What are the differences in leading a multinational team and teams made up of people of one nationality? How to estimate the unpredictable and why are horses a good battery charger? Kamila Makhmudova, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Management Board at Raiffeisen Bank, Czech Republic and Alexia Alexiou, Chief Risk Officer at VIG Re, a member of the Vienna Insurance Group, were guests of this episode of the podcast series Women Leaders Beyond Borders, hosted by Jaroslav Kramer.
You can watch the episode on YOUTUBE or listen to the episode on SPOTIFY and APPLE PODCAST.
Greek-born Alexia Alexiou has linked her professional life to risk management. She studied it at the University of Piraeus and has been involved in the field for her entire career. This is because of her affinity with mathematics and statistics in particular, and she can put this to good use in this field. „I always had a passion for mathematics, and I also wanted to find an area where mathematics is applicable to reality. That they make a difference. And that's how statistics came into my life. And ending up in risk management actually gives the opportunity of using the mathematics, enabling the company to be successful, but at the same time, safe and solvent. And this is actually an interesting balance for me to be achieved.“
She has no problem with working outside her home country. In a way, it seems normal to her because both her parents were expats and, according to Alexia, it had a definite positive effect on them. „They were like a role model for me in that sense. I could see the difference in their mentality compared to other people. Going abroad was something that was always there as an option for me. And at some point, it just became the right thing to do,“ she says about her work in the Czech capital, which has been going on for six years. The decision to move to the Czech Republic was helped by the fact that her partner also received a job offer from Prague. As a risk specialist, she now says that the bet on Prague was less risky than she originally thought. Her doubts and fears about the new location were quickly dispelled by the team of people she works with in Prague.
Kamila Makhmudova is originally from Uzbekistan, but she quickly became a globetrotter during the studies. Her degrees from Western universities, including American ones, helped her to become a Head of Legal in Privatization Bureau of State Property Committee in Uzbekistan around 2000. This was followed by an international career at the International Finance Corporation, a part of the World Bank Group. She worked for the IFC in the Central Asia region, as well as in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa. After that, she longed for a more settled life and since 2007 she has been a member of the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International team, and since December 2021 she has been the CFO of the Czech operations. She also speaks of passion in relation to her profession. „I love it. I have a chance to give a strategic direction, to support the business in their decision making. It gives me an opportunity to optimize the performance and work with the entire bank. Finance is something like blood through the body of the entire bank, so it gives me the overview of the entire bank. It's very interesting and exciting,“ says Kamila. In addition to her work, she also appreciates the fact that Prague is close to Vienna, where she has many friends.
Natural colleagues
With the transfer of managers to foreign destinations comes the need to prepare for getting acquainted with new colleagues. For some it is a routine, for others a slightly stressful affair.
For Kamila, getting to know new people is not a major problem. During her time at the IFC, she got used to foreign postings, which were often very short-term. „Working for the World Bank means you're parachuted in a different country, and you have to make a project within two, three weeks, maybe a few months. Also at Raiffeisen I had to work on projects in various countries where the Group is operating. But you're much less of the time on the ground, and you have to operate and to manage the teams and to find the ways how to get to the results.“ Although she considers changing teams around her as natural and has never had any problems with starting to work with new colleagues, she also knows moments when she doesn't need to be an extrovert at all costs and keeps her distance.
Also, Alexia considers herself an individual who has no problems building bonds in new teams. The important thing, according to her, is not to come into a new team with unfounded assumptions. „It's a bit challenging, but I'm definitely not going there with prefix. The mindset that this person will play this role, this person will play the other role. I think that might accumulate a lot of assumptions and lead you to questionable conclusions. I also have a tendency sometimes to be a bit more introvert, but I'm consciously working on it and always trying to figure out my way when I enter in new environments, in new cultures. And I think being curious actually works, helps a lot in these situations,“ Alexia explains.
Like on the playground
It may seem then that the two ladies have a lot in common. However, what sets their career paths apart is the fact that while Alexia came from a relatively ethnically homogeneous Greek job to a very international Prague team, in Kamila's case it was a move from an international team in Vienna to a predominantly Czech team in Prague. However, as Kamila says, drawing any conclusions about individuals based on nationality or other templates is not inherent to her. „I see people very different. Regardless of your nationality, everyone has certain ways of how to deal with things. Czechia is very easy and diverse, people are open to explore things and I 'm never bored with my team. But frankly I worked in many countries, I have not seen environments where I would say, oh, this is so typical to this nationality. Some societies are a bit more conservative, some a bit more open. You have to take this into account, but I don't think there is a set of rules. You have to have a certain emotional intelligence,“ Kamila believes. She adds that she finds the Czech Republic friendly in terms of networking among other managers and other partners she comes into contact with.
Alexia traded a single-national Greek team for a team of 25 nationalities. However, according to the manager, it was less of a change than it might seem. „I felt that it was a natural environment to be in and I can't say that I faced any difficulties in that respect. Being in an international environment for a person who is curious by nature is like being in a playground.“
This mindset, which equates employment with fun on the playground, can give the impression of frivolity, but on the other hand it also brings a not-so-common type of motivation that can turn into passion. Alexia conceives of the whole purpose of reinsurance as a field in this way. „I like the fact that reinsurances can make a difference in society. And the nature of my job, managing the risks, that actually ensures that this will continue happening in the future,“ she praises. However, she adds that being resilient and structured is important due to the high responsibility associated with risk assessment.
What Kamila finds most appealing about her profession is the very fact that banks enable people to grow and society to develop. „Without banks a lot of businesses would never start, people would not be able to buy their homes or finance other purchases. I see banking as an enabler and I saw it in many countries after the collapse of communist regimes, where the development was needed. Banks were taking the risk, bringing in the opportunities to the people. From that perspective it is extremely motivating.“
Anticipating the unpredictable
Counting, measuring, estimating. These are tasks intrinsically linked to the profession of both ladies. However, as Kamila points out, although people tend to have everything measured and estimated, reality is often affected by factors that cannot be predicted, such as the covid or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. „From that perspective, you need to be able to make sure that you have scenarios, even if they don't cover such a situation, because those are not predictable. But you have to be able to make sure that you have sufficient cushions, and you have to prepare for that,“ Kamila says.
According to Alexia, this is an area where there is room for creativity. „Scenarios is all you have to fight this unpredictability about the future. COVID-19 was not, of course, designed in the way it happened, but somehow, it may sound pessimistic, but in my view it doesn't, it brings an element of realism in our everyday working life, and it's something that I enjoy a lot trying to come up with these scenarios, without getting crazy about them.“ As a specialist in risk and risk assessment, Alexia admits to a certain predilection not for writing dark scenarios, but for thinking about all sorts of contingencies. „It's embedded in the nature of what I'm doing, and I enjoy this ´what if´.”
It´s all about energy management
How do female managers get back into shape during a challenging period that saps their energy? Both debaters use a similar recipe, in which horses play an important role. „A friend of mine once said: the older you get, the more it is about energy management. And I completely agree. To me it means doing things that you enjoy. Like yesterday, I was for the first time on a pottery lesson. You have to do something to recharge your batteries. Horses are exactly that activity. My trainer sometimes calls me a Genghis Khan's daughter because as he says I have a strong energy while riding. And I have to say sitting on the horse, I often feel like I have all the power of the horse in me,“ says Kamila.
Alexia adds that the combination of the strength represented by horses and the peace that can come from being by the sea works well for her. „It is important to combine elements of power and calmness in a balanced way and it is interesting to find your role into this equation. You don´t need to be always athletic or somehow extraordinary. Just being around those elements that actually fascinate you is enough to recharge,“ concludes Alexia.
Comments