CIOLook features Most Prominent Women Leaders, 2019, some of exceptional women leaders who have strived & further thrived in achieving many milestones.

1. October 2019
The Most Prominent
Editor’s Choice
Disruptive Technology
and Changing Trends
Influencing Business
The Art of Leading
Attributes of a Good
Leader

4. Overcoming the
Perceptions
HE knows, how to run a business, and thus she
Sprevailed enormously.’ Such kind of statements were
almost none to hear during the early times of
business revolution. But, this phenomenon was predicted
and did changed as the many decade passed. Those days
are gone, when women had to face the domination and
skepticism of investors, colleagues, senior executives and
clients on their ability of lead an organization.
In this proactive growing business world, women are
witnessed to break through the glass ceilings to make their
way out to reach top notch executive positions in
organizations. Be it a Sheryl Sandberg—the COO of
Facebook, Ginni Rometty—the Chairperson, President and
CEO of IBM or Indra Nooyi—the Chairman and COO of
PepsiCo, name them; they all have attained a successful
stature in their respective organizations and field. Through
their impeccable achievements they proved that ‘myth’ in
the ‘myth of metriocracy’ is no longer exists. They turned to
be a great example for many upcoming women business
leaders and entrepreneurs who are striving to attain the
same.
CIO Look understands what it takes for a leader to
overcome all the external as well as internal obstacles,
believes in providing full support to various upcoming
leaders in various industries. In this special issue of
September, “The Most Prominent Women Leaders, 2019”,
CIO Look features some of exceptional women leaders who
have strived and further thrived in achieving many
milestones in their pathway.
EDITOR’S NOTE

5. It admires such prominent women leaders and appreciates their contribution in making the
business world more appealing than ever. Below are the glimpse of these featured personalities
introduction:
Dr Caroline Barelle, CEO of Elasmogen Ltd, a highly qualified and proficient in Pharma and
biotech, is working to bring effective medical solutions for all.
Martina Klingvall, Founder and CEO of Telness is working to provide telecom solutions in an
attempt to leave a positive experience to the customer.
Michelle Beyo is Founder of FinAvator, a consulting firm with expertise in Payments, Prepaid,
Loyalty and Blockchain focused on Digital Marketing, Product Strategy and Sales Acceleration for
Startups, FinTech’s and Enterprises.
Nancy Zeffman, Co- Founder at Cucumber Clothing, understands the problems with women’s
nightwear and clothing and took many steps forward to modify it.
Let’s unveil such inspiring interviews and stories of such significant avid women leaders and their
role in their organizations in this special edition and spread a word about their contribution in
making this world a better place. Also, flip through the CXO standpoints presented by some of the
leading industry experts to taste the glimpse of industrial revolutions.
Enjoy the read…!
Bhushan Ghate
“To dream, and to work on that dream irrespective of
situations or obstacles is the true definition of
successful person.”

6. CONTENTS
ARTICLES
Industry Intel
Rethinking the Products
of Today for a Better
Tomorrow
Leader’s Desk
Building an Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem for Women
Unbaised Future
Establishing Gender
Equilibrium
381810
Editor’s Choice
Disruptive Technology and
Changing Trends Inuencing
Business
16 26
The Art of Leading
Attributes of a Good Leader

7. 22
34
Dr Caroline Barelle
A Denition of Prociency
12
28
Simplifying Telecom
Complexity Prociently
Martina Klingvall
Michelle Beyo
Passionate about Payment Innovation,
Financial Inclusion and Diversity!
Dening Creativity with
Innovative Fabric Solutions
Nancy Zeffman

9. CONTENT
Senior Editor Alan Swann
Managing Editor Rohit Chaturvedi
Executive Editors Bhushan Ghate
Alex Spellman
DESIGN
Visualizer Dave Bates
Art & Design Director Kushagra Gupta
Associate Designer Sanket Zirpe
SALES
Senior Sales Manager Kshitij S.
Customer Success Manager Jack Ryan
Sales Executives John, Kane, Shashikant
TECHNICAL
Technical Head Aditya K.
Technical Consultant Victor Collins
October, 2019
k.roy@ciolook.com
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12. Rethinking
the Products of Today
for a Better Tomorrow
Celia Pool
Co-founder
DAME
10
|October 2019 |

