoming adversity to achieve success in both the private and public sectors.

Bonus - if you want to learn more about her career - check out David Rubenstein's interview with her (2019).

❤️ About Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian-American economist who has made significant contributions to her field and global politics. She was born on June 13, 1954, in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria. Okonjo-Iweala holds a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and she has served in several leadership positions, including as the Nigerian finance minister, managing director of the World Bank, and the first woman and African to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Okonjo-Iweala's journey to leadership has been characterized by several adversities, including the kidnapping of her mother, who was released after five days of being held captive by unknown gunmen. She also experienced political pushback in her efforts to reform Nigeria's corrupt oil sector as finance minister, and she faced protests over her efforts to remove fuel subsidies, which she deemed unsustainable and a source of corruption in the country. Despite these challenges, she persevered and achieved success in her leadership roles, including the negotiation of a $18bn debt relief package for Nigeria while at the World Bank.

Overall, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's journey to leadership is one of resilience and determination in the face of adversity. Through her work, she has made significant contributions to global politics and economic development, particularly in Africa.

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