RBC Personal & Commercial Banking is part of a leading provider of financial services, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Operating since 1869, RBC is one of the largest banks in the world and the fifth-largest in North America, as measured by market capitalization. RBC Personal and Commercial Banking brings together Canadian, Caribbean and U.S. Banking. In Canada, RBC has the strongest retail banking franchise and one of the strongest market positions in business financial services. They complement this leadership with a select retail offering in the US providing access to specialized cross-border banking services for Canadian clients who travel frequently or work in the U.S. In the Caribbean, RBC is a leading provider of a full range of personal and commercial banking, including wealth management.
Give a brief overview of your background and your role in the company.
As a leader in Personal & Commercial Banking, Nazia delivers strategic solutions to ensure all regulatory expectations are met. She works with internal and external technology partners to find innovative solutions using automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform in-house capabilities. In addition to her work with RBC, Nazia recently joined the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, where she teaches two graduate courses in Digital Transformation and Data Governance in the Masters of Information degree program.
2. What were the past experiences, achievement or lessons that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
My journey with technology started when I was 12 making websites for others. Looking back, I realize a deep love of learning something new is at my core, and it is what has kept me going all these years. I was one of 4 female students in my Computer Science Undergraduate degree and I was the only female developer in my function when I was hired at RBC Capital Markets at the start of my career. These early experiences forced me to become aware of my presence very early on and that I represented something different in a field that has been male dominated for many years. One of my key achievements was to become the first female Director in the Enterprise Architecture function at RBC. My experiences have made me much more passionate about bringing awareness to biases and building a supportive network for future female leaders. I currently sit on the Board for Social Planning Toronto which is an organization that is committed to diversity, social and economic justice, and active citizen participation in all aspects of community life, including driving changes for affordable housing within Toronto. I also co-chair the Diversity & Inclusion committee for one of the P&CB functions at RBC. I took on both of these roles to help change the narrative for challenges I have faced in my life.
3. Kindly mention some of the Important challenges that you faced during the initial phase of your journey.
Some of the challenges I faced was the lack of clarity in the path that takes you to leadership position. There is a lot of unconscious bias that exist in corporations that can be demotivating at the start of your career. In addition to corporate challenges, many women face cultural and societal challenges when pursuing leadership roles. As a South Asian female, a leadership path was never encouraged by family or community as my role as a wife and mother was always seen as more critical. The journey of a woman to a leadership role is like going through a labyrinth – it is not a simple, straight-forward path, but requires persistence, mindfulness of one’s progress, and careful analysis of future steps.
4. Describe some of the vital attributes that every transformational leader should possess.
Transformational leaders are there to challenge the status-quo, and this is very challenging at large organizations. Often, organizations step into transformation programs assuming bringing in new technology will result in transformation. If Transformation is not done right, all you really get is a faster caterpillar, not a butterfly. Transformation has to be thought of holistically with people, process, data and technology at its heart, and Transformation leaders have to lead differently than traditional leaders.
Transformation leaders, first and foremost have to have the ability to take risks. When trying to transform an organization, it is a risk. You may have to change things that work in its current form, but may not be sustainable in the future for the organization. There is a risk in changing such functions and processes, but as a leader, you have to be comfortable with taking risks.
Transformation leaders have to be able to make difficult decisions. Transformations are not the easy, out of the box type of projects. They are often big, complicated and involve lots of stakeholders. The ability to make difficult decisions with a clear focus on the values, vision, objectives, and goals of the organization is a critical trait of a strong transformation leader.
Finally, Transformation leaders lead with a vision. They set a realistic and attainable vision for the organization. They are then able to inspire others to follow them on this transformation journey and build trust, commitment and purpose for the organization.
5. How do you Make your product/solutions more creative and innovative to appeal your target audience?
Going beyond my organization and learning from other countries and sectors. Technology is a versatile, and learning from the top performers in their country and sectors enables me to bring forth ideas that are relevant to my function. The experiences consumers are getting from the retail sector and entertainment sector will only increase their expectations from the Financial sector, understanding the client experiences that are most successful in each sector allows me to bring forth ideas that already have data to support it.
6. How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?
After COVID19, it has become clear that digital experiences is headed towards becoming the norm in most sectors. As all our daily experiences become available to us through our phones, tablets and watches, the future is Digital for banking.
7. What is your advice for budding or emerging women leaders?
Focus on mentorship and building a network. There is a famous African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child” and it’s critical to building up future female leaders. Just like the importance of bringing up a child through the support of community, female leaders need the support of Mentors and a strong network to help them through the difficult path that awaits them to get to the senior positions.
Quote
“Companies often assume Digital Transformation is all about the technology. In reality, Digital Transformation is about people, process and technology, and it is built on a foundation of leadership and a culture”