13. T
he world is finally waking up to
the single-use plastic crisis.
Over the last 10 years we have
created more plastic than the whole of
the last century combined. Half of the
plastic we create is used just once, and
then thrown away, taking 500 years to
decompose. By 2050, the oceans are
predicted to contain more plastic than
fish. The plastic crisis is now too big for
recycling alone to fix.
Global governments, businesses and
consumers need to collaborate quickly
to make impactful change before it’s
too late. However, change is difficult
when environmentally damaging
habits have become so entrenched and
often appear more financially
appealing.
Technology is helping in this fight.
Reusable water bottles are now
widespread, and apps that help you
locate drinking water refill stations are
now emerging. At the same time,
reusable coffee cup technology is
addressing the half a trillion
disposable coffee cups discarded
every year. Such items are gaining
increasing social currency with
consumers, who are keen to display
them as markers of their
environmental conscience. This
revolution is encouraging, but what
about the products that people aren’t
so willing to talk about?
100 billion menstrual products are
thrown away globally every year.
These are single-use, mostly made of
plastic and cannot be recycled. You can
choose not to have a coffee, you
cannot choose not to have a period.
Reusable options (e.g. menstrual cups,
cloth pads) have been on the market
for decades, yet the adoption rate has
been slow. The primary barrier to
entry is the fear of habit change.
So how do we bring about a
revolution? The answer is keep it
simple. And take time to consider
consumer psychology. As humans, we
abhor change. We are creatures drawn
towards the comfort of the known. By
keeping habit change to a minimum,
consumers are much more likely to
adopt a new idea.
This was our philosophy at DAME
when we created the world’s first
reusable tampon applicator. We
ensured the design was familiar and
intuitive, so women did not have to
compromise on their convenient,
established rituals. We knew that
hygiene could be a significant barrier
to entry, so we worked with leading
micro-biologists and medical
engineers and used the best medical
grade, anti-microbial materials on the
market. As a result, the consumer only
must rinse the applicator in cold water
after use to keep it clean. Simple steps,
minimal habit change.
However, it is challenging to tackle an
issue that has such little awareness.
Menstruation has historically been
shrouded in shame, fear and
discretion. It is not a topic openly
talked about. This is a problem with
feminine care as a whole: it is
frequently dismissed and the women
trying to address it are critically
underfunded. In 2017 female founders
got 2% of the $85 billion VC
investment pot. About 8% of partners
at the top British VC firms are women.
According to Harvard Business
Review, stereotypes about female
entrepreneurs persist: women are
overly cautious, shy away from
growth, have insufficient resources
and consequently their ventures
underperform. Yet there is no
performance data to support these
stereotypes.
How are products used by women
supposed to change in line with human
and environmental needs, when they
aren’t given appropriate recognition or
have women involved in all stages of
the process? Women need to be given
more of a voice if we are to create
meaningful change. The world of AI is
already highlighting the need to
diverse away from male, white,
Western coders if we are to avoid
unconscious bias in the robots of
tomorrow. Amazon had to abandon an
AI recruitment tool that was
discriminating against women, instead
favoring prospects who mirrored
Amazon’s existing male engineer
workforce. At DAME women have
been involved in every stage of the
journey, not as a token gesture but as
an absolute necessity.
However, our overarching business
strategy goes beyond issues of
inclusivity to incorporate a wider
mission. DAME was founded on the
belief that business can be used as a
force for good. We use this core value
to guide every decision we make in the
business, bringing great clarity to our
route forward. By communicating our
genuine and authentic commitment to
this mission, we hope that our
message will quickly be picked up by
those eager to join a movement for
change. To date, we have seen this
happen not only with our consumers
and the press, but with employees.
People are increasingly drawn to
companies doing good. 75% of
millennials would take a pay cut to
work at a socially responsible
company.
All this strengthens our resolve at
DAME to continue to tackle critical
problems that are not openly
acknowledged, that are significantly
underfunded, and that have
historically been controlled by giant
monopolies. Today we are focusing on
menstrual products, but our vision is
to revolutionize the entire bathroom.
These are big mountains, but having
strong guiding principles makes the
navigation much easier.
-Words by Celia Pool
Co-founder of DAME
For more information visit
wearedame.co
Industry Intel
11
|October 2019 |

