WomenWay Interview with Monique Bourquin

Monique Bourquin holds a degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen. After she completed her studies in 1990, she was a management consultant at Price Waterhouse Management Consulting. She then worked in Corporate Finance at Coopers & Lybrand. She joined Knorr N?hrmittel Ltd. (Bestfoods), in marketing, and then worked for Rivella in 1997 as a National Account Manager. In 1999, Monique Bourquin joined M?venpick Foods Switzerland as Sales Director, and was later appointed Country Director Switzerland. In 2002, she took up the position of Sales Director at Unilever Switzerland, and, in 2008, she was promoted to Country Manager Switzerland. She led the Swiss business with around 500 people reporting directly to her. In this position, she was also in the board of Promarca, the Swiss branded goods association. Monique Bourquin has acted as Chief Financial Officer of Unilever DACH (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) since 2012 She has been a member of the committee of the Swiss marketing association GfM since 2009, and she has been a Board Director at Emmi AG since 2013. Monique Bourqin is married and has one daughter. She works three days a week from Hamburg, the rest mainly from Switzerland, where she still lives with her family.

Thinking back in time Monique Bourquin, what was your dream, what did you want to become of as a child?
I wanted to be a doctor. I was very interested in knowing how our body works. I read lots of articles and books, and I always asked a lot of questions. I had a strange experience after a ski accident, however; I had to have knee surgery and in the hospital I was treated more like a number than as a person. On top of that, I really didn't like how the doctors and nurses were communicating with each other. Experiencing all that made me very quickly realize that becoming a doctor was certainly not something that I could imagine for myself.

What fascinated me during my childhood was my father – how he led his life and talked about his job was really captivating for me. He was an engineer, and worked as a businessman in France. In the evenings, he always used to talk a lot with my mum about his job, customers, sales and profits, and these interesting conversations played a very important role during my childhood. And it made me realize in my very early years that I wanted to study and develop myself, be independent, and, most certainly, have an interesting job myself, too.

With these plans in my head, I finally decided not to study medicine, but to study business economics, which I knew was a very broad choice, and would open various doors for me in the future.

Was it already during your studies that you started realizing that you were set-up for leadership?
There may have been signs slightly earlier. I think it goes back to the time I was about 11 or 12 – that was when I started to be more demanding. I liked pushing boundaries, and "No" was definitely not an answer that I could take. And even today I have that kind of attitude; if I want something, I give everything, and work hard to find a way to transform this no into a "Yes". A "No", for me, means that I have a challenge, for which I need to find a solution and transform into a "Yes". I am very determined and focused. That kind of attitude is certainly crucial when it comes to leadership.

Then, you know, at the University in St. Gallen, we were given case studies, and in these case studies we always had to take on the roles of leaders. We had to imagine that we were the CFO, CEO, or the Sales or Marketing Director of a big company. To be honest, I always liked thinking like one of them and putting myself into their shoes. I loved the thought of being able to make big decisions based on the facts. All in all, I was just fascinated by these roles, and I knew I wanted to be in one of them.

Finally, we had a compulsory work experience – a program that I did after two years of studying. It should have taken 6 months, but I did it for 11. During this placement, I got various tasks, but I found them boring and not challenging at all. I realized that I wanted to and could do so much more than that. It motivated me even more to return to university and finish my studies as I felt that one day, I definitely wanted to do much more than what I did during these 11 months. I also I knew I wanted to climb up to the top. I didn't know how yet, but I knew I was going to do it.

You have been in a leadership position now for over 15 years. From your perspective, what do you think it takes to be a successful leader in today's world?
Choose something that you have strength in – be that in a leadership position or not. You need to recognize your abilities and chose something that suits your strengths. Then – and it's extremely important – love what you chose and have passion for it. Only when you have all of these things can you become good at what you do. And, of course, once you are good at what you do, you will be even more determined and motivated to bring good and concrete results, and to achieve the given goals all of which will motivate you even more.  It's like a chain to success.

Personally, I always loved what I did, and it's for that reason that I always worked full time – even after my daughter was born. And because I always loved what I did, I never had the feeling that I was missing out on something. My job gave me energy and I didn't need the weekend to rest or regain it. I never felt exhausted by my job. It was always – and still is – very energizing.

A job can be burden if you don't enjoy it; if you don't enjoy it, you won't be good and successful at it. Frankly, if you don't like what you do, switch to something that you feel a connection to. Only then can you develop yourself and become successful.

Finally, be clear about what you want to achieve, and what you want, and make sure that you communicate it to the management above you. Sometimes, and especially in big organizations, it is difficult for the management to recognize all the results and success that are achieved by each of their employees. There are many people on the same level, and the only way rise above that is to communicate the milestones and results you have regularly and reliably achieved, and take the chance to express your future aspirations in direct discussion with your boss. Be clear about what you are passionate about, what inspires you, and what you aspire to. The management above you will have noticed you, and if you bring real results, you will deserve a promotion and you will get a promotion. When they see talent, skill, passion and determination, they will help you to step forward.

