Meet the Masters - Elena Novokreshchenova, Remitly

ELENA NOVOKRESHCHENOVA

For this week’s Meet the Masters series we spoke to Elena Novokreshchenova, Executive Vice President International of Remitly. Elena also serves as a Non Executive Director at the Board of Virgin Money UK. Elena shares her favourite author on all things tech and digital, her transitional career moment, and the advice she would give to other leaders in the tech industry.

In your opinion what are the top three attributes of a great General Manager?

In a very fast-moving digital world and constantly evolving tech space, General Managers should not just be Managers but ultimately leaders too, and be able to set a clear vision to give the team a sense of focus and direction. Strong leaders help all employees to understand the future state and focus on what is critical. The team needs to have full trust, be able to support the strategy, and have the ability to plan, prioritise and deliver. General Managers need to have this skill set to drive results.

Another attribute which I think is extremely important is people skills. I truly believe that a great leader shines through the team so the ability to build, mentor, and empower is arguably one of the most important aspects of being a great leader. The role of the manager is to develop the right organisational set up and orchestrate the dynamic that balances and leverages the right employee skill sets to create a safe space and let the talent shine. I almost see General Managers as conductors who are there to guide, enable, and support their employees to create a cohesive, collaborative, and dynamic environment to deliver results.

Lastly, I think today’s leaders and General Managers must be life learners. They should have a range of traits such as humility, intellectual curiosity, openness, and the ability to adjust -which I believe are especially important in the constantly evolving technology space. Leaders must have the ability to recognise that they might not know everything and therefore have an openness and a growth mindset to hire the right talent that might challenge and improve their thinking. The ability to be humble and open-minded, to be able to listen and learn from your team and your customers every day is key.

What killer questions do you ask to separate a good General Manager from a great one? 

The most important thing is to understand how a person thinks, and how they address challenges and opportunities that come their way, rather than what they already know, which I expect to be covered through their experience and acquired expertise. I tend to ask very open-ended questions which allows me to understand their thought processes as well as their ability to structure and prioritise their thoughts. I test their ability to deal with ambiguity and how they think through complex topics.

Secondly, I think that it is important to learn how the person manages and grows other people. How they address challenges when they see individuals or teams under-performing and how they behave in complex situations. I also try to see if there is a cultural fit, if they have a growth mindset, as well as the curiosity to understand and connect with the customer and the product they will work on. Ultimately, I try to understand if this individual has the ability to be open, learn, listen, and challenge when needed, to help the organisation grow.

In your opinion, why does diversity matter?

Personally, I believe that diversity is critical. It is very close to my heart as throughout my career I have worked across different continents, countries, and organisations and experienced various cultures. I have often found myself to be the only woman or the only person of a different nationality or cultural background around the table. It can be challenging. Having said that, I am glad to see the change that is happening across many organisations, that work on giving the right representation and voice to a diverse group of employees. I can very proudly state that our London office has a 50:50 male to female ratio and more than 18 different nationalities. As a leader it was critical for me to create this balance. We need to have diverse teams that understand the customer and can design the product that fits their needs.

What is also noticeable is that women are still under-represented in technology as employees and as founders. In addition, the roles women are taking often tend to be feminised roles such as Support, HR, and Marketing. To be able to create a truly diverse workplace we need to start to invest in STEM education and encourage women to come into the range of functions including tech, analytics, and product functions. I think this is such a priority and I believe that leaders have started to recognise this; I have recently seen a significant shift in the talent pool, which is great.

What advice do you have for your peers and other executives in prioritising D&I in their teams?

Firstly, I think we should acknowledge the inequality that still exists, be transparent, and speak openly about it. It is also important to recognise that the “what” of the diversity cannot exist without the “how” of inclusion. Not only do we have to hire diverse teams, we also need to empower them and actively encourage diverse thinking, allowing employees to voice out their views. We all tend to be familiar with meetings when we only hear one strong voice and everyone else is silent. That does not help inclusive thinking, even if you have a diverse representation around the table. We have to work towards empowering different voices and opinions, acknowledge the inequality, make a change, and train our teams and hiring managers on how to create an inclusive work culture. I believe it starts from leaders and that they are fully accountable to ensure the change is happening.

What have been the most important leadership lessons you have learnt over the past year?

Last year was transformational for many businesses and leaders. I do think that it was the year that helped embrace the benefits of humility and diversity. We started to realise that when people feel that they are appreciated, their opinion is valued and when they feel like they belong, they turn up for the business. Our team transitioned so seamlessly into a remote environment, and everyone worked together to power up through the challenging times. It highlighted the importance of the people and culture, so our teams’ well-being was a focus throughout the past year. It gave a sense of humility and we connected with people on a much deeper level than we would previously. I built stronger relationships and learnt things about my team which I would not have discovered before.

What is your career highlight to date?

I have several highlights, so it is hard to just pick one. Personally, the main highlight is the transition from leading a specific scope and team to leading large organisations and scaling businesses across regions, products, functions, and cultures. It requires a significant shift in mindset and capabilities. This transition made me deeply invested in hiring the right talent and building successful teams and organisations. Personally, I find this very rewarding. I truly believe we lift ourselves by lifting others. Ultimately, a great leader is someone people want to work for rather than have to work for and at some point our reputation starts to speak for itself. I am pleased to have worked with some of my team members for many years and been part of each of their paths and seen them grow. It is definitely my highlight.

Are there any books or podcasts that have influenced your leadership style which you would recommend?

My leadership style has mostly been influenced by people I have met through my career of working across different organisations and my mentors. However, I do love to read and, as we have discussed, I do believe we are all life learners and need to keep up with the changing environment we operate. I really enjoyed reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. It is a very interesting book which explores the scientific and cultural changes that are transforming our society - he focuses on topics such as how big data will transform our society and how technology drives our behaviour and forms social and economic groups. I would highly recommend his other books too.

I have also started to read The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson. This book speaks about one of the most critical areas of scientific research that will shape our future. It is an amazing book that follows the incredible story of Jennifer Doudna’s work on DNA editing which won her a Nobel Prize. Not only is this a great story of an incredible female talent, it is also an incredible insight into how the ability to adapt DNA will change humanity.

In terms of podcasts, I would recommend Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman. He speaks about companies who start from the ground up and explores different stories on how businesses have scaled.