14. Dr Caroline
Barelle
A Definition of Proficiency
he world has witnessed rapid
Ttechnological progress in every
sector and pharmaceutical
industry is no exception. The
demands for safe and effective drugs,
and technological solutions to
increase clinical success rate are
getting higher everyday, and thus,
new discovery and development
process are needed. Understanding
this need and sworn to its attainment,
Dr Caroline Barelle, CEO of
Elasmogen Ltd, a highly qualified and
proficient in Pharma and biotech, is
working to bring effective medical
solutions for all.
Caroline has worked in the life
sciences sector for many years
initially in an academic setting and
laterally in the biotech and pharma
arena. She believes that one becomes
a leader as soon as he/she impacts
others by providing support and
insight which in Caroline’s case, in the
early years, was as a post-doctoral
fellow in a research lab. After ten
years of academic research, she
transitioned into the biotech sector
which she absolutely loved and then
into a team leader position in big
pharma where she was leading a team
of scientists in drug discovery and
development. Opportunity struck
when the pharma company re-
structured, closing her team’s site and
leaving a number of incredibly
talented scientists looking elsewhere.
This was the catalyst for founding a
new biotech company based on the
technology they had developed as a
team. That was over six years ago now
and they are still going.
In such a complex and changing world
as drug development, the team
around is everything. Elasmogen’s
science team is exceptional,
innovative and committed and is the
engine for the company. As a drug
discovery company, ultimately
Elasmogen’s endpoint customers are
patients and the company never loses
sight of what it is trying to achieve
which is bringing new effective
medicines into the clinic for unmet
medical conditions. In reality given
the significant cost and substantial
risk of new medicine development,
the company’s strategy is to develop
novelty and improved efficacy over
existing drugs as well as creating
completely new drugs and to partner
with large pharma to take these drugs
into the clinic.
According to Caroline, their field of
drug development is biologics – drugs
that originate within the body such as
antibodies which can be engineered
to detect and destroy diseased tissue.
It is a hot area with substantial
competition. Elasmogen’s technology
lends itself to tackle many different
diseases and as a small company, it
simply does not have the bandwidth
to do everything so its strategy is to
collaborate with companies and
academia who bring both expertise
and other technologies. This way both
can combine together to find
solutions to treat complex diseases.
Caroline strives to be transparent
(given the unstable nature of biotech
companies), inclusive and mindful of
individual needs to create an
environment where open
conversation and debate is
encouraged and where everyone
shares a common goal which is
ultimately the continued success of
the company. Working in the life
sciences industry, she has had the
privilege of working with people from
all cultures and backgrounds
throughout her career. It is by nature
a diverse sector and this adds
incredible value to all aspects of
scientific research whether it be in
the public or private domain. The
team is small but it has a rich diversity
of nationalities which benefits the
company and which the company will
continue to foster.
Leader
12
|October 2019 |

15. Dr Caroline Barelle
CEO
Elasmogen Ltd
13
|October 2019 |

16. Throughout Caroline’s career, she has always tried to be as
supportive as she can to others to provide them with the
opportunity for self-development and to progress in whatever
direction they wish to take. For anyone in a leadership role, there is
a responsibility to ensure that one creates opportunity and training
as required and go that extra mile to use connections and network
to help others to reach their potential. She takes honesty, integrity,
resilience and compassion as most crucial traits which every leader
must possess.
Caroline’s future objective for her company is "To continue to build
this company, to expand both the scientific and management team, to
increase its portfolio of collaborations and bring our first product into
the clinic."
About the Leader
With postgraduate qualifications in
both business and science, Caroline
has a strong commercial, bio-
partnering and biologics drug
discovery/development background.
For over 4 years she has successfully
led teams at Wyeth Inc and
subsequently Pfizer Inc in Global Bio-
therapeutic Technologies progressing
early platform technologies to late
stage clinical development. Prior to
this she was Alliance and Programs
Manager at Haptogen Ltd and a key
part of the acquisition team that
successfully exited the business to
Wyeth Inc.
Caroline has been awarded a
prestigious Royal Society of
Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship and
is a doctoral graduate from the
University of Aberdeen in
Biochemistry and holds an MBA from
Robert Gordon’s University.
If you surround
yourself with the
right people then
anything is possible.
“
14
|October 2019 |

18. Disruptive Technology
Let us see how trends in technology are changing
businesses.
IOT has begun to change the world around us. It allows
the businesses to access their information virtually,
creating a flexible and global way of accessing data, any
place, and any time. It reduces the cost by maintaining IT
system, rather than purchasing expensive systems and
equipment. It also allows employees to be more flexible in
work practices. Let us see some fields where IOT must be
adapted.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are largely
paper-based industry. The pen and paper approach is still
followed largely around the world. Patient’s record
sharing is still done in the traditional way which is time-
consuming. Whereas, real-time monitoring via connected
devices can save lives in an event of a medical emergency.
IOT devices collect and transfer health data and are
stores in the cloud. These data can be shared with a
physician or a health firm, in order to allow them to look
at it, regardless of their place, time or device. Therefore,
in an event of an emergency, patients can contact a doctor
who is many kilometers away with a simple smartphone.
Fleet operators spend a large amount of time, money and
resource in maintaining the safety standards and
resource in maintaining the safety standards and operate
at the desired performance levels. Through various
sensors, fleet companies have access to a vast amount of
data. This information can help the company to make real-
time quick decisions for instant improvements. In fact,
these insights can help in effectively managing the overall
supply chain. Undoubtedly, IOT has set to become the
backbone of the fleet management industry.
F
ew decades ago, reaching the moon was beyond
imagination. But not today, because technology has
completely changed the world and made it possible.
th
Technological inventions were revolutionized in the 18
th
and 19 century with the steam engine, the telegraph,
fiber optics, typewriter, sewing machine, etc. Later, it
changed the way we communicate on a real-time basis
with telephone, radio, and internet.
Innovations in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and
information technology are already helping to solve
challenges that occur in these sectors. Through the
breakthrough innovations in health services, technology
has been able to improve the lives of poor people in
developing countries.
Manufacturing field is increasingly being automated and
technology driven. Advanced technology and systems
such as automation, nanotechnology, cloud computing,
the Internet of Things, and others are changing the face of
manufacturing to improve business technologies. So, the
adaption of technologies in work will revolutionize the
way it was in the past in the field of manufacturing as well.
Internet of Things
Healthcare
Fleet Management
and Changing Trends
Influencing Business
16
|October 2019 |

