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Secrets of my success: Citi EMEA Treasury Solutions head Ebru Pakcan

Citi EMEA head of Treasury and Trade Solutions Ebru Pakcan
Citi EMEA head of Treasury and Trade Solutions Ebru Pakcan

What do you do?

I head Emea Treasury and Trade Solutions for Citi. We provide cash-management solutions, trade financing and trade services for multinational corporations, financial institutions and public-sector institutions. They are trying to manage their working capital and sell goods to customers and they need to collect those sales proceeds, pay their own suppliers, and pay their employees. All of that has cash management requirements. Citi has this business across 100-plus countries and I am responsible for more than 50 of those countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I manage about 1000 people in total. It means I am on the road every other week.

What do you like about it?

It enables progress for the customer in a very tangible way. There aren’t many jobs in life like that. You can see the services and products that you give to the clients allowing them to do better and bigger business. In Africa, for example, we are engaged in businesses being able to pay and collect on mobile wallets. We have a lot of clients who have employees or customers who may not have bank accounts, but they still need to be able to pay these people as well as collect from people.

What is challenging?

It’s really trying to figure out a balance during the day and trying to juggle the big picture and the detail. It’s a very detailed job, with lots of nuts and bolts, and sometimes you want to spend your day thinking strategically to see what you are delivering to the end client. Juggling your time during the day so you are not lost in detail, and being able to keep a big picture while not losing touch with what is happening on the ground is very challenging. It’s very easy to fill your day and then to look back and think: what have I really achieved today?

What was your big break?

I am Turkish and my first big break was moving from Istanbul to London to get a bigger regional job with Citi. It was about six years into my career. I had been running certain functions over there that were only specific to that country and in terms of career growth and development I was always very interested in getting bigger roles.

It was that first break away from home and from the work environment that I was used to. It was a big learning curve but it was very enjoyable at the same time. After I did that move, every one I did after was a lot easier. You have to pass that barrier once just to see that you can actually do it. It now feels as if I can go anywhere and restart any time.

What was your big setback?

That move from Turkey to London, simply because the scope of what I looked at suddenly was growing quite extensively. The first 12 to 18 months I was just trying to find my feet. I didn’t necessarily do badly, but it was a challenging period in which I personally struggled to feel successful because it felt like a very big change. Then I just found my feet and got a lot more comfortable with it and moved on.

Work/life balance?

It’s about knowing your priorities. There are phases in life when one needs to understand whether this is a phase for the family or for the career, or for your kids. You just need to know what your focus is. I don’t think there are many people that are totally career-focused or completely family-focused their entire lives.

You need to be able to switch around and this is how I have been trying to balance my own life. The reality is these are tough jobs, so you just have to make sure there is sufficient time for your family. I think it’s unrealistic to think that there is some magic fix.

Any tips?

Be curious and keep learning. It’s the best way to motivate oneself. I also find being self-aware and open to feedback from others greatly helps professionals to continually develop and not become stale. Lastly, have a bit of fun and stay positive. It’s incredible what a difference a smile can make when you are faced with challenges.