Susie Roberts, Global Head of Investment Bank People Strategy and Chief of Staff for Fixed Income & Currencies at Deutsche Bank, won Trailblazer at Markets Media Group’s 2024 Women in Finance Awards.

What does winning a Trailblazer award mean to you personally and professionally?

It’s an honor to be recognized by my colleagues and friends at Deutsche Bank with the Trailblazer award. Over the course of my 20-year career at Deutsche Bank, I have had the opportunity to work with exceptional managers, brilliant partners, and stakeholders from whom I’ve learned important lessons that have informed how I approach my role as a leader and mentor.

As the Head of the Investment Bank People Strategy and Chief of Staff for the Investment Bank Fixed Income and Currencies (FIC) business, my role enables me to lead our people strategy and drive our talent development, diversity, and culture strategy forward in partnership with senior leadership and human resources. It’s a challenging and exceptionally rewarding to drive impactful change within an organization through the work I do alongside my team and colleagues. 

What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership roles in finance?

 Find a role that you love, where you feel challenged, yet valued and rewarded. But don’t lose sight of how important the people you work for and with are, including senior leaders, mentors, and advocates, as they will play important roles in the growth and development of your career. I’ve worked for exceptional managers who have advocated, championed, and supported me throughout my career. In addition to working alongside incredibly talented partners and stakeholders in a role where I’m constantly learning, developing, and growing even after 20 years at Deutsche Bank.

What qualities or values do you think are essential for breaking barriers and becoming a trailblazer?

 To break barriers and become a trailblazer, I believe the essential qualities someone should have include bravery, empathy, resilience, and trustworthiness. People need to entrust you to drive change and blaze a new path, but people will only follow you if they trust you. Lead with kindness and understanding. Inevitably along the way you will face challenges that you will have to be brave enough to encounter and resilient enough to overcome.

What’s one piece of advice you wish you could go back and give to yourself at the start of your career?

Everyone should and will have a different career path that is unique and bespoke to them. My advice is to follow your instincts to build a career path that is fit for purpose and meaning for you, not for anyone else.

What’s a small but impactful habit that helps you stay focused and inspired?

While not a habit, it’s an important statement that I have written on a post-it on my desk to remind myself of daily: Excellence not Perfection.

A coach once asked me to explain the difference between excellence and perfection, as she suspected I was a perfectionist, and therefore quite critical on myself. I noted excellence is obtainable, perfection is something you strive for but is impossible to achieve. She nodded then asked, how do you feel when you strive for perfection – to which I replied, unfilled and not good enough. Again, she nodded, and then asked how do you feel when you strive for excellence – fulfilled and happy, I replied. To which she replied, so change your mindset and ‘strive for excellence, not perfection.’

It’s such a simple statement, but has really helped change my mindset, enabling me to stress less about what didn’t go right, could have gone better and just keep focused and pushing ahead.

What is a passion of yours outside of work?

The biggest and most important passion outside of work is spending time with my family, including my two girls who are 9 years old and 6 years old.