19. In today’s major cities at rush hour, getting
to and from work is a nightmare. Imagine a
world where not only the cars are smart,
but also the street and traffic lights. Public
transportation systems like trains and
buses are connected to individual’s
smartphones. This will help to know the
exact time to leave the houses accordingly.
In smart cities, passengers are already
enjoying Wi-Fi and USB charging stations
on public transportation. Overall, IOT
already started affecting the aspects of our
life.
Public Transport Management
Renewable Energy
Will you like earning money on reducing
the use of electricity? Thanks to IOT
energy-saving tools, you can significantly
decrease the numbers in your bills. IOT
energy solutions are sensor-based
technology. It analyses weather and
environment condition, helps automate
the management of wind farms, optimizes
maintenance and thus reduces the cost
dramatically. People (both households and
companies) get a better understanding of
their usage habits and adjusts them
accordingly. These system collects data on
electricity consumption in real-time and
helps generate important insights for
environmentalists, researchers, and
conservation strategists. Thus, installing
IOT smart energy device can join the
environmental initiative, cut down on
energy consumption and lessen the
greenhouse effect.
Agriculture
The global population is set to touch 9.6
billion by 2050. So, to feed this much
population, the farming industry must
embrace IOT. Smart farming based on IOT
technology will reduce waste and enhance
productivity. Ranging from the quantity of
fertilizer utilized to the number of journeys
the farm vehicles have made. In IOT based
smart farming a system is built for
monitoring the crop field with the help of
sensors and automating the irrigation
systems. It is highly efficient when
compared with the conventional approach.
Thus, with the population growing rapidly,
the demand can be successfully met, if the
farmers implement agricultural IOT
solutions in a prosperous manner.
Blockchain technology is changing the way we do our day to day
businesses. Companies are starting to work with Blockchain technology
because it gives you privacy along with it is transparent. Let’s see how
blockchain can help to deal with business.
Blockchain Technology
Smart Contracts
Contract is where consent of the parties is involved to agree and interact
with each other. Blockchain technology helps to guarantee the validity of
a transaction through a secure validation mechanism. Industries and
institutions are heavily reliant on contracts, such as insurance, financial
institutions, real estate, construction, entertainment and, law. A smart
contract helps formalize the relationships between people, institutions
and the assets they own. They eliminate the need for trusted third parties
and are self-verifying, self-executing and Tamper resistant.
Blockchain will be an important part of our financial and technological
digital future. It is one of the incredibly creative inventions that
technology has ever seen. So how we use it is up to us, it could indeed
transform the global scenario.
Technology and changing trends in businesses is not something which is
going to happen in the future, it is happening right now. It has already
started affecting a lot of businesses. So businesses have tremendous
opportunity to benefit from such technological advancement. There is no
doubt that technological innovations are largely followed all over the
world and it will revolutionize the businesses.
Editor’s Choice
17
|October 2019 |

