The Art of Empathy and Resilience: HSBC’s Lavanya Chari on Reaching Great Heights

“By 2016, I had spent 14 years in global markets with Deutsche Bank and felt that I wanted to do something different in the next phase of my career. I firmly believed that wealth in Asia was on a strong growth trajectory and when an opportunity arose to move to the private bank to run products and solutions for Asia Pacific, I took it. I subsequently assumed the role globally, which stood me in good stead for the exciting journey that I am currently on with HSBC.

In terms of my proudest career moment, we have had great success with our ESG programme launched 18 months ago, with numerous product launches across asset classes. We are helping our clients bring about positive change in the world through their investment decisions, which is something I am incredibly passionate about. Our sustainable investment assets more than doubled on a year on year basis, which is an indication of our clients’ interest in this area.”

“I’m a fitness fanatic so am up at 5.15am every morning for a high intensity workout, before getting my kids ready for school and onto the bus at 6.45am—at which point my working day begins.

I interact extensively with my team and various other colleagues throughout the day—with colleagues spanning across geographies—spending our time on both strategic initiatives to grow our business and adopting a relentless focus on execution and getting the right things done for our customers around the world. Some days also entail meeting some of our key clients and participating in client events, which I enjoy.

I break to have dinner with my kids and put them to bed, before getting back to work—an inevitable consequence of running a global team and being in a different time zone from colleagues and customers in Europe and the Americas!”

“Spending time with my kids and ensuring that I am both mentally and physically present when I am with them is really important to me and helps me forget whatever challenges I may be facing elsewhere. Exercise is a great stress release and I also find reading, meditating, and socialising with friends to be great ways to unwind and relax.”

“The intellectual challenge and stimulation of developing innovative products and solutions in a competitive industry is something that I thrive on, working with some amazing colleagues to constantly meet the evolving needs of our customers around the world. I am passionate about diversity and inclusion: we have set up the IWS Women’s Network (IWin) at HSBC, an initiative to drive change and deliver a culture where IWS women are empowered and inspired to develop and progress, focusing on areas such as career development, leadership, networking, speak up, and work-life balance.”

“I am reminded of the Oscar Wilde quote “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”, which resonates in this context because female bankers must not be afraid to express their personalities and bring all of themselves to work when seeking leadership roles. Also, make sure you let people know what your aspirations and ambitions are and don’t fear rejection. Remember that it only takes one “yes” to progress, but you may have to fail a number of times before you get there—all of which are tremendous learning and resilience-building opportunities.”

“I feel that women often have to play a number of roles across work and family life, which can be challenging as you are continually juggling many priorities at the same time. My approach is to be highly organised with “to do” lists for both work and home—and I am relentless about getting things done. There is a saying “if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person” and I really believe that to be the case.”

“Gender diversity at the top of organisations has generally improved over the years but there is more to do. It’s important to have female role models in leadership positions and equally important that they share their career experiences so that others can feel inspired to follow a similarly high-achieving path. Annabel Spring, CEO of HSBC global private banking & wealth, is a great example in this regard. As part of the IWS Women’s Network (IWin), I will be sharing my own personal and career story with colleagues at an event in a couple of weeks’ time, as I think it’s such a fundamental part of encouraging and inspiring others to make full use of their potential and helping them progress on their career journeys.”

“For businesses and investors, ESG integration is not just a nice to have: it has become core to strategic and sustainable growth. Some of the key factors people consider when investing sustainably is a desire to invest in companies whose values align with their own, with a focus to deliver positive societal and environmental impact. The global race to net zero is an opportunity for investors, giving them access to products targeting green infrastructure and technology. For many clients, this is a secular growth trend they would like to participate in, offering them a rapidly expanding set of investment options to harness the global decarbonisation transition.

The ‘S’ in ESG in particular is moving rapidly up the agenda, accelerated by the effects of the pandemic, with greater awareness of the wide and commercially tangible benefits of diversity, inclusion and employee wellbeing. Companies that behave in a fair way are likely to be the ones that win in the longer term, and investors positioned to anticipate this change could well reap the benefits.”

“In my view, it’s crucial that companies are values-led, where they clearly define and articulate what they stand for and believe in—and then live those values every day. If companies’ core values are authentic, consistently upheld, and align with those of their people, they can form deep and lasting connections with them.

At HSBC, our values around succeeding together, taking responsibility, valuing difference, and getting it done, act as the guiding principles from which everything else flows, determining how we treat each other, act and behave, make decisions, tell our story, work as one team, manage talent, and build relationships. We also ensure that our emerging leadership talent is both nurtured and challenged, with both soft and technical skills developed and refined, understanding that the long-term success of our business relies upon the readiness of the next generation of leaders to deliver the right outcomes for our customers and shareholders.”

“I have set clear expectations for my leadership team and myself to role model the right kinds of behaviours at all times, as I firmly believe that the cultural tone of an organisation is set at the top. We always act with the best intentions, do what’s right, and treat our people fairly, which we then expect to see replicated across the team. This has helped us build a cohesive team with a real sense of connectedness and team spirit. In addition to the IWS Women’s Network that I referenced earlier, we have a Balance network that supports the recruitment, development, advancement and engagement of a gender-balanced workforce within HSBC.”