Demonstrating Resilience and Empathy

Mar 28, 2023

Demonstrating Resilience and Empathy

Ms. Lavanya Chari, 2000/ B.Tech / AE, the Global Head of Investments and Wealth Solutions, HSBC

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom, excerpted from Ms.Chari’s inspiring lecture to IIT Madras students in person, at the ‘Leadership Lecture Series’ organized by the Alumni and Corporate Relations office at IIT Madras, on 20th January 2023. Watch the full lecture here: https://youtu.be/i6JyfCipmwk

Getting from A to B: Aerospace engineering to Banking…

So after IIT, I had an admission from Stanford to do a Masters in Aerospace Engineering. But unlike some of my classmates, I wasn't passionate about it. So I decided not to pursue that and went on to do my MBA in IIM Bangalore. And in my first year, I interned with Lehman Brothers in Tokyo for two months, which was an interesting experience. I felt that I could transfer my maths and engineering skills into the world of banking, particularly in the structured product space. I did feel that it was a natural fit for me, and that's when I made the decision to pursue a career in banking. So I joined Deutsche Bank in London, right after my MBA in 2002.

Stepping outside comfort zone, conquering new challenges

At Deutsche Bank, I went through a rotation program, where I rotated through different desks. I ended up on a desk called ‘Rates Structuring’, which I absolutely wasn't planning on joining because I thought it was too nerdy for me. It was a challenging time for me when I joined because it was my first job. I was on the trading floor; it was extremely aggressive. I was learning but I wasn't quite sure if I was doing the right thing. And my first performance review that I received wasn't that great. And having been a top student my entire life, I did struggle with that. But I took it on as a challenge as a project and decided that I would figure out what needed to be done. And I did it. I ended up spending six years in that nerdy, geeky desk. I built some great relationships, made friends that I'm still very close to, and will be friends for life. And I enjoyed those times. I had a great experience, I learned a lot. But then I wanted change. I strongly believe that from time to time, change is good. It keeps you motivated, helps you learn more, learn about different things.

I moved to the commodities business, a very interesting challenge because I knew nothing about commodities. And I had to reshape the way the team worked. Everyone in the team knew way more than I did about the business. We did manage to grow the business significantly over the next three years.

As part of that role, I made frequent trips to Asia from London, and three years later, an opportunity came up in Asia. And initially I turned it down because despite my mantra for change, I felt it was too much change. I had a nice life in London and I didn't want to get outside out of my comfort zone. I was eventually persuaded by my boss and my boss's boss. And even after I made the decision, I was filled with trepidation. I honestly now cannot tell you how glad I am that I made that change to move. That led to so many possibilities in my career and is absolutely instrumental to where I am today. Sometimes it is much easier to continue with status quo, but it is extremely important to take the plunge and seize the opportunities as they arise. My two daughters were born within a two-year gap. And in a way it motivated me to do even more, to be a great role model for them.
Early 2016, I felt like I had been in the Global Markets’ part of the business for a very long time. I had done different things. But I started thinking about what I wanted to do in the next 15-20 years of my career, and that is when I got the opportunity to move to the private bank to run all products and solutions for Asia Pacific, and again, it was a completely new business for me. It was really exciting and extremely intimidating. I was very, very open with the people when I did not understand something and I just asked them to explain it to me in detail and I wasn't shy of asking even very basic questions because that was the only way I could learn and the only way I could actually contribute to the business... Having spent over 17 years in Deutsche Bank, I got a call from HSBC in early 2020. And that was a bigger role to run products and investments globally for the private bank and the retail bank, an area in which HSBC is a behemoth. Again, I took the plunge and joined HSBC in July 2020.

Bringing empathy and finding purpose

I have the responsibility for the careers and well-being of the 1200 people in my team in various locations around the world. So I'm motivated by the challenge of creating an environment that allows people to bring their best selves to work in a supportive and inclusive environment. Two specific causes that I focus on are ESG and DNI which is diversity and inclusion from a professional standpoint; We set up the ESG Sustainable Investments program in HSBC, two years ago, which has been extremely successful. I also tried to do my best in from a personal standpoint on the ESG front, and diversity and inclusion is a topic very close to my heart, I spend a fair bit of time particularly on gender diversity.
At work, I also find purpose in what I'm doing, by thinking about how we add value to our clients, but how what we do helps change our clients’ lives and also by being a genuine and caring person towards my team and colleagues, and derive a huge amount of value and purpose in just helping others and being empathetic, which I think is incredibly important.
For several years, early on in my career, I struggled to take my empathetic side to work; I was in an aggressive environment. I was given feedback that I needed to be aggressive. But over time, I realized that I was leaving behind one of my key character strengths by doing that. And now I do exactly the opposite. I know what my strengths are, and I take my whole self to work, which I think has helped me tremendously at work and in my career, and that is my value proposition. And I'm someone with a very strong work ethic, who is results-focused, but also highly empathetic, and caring towards people. And that is exactly what my colleagues see. And that's what my team says. The point here is, be authentic. Be true to yourself, and identify your strengths and play to your strengths. Because it's impossible to pretend to be someone you're not.