20. J
ust today I had a young and enthusiastic women
call me up asking for advice and maybe some
pointers on how to bring her vision to life. During
the call I could almost see her deflating while I piled up
the list of challenges that came with fundraising,
developing tech products and gathering the right team.
I know exactly what that feels like because I, myself,
have experienced it many times before. The mountain
of work that faces an entrepreneur is sheer
unfathomable, and that’s probably a good thing: who
knows how many companies would still be out there if
the founders had known what awaited them!? That
feeling in mind, I did leave the call on an uplifting note (I
hope), but what I also did was send her a list of female
founder groups as well.
Having a female led and populated ecosystem that can
absorb some of the pains any female entrepreneur has
to face can be the difference between succeeding and
giving up. I choose the words ’giving up’ on purpose,
because we can all fail, but it should be for
technicalities all start-ups face, and not because we are
lonely, overwhelmed and unsupported women.
From experience I have recognized three sorts of
female ecosystems that are important for different
challenges within the journey, each adding their own
individual value, and I am grateful for each and every
one of them:
Ÿ The Community: these groups are more
motivational and empowering than having an actual
impact on your business. Especially at the beginning
of founding a company they are important. You get
to meet other women, hear their stories, recognized
that it’s not only you and make friends along the
way. I think these groups are very important for your
mental health, especially when your new company
also means a change of lifestyle. You can meet other
women and have a tea or a drink without feeling like
you should be working because you ARE. Panels
with talks, meetups and even workspaces
distinguish these groups from strictly social events.
My favourite one: Blooming Founders.
Ÿ The Educators: these groups offer talks, workshops
and one-on-one’s with highly successful men and
women in the start-up world. Here you need to bring
your pen or laptop and stay on top of what is being
said because the lecturer/guest speaker will dump
large amounts of wisdom on you. Sometimes there
are drinks afterwards, but the emphasis is on
learning from and networking with the speakers. I
have made the best out of them by targeting events
with speakers that could be important for my
business and that I would otherwise have difficulties
accessing. To my greatest sorrow many events are
early morning breakfast meetings at 7 or 8, where I
pretend that it’s a normal hour to be about for me.
My favourite one: SheWorx
Ÿ The Platformers: These groups offer mostly awards
and events. While on the surface you often don’t win
anything tangible like prize money, the award itself
ads huge value because it is highly respected in the
field and opens doors. During the events you get to
network from a privileged position which is
invaluable for companies that are fundraising. It is
also one of the few visible social markers that all
your hard work, blood, sweat and tears has been
acknowledged and rewarded - something you can
show to your painfully neglected friends and family.
My favourite one: TechWomen100
During the development, the fundraising and the pivot
of my digital mental health company with our emotional
fitness game, eQuoo, there have been multiple times
that these groups were there at the right time and
place, offering me support, information and a platform.
Women are still vastly underrepresented in the tech
world, and while the #MeToo movement has unearthed
many of the people abusing their power against women,
it can still be a hostile environment if you’re unlucky.
And statistically speaking you will be unlucky a few
times.
The VC world is slowly starting to understand that a
mentally health founder is a productive one and having
communities that support us is a vital ingredient to our
wellbeing.
It takes a village to raise a child? Well, it takes a city to
build a start-up.
18
|October 2019 |

21. Silja Litvin is the Psychologist, Founder and CEO of PsycApps
Digital Mental Health, a company that uses AI, gamication and
psychology to help people help themselves. She is a developer of the
multi-award winning eQuoo – the Emotional Fitness Game.
Silja was born in Germany but moved to southern California early in
her life. Exposed to many diverse cultures early in life, she developed
an insatiable curiosity for the human condition leading to her pursuing
a degree in psychology. During her 17 years of international
modelling she began her Masters at the Ludwig Maximilian
University in Munich, graduating in Clinical Psychology and
Systemic Family Therapy in 2013. Alongside her education
as a Systemic Family Therapist in 2015, she
began her PhD in Clinical Psychology.
A child of the digital generation, Silja was
looking for ways to use apps and social
media to help people suffering from
mental issues. She went on to create a
psychological mobile app that helps
users identify and self-manage
depression. With this idea, she undertook
her PhD thesis, thus ensuring it to be
evidence based and ethically sound.
Now she is venturing into the world of AI,
gamication and chatbots to nd a way to be
able to help people help themselves,
launching her emotional tness game eQuoo
in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The
game has been featured in major news
outlets such as Forbes and TechCrunch
and she won multiple prizes with
PsycApps such as THE EUROPAS Pitch
Awards and Pitch@Palace on Tour.
Silja Litvin
Founder & CEO
PsycApps Digital
Mental Health
Leader’s Desk
19
|October 2019 |

24. Martina Klingvall
Founder & CEO
Leader
22
|October 2019 |

25. MARTINAKLINGVALL
SIMPLIFYING TELECOM COMPLEXITY PROFICIENTLY
n today’s ever-evolving world,
I‘telecommunication’ plays a vital role in
business operations. Telecom industry
has low customer satisfaction rate and there
has been no modern and customer-focused
alternatives to the major operators.
Knowing this situation and to provide real
time customer centric solution, Martina
Klingvall, Founder and CEO of Telness is
working to provide telecom solutions in an
attempt to leave a positive experience to the
customer. Martina completed her
engineering studies from the Royal Institute
of Technology in Stockholm in 2011 and
started her career as a trainee at Telenor.
Several years later, and several leadership
positions later, Martina found her calling.
Becoming an entrepreneur was something
that “just happened”, she says. “I never dreamt
of becoming an entrepreneur, I dreamt of
solving complex problems and this is my way to
channel that dream”.
Telness is an independent company owned
by the employees and the Board, together
If you think you are too
small to make a difference,
try sleeping with a
mosquito in your room.
23
|October 2019 |