For some reason, we see more men than women reaching top-level positions. Why do you think that is, and what do you think the biggest challenges are for women on the career ladder today?
I think women can be their own biggest obstacles on the career ladder. Simply because it is not as natural for them – as it is for men – to communicate their results and accomplishments proudly and openly. Women tend to think that their achievements are being noticed automatically. But it does not work that way. Sometimes we do need to be a bit pushy to make others aware of our strengths and achievements. It is not showing off! It is just a way of communicating what we are good at. And the bigger the organization, the more important it is to do it. There are so many compatible employees, and the only thing we can do is stand out with something we are good at. When our skills and accomplishments get noticed, we get valued and then we get promoted. And frankly: if you don't get it – move somewhere else and grab the chances there!

I have to admit that even I didn't understand the importance of communication at the beginning. It was also not natural to me. But I realized that others were doing it… men were doing it. Then I noticed that people started talking about those men, they immediately stood out from the crowd. Besides, I now know that they also managed to step farther up on the career ladder, as they were very verbal about their future plans and aspirations. They voiced their next steps, and they spoke about their achievements with great conviction.

And if you still have the impression that some male colleagues get chances you don't get, although they are not any better than you are, and despite the fact that you reached your goals, delivered good results, and communicated clearly, look outside, and grab new chances outside of your organization.

Whether you like it or not, the more you climb up the ladder, the more you will be looked at because you are a woman. It doesn't mean it is wrong. Being watched closely can actually be good when you are good at what you do. This is because people want reassurance about the fact that you deserve the position you are in, and that you are good at what you do. I think it can be great, and we need to take it as an advantage and as an opportunity to shine!

Based on your experience and what you see, what do you suggest to women so that more of them find their way to the top?
Get connected within your organization – meet with people on all levels in various departments, be curious, and ask questions. Get to know your organization. Don't just expect your boss to know when you feel ready for your next step. Say it out loud and ex-press what you want. Don't think ''if my boss felt that I am ready for a promotion; they would want to talk to me about it''. No! They won't eventually feel that way if you don't say it! You are the one who decides whether or not to give yourself the chance. Doors don't always open by themselves; you are the one who makes decisions about your future.

Then show others what you are good at. Take on extra projects, even if it is not directly related to what you do. Take on new challenges, grab every opportunity to learn, to improve your skills, to gain new experiences, to do presentations and speeches in front of audiences. These opportunities can give you more visibility and a chance to show what you can do and what you are good at – both internally and externally. People will remember and recommend you. It can be a very fast way to success, so grab these unique opportunities. Then make sure to network externally, meet other professional business people, make connections and leave a lasting impact. Build trusting relationships. All I can say is: you have to take initiative. Take your success and future into your own hands.

Did you have role models and mentors in your life? What did they mean to you and for your success?
I never had a mentor, but I had a boss when I was working at Knorr who was a bit of one, even though a mentor and a boss are normally two different people for me. But in this case, I could consider him my mentor.

What he meant? He believed in me, gave me real challenges and was very demanding – I learnt a lot from him. Years later, he was the one who gave me the chance to take over a position within Unilever, which was, to be honest, early for my age. But he knew me and trusted me. He was convinced that I could manage and deliver results – and that's what I did. He – let's say as my mentor – played an important role in my business life. He definitely helped me to advance and go further in my career.

How do you maintain a healthy private and professional life-balance?
Even though both my husband and I have been working full time since the very beginning, our lives have always been very well balanced. Sometimes his work claims more commitment and sometimes mine, but we are very understanding and supportive of each other's plans and goals. Needless to say, I have to be extremely organized, and I am very strict with my working hours. Now it is more flexible, as our daughter is older (11), but I used to keep a very strict schedule. When I took my daughter to kindergarten, I could only set meetings between 8:30am – 6:00pm. But it worked because I was extremely focused during my working hours and could therefore deliver results, and my boss also adapted to it and accepted it.

Then, as my daughter always went to bed fairly late, I always had 2.5 full hours with her at home. This was pure quality time, only with her and my husband. My daughter received lots of attention from both of us; we played, and everything was just left behind. During those times, she was the most important. I didn't work on the weekends either; weekends were always very strictly reserved for my family and a few good friends.

The more our daughter grew up, the more we combined our time with sport. Actually, it started when she was a baby. My husband and I would roller skate while pushing her in the stroller. It was very cool for us, and she was only a few months old. Then, in the coming years, we taught her to bike and ski – which we've all done together ever since.

I must admit, in order to be able to focus on what was and is important to my husband and I, we always hired external help. We wanted to spend our free time with what was very important to us – each other.

Today, though my husband is the one with more flexibility than I have, our principals are the same.

How did your husband actually connect to your goals and commitments?
He always motivated me. Neither of us likes boundaries, so we never set boundaries around each other's goals. We are very understanding of each other's aspirations and development plans. We motivate each other to take all the good opportunities, even if that involves lots of traveling. For example, in the past he's taken lots of time traveling to Asia for work, and currently it's me who travels to Germany every week. But it never mattered. We always knew we would manage, even if we temporarily had to be thousands of miles apart.

An understanding partner is very important, and I am lucky to say I have a very kind and supporting one. We have been married for 25 years, and our relationship always been the same. We are two very independent people with lots of ambition and plans who really enjoy each other's company.

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This interview was created by WomenWay - Because Women matter
WomenWay is a Swiss-based association and business network, founded in 2009, committed to create more public attention for women's achievements in economy and society. We interview female role models and support women in business with experienced female and male mentors to enable them to reach leadership positions. Join us on www.womenway.org