Arunma Oteh, OON, served as the World Bank Vice President and Treasurer from September 30th, 2015 to November 30th 2018. As Treasurer, she led a team that managed assets totaling USD200 billion for the World Bank Group, 60 central banks, sovereign wealth funds and other official institutions. She and her team also maintained the World Bank’s global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower in over 50 currencies by executing well – prepared transactions and carefully coordinating credit rating and capital market relationships for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). She was also responsible for an extensive financial advisory business for World Bank clients and cash flows of over $7 trillion.
Here are some leadership tips we learned from Arunma Oteh
As a leader, you have to set a standard operating procedure that is binding on all and equally guides every team dealings activities/projects. You should also spell out very clearly, repercussions for flouting organizational benchmarks. “We made sure that the cost of wrongdoing was very high and that there were no sacred cows”
Lead by example. If you do the right thing and people see that you are making a difference, you will get support beyond what you can imagine.
Give of yourself and your resources as much as you can afford to. “I’ve been blessed, and I believe very strongly in the importance of giving.”
Other Life Lessons we learned are:
Raising financially-responsible citizens has far-reaching impact. If you understand the discipline of managing your money, it’s almost like managing your life.
You can be the next Obama, you can be the next Mark Zuckerberg, you can be the next Beyoncé. It’s really up to you to put in the effort and whatever you do, be the best you can be.
Early foundations are critical to who you become.
Culled from Forbes Woman Africa
