Three Finance Leaders Reveal What They Learned From Life in 2020
Three Finance Leaders Reveal What They Learned From Life in 2020
(Bloomberg Markets) -- JOYCE CHANG
Chair of global research at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
What’s your morning ritual when working from home?
Coffee first, scan the print newspapers delivered to my door second.
What has brought you joy this year?
The biggest windfall was the “live” time with my two kids. If I were to do over anything in my career, I would have better balanced my work-travel schedule and time with family.
What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?
A crisis is always an opportunity to set precedents. The way that we work, share information, communicate, and interact with clients is forever changed.
What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?
Embrace disruption.
What will 2020 be remembered for?
Speed. Paradigm shifts. Zero yield. Cultural intelligence: the need for people to be seen, heard, and treated fairly.
HOWARD DAVIES
Chairman of NatWest Group Plc
What’s your morning ritual when working from home?
Dragging a reluctant dog round the village to wake myself up and confirm that there is a world outside Zoom.
What has brought you joy this year?
A first grandson, and the discovery of some excellent Austrian pinot noir.
What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?
I made a set of card models of Brutalist London buildings, which reminded me that there are aspects of London I don’t miss.
What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?
Move promptly to Sweden.
What will 2020 be remembered for?
The pandemic itself, but the explosion of government debt might merit a footnote, whose long-term consequences are uncertain.
GITA GOPINATH
Chief economist of the International Monetary Fund
What’s your morning ritual when working from home?
Wear a formal shirt. Pajama bottom can stay on. Make a cup of tea and prepare for a long day of virtual meetings.
What has brought you joy this year?
Not having to commute between Boston and D.C., and more time with my husband and son. My son applies to colleges this year, and I am happy that I will not miss out on any of that experience.
What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?
Figuring out with my team what the pandemic-driven crisis means for countries and how to best help them. And speaking to Trevor Noah on The Daily Show was something of a high!
What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?
Have a real end to the workday, with fewer virtual meetings.
Lacqua is co-anchor of Bloomberg Surveillance and host of Leaders With Lacqua.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.