12 Questions- Karolina Marzantowicz

Question 1: Who is Karolina Marzantowicz?

KM: Professionally: IBM Distinguished Engineer, Chief Technology Officer Financial Services in Central Eastern Europe. I started my professional career in IT in 94, I was working in a bank for sometime, and in 2001 I joined IBM.

Privately proud mum of three kids, mountain lover, runner, world traveller, and an active volunteer. I'm not afraid to dream big, keep my standards high and from time to time break rules.

Question 2. What do you enjoy most about your job and what do you find most difficult?

KM: As technology enthusiast and evangelist I love learning new things. New technology trends like blockchain, new disruptive business models like p2p, new industry regulations like psd2 - to understand them, and their impact on business and economy. It is fascinating.

At the same time I cannot be the master at everything. I need to choose and decide which topic or area I would like to dive deep into. I try to use my time wisely. Finding the right balance not to overwhelm myself is sometimes challenging for me.

Question 3. As a female (young)leader or a woman working in the financial sector, what has been the most significant barrier in your career so far?

KM: The most significant barriers were all biases in relation to motherhood / families responsibilities. I see this as a general barrier and personal challenge as a working mum of three. Which is even more challenging when you are a single parent. I skipped few interesting opportunities because at the time I wanted to have more time for my kids. I worked 3 days per week for few months when my youngest daughter was small. But those were my own decisions. Awareness about my own needs and priorities was a key.

But it happened to hear “we assumed you wouldn’t be probably interested in XXX because you have kids”.

Question 4. What is the best piece of advice given to you? Who gave you that advice? 

KM: Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO, said on one of the conference dedicated for technical women: 'Never Let Someone Define Who You Are'. It was open statement, but those worlds resonated with me a lot. I tried too often please other people. It helped me to start take care more about myself and to take responsibility for my own career.

Question 5. Who inspired/inspires (role model) you and why?

KM: There are few people I’m inspired by: industry disruptors like Elon Musk, Nobel price scientist Richard Feynman.

Elon Musk makes me feel that I don’t think big enough. I learned from Feynman how good is to not know, to learn, to be open, to not assume and that practical experience is better then theory.

In terms of leadership style I get a lot of inspiration from M. Gandhi, N. Mandela and Craig Groeschel. All of them make me feel that so much more can be achieved, we need to be brave enough to change world.

Question 6.When you began your career (many) years ago, did you ever imagine that you would be a (young) leader in a male-dominated profession?

KM: Intersection of Financial services and IT is extremely male dominated part of business. Just after high school I studied philology, and at that time in my life I wouldn't have believed that I would move into STEM and become an executive at IBM, advising global banks how to use technology better to grow their business.

Question 7. What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership especially in the financial sector?

KM: Looking at this specific industry I see 2 big barriers which hold women back: Promotion bias and gender pay gap. Male professionals negotiate higher starting pay than their female peers. Women routinely negotiate less desirable employment terms than men.

In addition to that a prejudiced opinion what type of position can be achieved by women. “CFO / CMO career path is more likely for women, but CTO / CEO? are u kidding me?”

There can be some fear in us to become first woman (or even first person) achieving something. But there can be a lot of excitement too. I became 1st IBM Distinguished Engineer in IBM Central Easter Europe – an executive technical position. I knew both those feelings. Don’t ever allow this fear to overtake you. Do what you are good at, and what you love.

Question 8. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders in financial sector? And what do you think will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?

KM: Let me share advice I continue to keep for myself: Be open to the unexpected and don't be afraid of trying new things. It is better to try and fail then not to try at all. When you try something, even if you fail, you learn, get new experience and get your own point of view. You can fail, but you can still enjoy it. This can motivate you to try again. If you don't have enough courage to try, you will never know what type of experience you miss out on. Sometimes my youngest daughter doesn't want to try some new food, by announcing loudly: 'I won’t eat it, I don't like it' and my response is always the same: 'I understand that food doesn't look/smell good but to know that you don't like it you need to try it and taste at least one spoon. if you will tell me then, that you don't like it, I will believe you'. And as you can guess in many cases after trying 1 spoon, she eats a whole meal.

On the other hand, there are many, too many opportunities currently. We cannot try everything. It is good to listen to advice, to try something, but it is better follow your instinct, and dreams.

Question 9. Mentorship? What is your opinion about it? Is it necessary? Does it make a difference? Did you have a mentor when you started your career? Do you think it would have made a difference if you did?

KM: There are 2 important roles that help others to grow: mentors and sponsors. Each of those relationship has a different purpose. It requires time and engagement from both sides. I value mentoring a lot. I have two mentors, and I mentor many people. My mentors have impacted my professional career a lot. They have helped me to discover my strengths. They have pushed me (a little) to make some brave decisions a few times by saying " yes, you are ready" "go for it"

Question 10. When it comes to gender pay gap, diversity and inclusion in financial sector: are we progressing, moving backwards or stagnated? Why?

KM: Gender pay gap – we are progressing, but a problem still exists as we can see in many reports.

Lack of diversity is especially visible at financial conferences. Most of the speakers, panelists (all men panels;-) ), and participants are men.

“Why” is a big question, and there is no one answer for it. Stereotypes, lower level of self-confidence, more responsibilities after work, etc

Question 11.What is some of the advice you can share with (young) women entering a male-dominated profession such as tech or finance?

KM: Diversity is not only about gender, so try to keep your eyes open to recognise who is a part of minorities around you. Gender doesn't define the level of your expertise, knowledge and value on the market. Focus on gaining knowledge and expertise which will fit into your professional passion. Take responsibility for your own career. Don't wait for anybody to make it happen.

Question 12.If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

KM: Believe me or not, but I made many mistakes and bad choices in my life , but one day I realised that all of them were the most valuable lessons I got from life. And they made me who I am. And I'm scared to think how fixing some of those mistakes would change who I am. What could I lose by fixing one mistake from my past?

I don't regret my choices, I learn from my mistakes and try not to make same mistakes twice.

Karolina will be speaking at the EWPN annual awards & conference event in Amsterdam on October 30 & 31st. Make sure you grab your ticket before they are sold out. Register for the event here.