26. with a number of selected and long-term investors. It
means thinking new and doing things differently. Its
services are specially developed for the new business
community and its goal is to create transparent and
problem-free solutions for entrepreneurs. The
company is a modern and customer-focused alternative
to the major operators with clear basic principles: no
paperwork, transparency, hassle free and exceptional
customer experience.
‘Telness’ is challenging the traditional telecom sector,
which is currently suffering from very low customer
satisfaction in general. Martina presents Telness as a
next generation mobile operator that works to change
the expectations in terms of customer experience, and
making business telecom digital and simple to use. She
continues, “we are the first mobile operator soley built
upon the needs for entrepreneurs and those working for
them. Telness customers always get full control and can
themselves handle the company’s mobile telephony
themselves Turns out, our customers really love us.. We’ve
been holding the #1 ranking for mobile operators at
Trustpolit quite a while now.”
Martina believes in transparency, trust and challenging
both individuals and status quo. Currently, it is more
important to adapt to the changes and having both the
engagement and courage to do so. If people are truly
engaged in the company’s vision, knowing and living its
values, and get the opportunity to know what drives
the company, through transparency, it becomes much
easier to live the values.
As a startup, Telness have had the opportunity not only
to build tech from scratch, but also to form company's
culture and a strong team. The company has actively
recruited all people to contribute positively to its
values and adding new perspectives, personalities and
competence into the company.
Martina firmly believes, for a leader, "it is important to be
able to engage people in today's modern businesses. But
also to be able to share a clear vision and strategy, and the
expectations that comes with that. I think communication,
passion for people and ability to change is the key to
succeed as a leader." Since fewer careers is about
monotonous work with today's digitalization,
leadership plays a far more important role in engaging
people to develop both the company and their own
work every day.
In 2016 and 2017, it has invested in developing a
modern and solid technical platform that enables a
unique service for its customers. Telness's competitors
are big mobile operators and the company has chosen
not to play on their arena and instead use benefits of
being small, agile, personal and passionate about its
customers. Before providing any solution to its
customers, the company mainly focuses on what is hard
for the customer and where can it make a difference?
And the answer is by staying close to the customers and
build services based on customer needs.
24
|October 2019 |

28. L
eadership is about using the
power of a position to
empower a group of people in
order to attain a common goal. A
leader’s task is to implement the
plans that usually look good on
paper, through a delegated team, in
a specific time with an ongoing
motion. She/he may use the
traditional method or may think out
of the box. It depends on the leader
as how to do it; the ultimate motive
is to get the job done. Although,
each and every individual has a
different approach on leadership,
some might say it is about setting
examples, some might say it is about
sharing the authority; what matters
is, taking the right decision when it
is most needed.
Leadership varies from one
organization to another. An
organization is a dynamic body and
The Transformational Leader
A transformational leader inspires
the team through effective
communication and an intellectual
environment. However, these
individuals require more detail
oriented managers to successfully
implement their strategies.
Transformational Leadership is
considered among the most
effective employees of the
organization. One of the examples
of this type of leadership is when a
leader is assigned on a higher level
for effective environment.
The Transactional leader
The transactional leadership, as the
name suggests, enables the leader
to incentivize the team
corresponding to their performance.
The team gets rewarded when it
attains the goals and the Leader has
the power to review the results and
creates new probabilities every now
and then. And with new
probabilities, come new challenges.
Although, it is impossible to
overcome every challenge, the
business environment has adopted
certain leadership styles for the
efficiency of business:
The Participative Leader
Participative Leadership is the
process of sharing authority with
the work force in order to get
optimum efficiency. The team, after
getting access to certain powers,
works responsibly to accomplish the
goals set by its leader. The shared
leadership also helps in case of any
requirement of change, as the
employees adapt quickly in such
environment. Incidentally, this style
of leadership fits best in a scenario
when there is a limitation of time.
Good
Attributes
of a
26
|October 2019 |

