Christine Lagarde (Women in leadership)

Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde

A French lawyer and politician currently serving as the Managing Director (MD) and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since July 2011. She has not resisted from taking the world’s strongest governments head on, in order to defend the charter of IMF.

Lagarde grew up as a French bourgeoisie, complete with synchronized-swimming practices and Girl Scout experiences. Despite her strong French background – Lagarde grew up in a traditional, Catholic home in Normandy – she speaks fluent and idiomatic English and is quite familiar with American issues.

Lagarde has said, increasing the proportion of women in prominent business and finance industry jobs could raise economic dynamism and shift firms into thinking about the long-term future of the planet.

One of her famous quotes - “It’s also about having enough confidence in yourself to distance yourself from negative comments and condescension...It’s also helpful to have a sense of humour.

"You need to forge alliances [in the workplace]... you need to find people to support you, and they don’t have to be female."

Under her tenure, the IMF has navigated the eurozone debt crisis, managed emerging market risks and the threat of a U.S. trade war with China.

The first law firm she interviewed with, told her she would never be a partner because she was a woman.

Christine stands tall at 6+ ft, and is a strict vegetarian, doesn't drink alcohol, practices yoga. She is a regular at the gym and plays tennis.

"Grit your teeth and smile that’s how you get on with it.”

Her Wikipedia page says as of 20210603:
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (French: born 1 January 1956) is a French politician, businessperson and lawyer serving as President of the European Central Bank since 1 November 2019. Between July 2011 and September 2019, she served as Chair and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Lagarde previously held various senior ministerial posts in the Government of France: she was Minister of Commerce (2005–2007), Minister of Agriculture and Fishing (2007) and Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (2007–2011). Lagarde was the first woman to become finance minister of a G8 economy and is the first woman to head both the ECB and the IMF. A noted antitrust and labour lawyer, Lagarde was the first female Chair of major international law firm Baker & McKenzie, between 1999 and 2004. On 16 November 2009, the Financial Times ranked her the best finance minister in the Eurozone.

On 5 July 2011, Lagarde replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Managing Director of the IMF for a five-year term. Her appointment was the 11th consecutive appointment of a European to head the IMF. She was reelected by consensus for a second five-year term, starting 5 July 2016, being the only candidate nominated for the post. In December 2016, a French court found her guilty of negligence relating to her role in the Bernard Tapie arbitration, but did not impose a penalty. In 2019 and again in 2020, Forbes ranked her number two on its World's 100 Most Powerful Women list.

Tags: Politics,Management,