Ep 5 - For Love and Leadership - Navigating your career with finance Managing Director, Bukola Adisa

Bukola is somewhat of a Unicorn…a black and female MD at one of the top Global investment banks and a leader through and through.

Bukola walked us through her journey from Nigeria to the UK for love and all her career stops since then. Her pathway to where she is now has been woven with the sometimes underestimated cord of favour, talent and serendipity (luck) and she unashamedly owns her all learnings and her wins.

One thing that was so apparent was Bukola’s awareness of her responsibility to her community; The impact of her success or failure on how others view people with whom she shares affinity and consequently, how demonstrating “black excellence” is not an option but an imperative!

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MARKET SPHERE: Banking, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Diversity Champion, Trainer, Coach, Senior Leader About Bukola Bukola is a senior risk and controls expert...

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION

1. Don’t see yourself as less than anyone – it frees your mind and helps you dream big

2. You are the architect of your own life; don’t give external factors too much power

3. You are a person of value so insist on being paid what you are worth and never negotiate on an empty stomach

4. Your “diversity” is a strength. Every day, be intentional about seeing it as such

5. Every time you are in a room, you represent a whole community of people just like you

about bukola

Bukola is a senior risk and controls expert who has held leadership roles in global organisations such as HSBC, RBS, JP Morgan and Deloitte. Currently, she is a Managing Director at Barclays within the Chief Controls Office.

Alongside her corporate job, Bukola is the founder/CEO of Career Masterclass, a not for profit social enterprise dedicated to enabling the progression of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals in the workplace. Through webinars, live events and the annual STRETCH conference, Bukola teaches practical career tips to a varied BAME audience which has resulted in tangible career progress for the participants.

Her accolades are many! Most recently, Bukola was;

Listed in the 2018 PowerList which celebrates the achievements of senior professionals from an African and Caribbean background.
Named on the Financial times HERoes list - Champions of Women in Business 2018
Finalist of The Black British Business Awards 2018
Listed in the 2017 Empower Financial Times List of the top 100 Ethnic Minorities in the United Kingdom.