29. act accordingly when the team fails
to do the same. The goals and the
strategy to attain them are decided
by the leader and the team itself.
The Situational leader
Situational leadership is a theory
that the best leader will adapt to the
required leadership style according
to need of the hour. A Situational
leader may adopt democratic style
while discussion business with
senior executive, but may switch to
transactional at the time of team
review. However every individual
has a natural style of leadership and
it may be difficult to switch roles at a
certain point of time.
Qualities of a good leader
There is an old proverb that says,
“Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him
for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, and You
Feed Him for a Lifetime.” So is the case
with leadership. One of the basic
qualities of a Leader is to pass on the
leadership skills.
Following are some of the qualities
of a good leader:
Ÿ Communication Skills
Communication is the basic
requirement for efficiency in a
business. As the level of hierarchy
elevates, the requirement of
communication grows. Especially,
when it comes to leadership, there is
no scope for lack of communication.
A Leader who fails to develop this
skill is looked up as incompetent,
because it is his job to send the
message loud and clear. Although, it
is also important to listen as it is an
integral part of communication.
Ÿ Decision making
There is risk in decision to making.
Great leaders take great decisions
when the stake is high and it is the
success of those decisions that make
them great. To add up, a good leader
takes right decision at the right time.
In conclusion, a good leader can be
defined by the dynamics of his style
in leadership, the values that he
brings to the organization, the
methods he uses to make the best of
the resources, and the kind of
decision he makes in the given
situations. At the end it is about the
attitude of an individual to bring the
change for good.
Ÿ Integrity
C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing the
right thing, even when no one is
watching.” Be it giving credit to one
of the team members or be it
admitting a mistake, a leader wears
integrity as a badge of honor. They
do what is right, no matter what.
Ÿ Empowerment
As mentioned earlier, Leadership is
about using the power of one’s
position to empower a group of
people in order to attain a common
goal. A good leader shares his
authority with the team in order to
get the job done. By doing this, he
shows confidence in the team and
obliged by the gesture, the team
works with full enthusiasm to
accomplish the goal.
The Art of Leading
27
|October 2019 |

30. Michelle BeyoMichelle BeyoMichelle Beyo
Passionate about Payment Innovation, Financial
Inclusion and Diversity!
Leader
28
|October 2019 |

31. y goal is to help the future of
payments come to life.” This is the
statement of Michelle Beyo,
Founder of FinAvator, a consulting
firm with expertise in Payments,
Prepaid, Loyalty and Blockchain
focused on Digital Marketing,
Product Strategy and Sales Acceleration for Startups,
FinTech’s and Enterprises. She is a strategic advisor to
Uulala, a California based FinTech company focused on
financial inclusion; she is a strong supporter of
entrepreneurs and women as a SheEO activator; a
Women in Payments’ mentor and a Money 20/20 US
2019 Rise Up Academy Member. Michelle is also a
wife, mother of two and just competed in her first sprint
triathlon.
Michelle’s journey to leadership included experiencing
struggles, success and failures with each phase teaching
her something new and valuable. Her leadership skills
come from many different experiences: Her resilience
and confidence come from watching her parents run
their own businesses. Michelle’s strong commitment to
a project and teamwork come from playing ten years of
rep soccer and her ability to plan ahead and believe in
herself come from lessons learnt living in Australia on
her own as a young adult (all invaluable lessons to the
future entrepreneur!).
Michelle started her first career in Telecom while still in
high school she worked to buy her first car, she spent
her nights and weekends helping a Telus franchisee
grow their team and locations. She soon fell in love
with the excitement of learning new technologies and
having the opportunity to be at the forefront of
emerging digital mobile phones over her six years. She
then moved to the Loyalty sector, where she had the
pleasure of working for her first female leader and life-
long mentor Kelly Lee Smith. She learnt so much from
her positive attitude and ability to drive results as the
only female in the boardroom. Michelle adds "She
inspired me in many ways, as I led my first team and
managed multiple online shopping malls for major
airlines such as United, Delta and Lufthansa" She then
gained key leadership and marketing skills in her
following Director role focused on credit card loyalty
acceleration of Aeroplan for major Canadian banks
CIBC and TD as she helped retailers, restaurants and
spas increase consumer spend.
After eight years in Loyalty, she made the move into the
payments industry and took on the challenging Senior
Director role of managing three departments at the
world’s largest prepaid provider InComm. She was
extremely fortunate to have an inspiring, balanced and
diverse executive team lead by an incredible GM, Felipe
Papaleo. Felipe shared “Michelle is a driven and
committed leader, with innovation in her DNA. She is
always eager to explore new ways to enhance sales
while ensuring a consumer-centric approach. She was
responsible for creating, designing and implementing
some of InComm’s main initiatives during her three
year tenure and did so with determination and poise.
Innovation and leadership are at her core, and so is her
passion for it!”
Michelle’s desire for continuously learning and
improving led her to apply and attend Ivey Business
School inaugural “Mastering FinTech Program” in late
2017. This allowed her to quickly grasp emerging
digital currencies, blockchain technology and exciting
FinTech’s that were starting to change the world of
payments while also connecting her to senior bank
executives and industry innovators. It was soon after
this insightful program that Michelle jumped into the
blockchain sector in a new role on another balanced
executive team for a passionate CEO, Bruce Silcoff.
Her new role as a Chief Client Officer at Shyft Network,
a Blockchain startup focused on building the world’s
first modern, secure, multi-stakeholder trust network
allowed her take a deep dive into consent frameworks
while working towards proof of concepts and engaging
strategic partnerships.
M
29
|October 2019 |
“

32. After spending a year at a startup Michelle realized
it was time to venture out on her own by launching
FinAvator, a FinTech advisory firm to help
enterprise and startup companies add an
innovative twist to their business. She is able to
share her unique multi-industry knowledge on
digital payments, prepaid innovation, loyalty
incentives, blockchain ecosystem and her ability to
combine corporate expertise with startup agility.
FinAvator works closely with each client to
understand their challenges and create a plan to
drive growth through customer centric products,
digital marketing and strategic partnerships.
On leadership Michelle asserts “A true leader
focuses on long term vision and finds the time to
help colleagues strive towards their potential."
Throughout her career Michelle has built strong
rapport with a group of diverse mentors that have
inspired her to take risks and continue to grow as a
leader. She believes “It is important in business and
life to forge genuine relationships, help each other
and challenge the status quo”
Michelle enjoyed working on diverse and balanced
executive teams as she witnessed the unique
innovative ideas and team work that it creates. She
considers herself lucky to have been apart of many
diverse management teams and has the goal of
building FinAvator with the same vision.
According to Michelle, the first step to
understanding your competition is deep industry
research and customer discovery followed by
finding ways to differentiate. Then building clear
goals for your team, marketing the benefits of your
company, connect with your community as well
as partner with some competitors to leverage
each other.
“Life is short, take
risks, be courageous;
our impact can be
much greater when
we focus on self
improvement and
driving change.”
30
|October 2019 |

36. Nancy
Ze man Defining Creativity with
Innovative Fabric Solutions
Necessity is what brings
update to old technologies
and systems. Whenever a
certain system, method or product
nolongerserves itspurpose changes;
are required. These changes are
often recognized by business minds
who understand the requirement of
change, seek for it and transform it
into an opportunity. One such
business mind is ,Nancy Zeffman Co-
Founder Cucumber Clothingat .
Nancyunderstoodtheproblemswith
women's nightwear and clothing and
tookastepforwardtomodifyit.
Below are the highlights of the
interview:
Kindly take us through your journey
onbecomingaleader.
It has been both crazy and amazing –
a n i n c r e d i b l y u p l i f t i n g a n d
challenging journey. The idea for
Cucumber Clothing was born on a
hot holiday. We (my co-founder
Eileen Willett and myself) were with
a group of female friends and there
w a s a l o t o f t a l k a r o u n d
sleeplessness, heat and hormones.
When we returned, we did some
research and were astonished to find
that the only garments on offer
either looked ‘medical’ or were
deemed seriously dowdy. We
decided there and then to create a
brandthattookthelatestcutting
edge fabric tech and married it to
gorgeous design that helped solve a
problem.
It took about two years from having
the idea to reaching market. The two
years were spent researching the
market, materials, making up
samples (and testing them), fine
tuning our designs, photography and
setting up our website, plus so much
more, in time for our first capsule
c o l l e c t i o n t h a t l a u n c h e d i n
September2017.
How is your company impacting
yourcustomers?
Insomanyways!Wehaveaveryhigh
repeat customer rate, so we know
that our products work and we love
the fact that we get so much positive
feedback. Some women are telling us
that they just can't go to bed in
anything other than our nightwear if
they want to get any sleep. It travels
theworldwiththem.
Whenwefirstlaunched,wewerejust
about sleep for the 40+ market. It is
from customer feedback and
requests, that we then widened our
range to include breast feeding
friendly tops and dresses (new and
breast feeding mums suffer from
raging hormones, just like the
menopause) and multifunctional
holidaywearandleisurewear.Every
Leader
34
|October 2019 |

37. “Don't sweat the
small stuff, but
attention to detail
is everything.”
35
|October 2019 |

38. womanwillgetuncomfortablyhotatsomepointinherlifeforamultitutdeof
reasons.
Whataretheanchorsofyourmanagementphilosophy?
Be kind! One of the best things about starting a business has been all the
amazingpeoplewehavemetalongtheway.We'vefoundfromdayoneofour
Cucumber journey that almost everyone, male or female, have been
encouraging and full of ideas to help us. We've tried to do the same for others.
Kindessisthebest.
How do you cultivate a diverse workplace at your
company?
There are only two of us in this business – the two
founding members. We do everything ourselves,
save for some freelance work around design and
obviously we employ outside manufacturers,
patterncuttersandsoon.
We are both women. I am London born and
Eileen is a Japanese Canadian who moved to
London over 30 years ago. That's a pretty high
diverse percentage, but who knows how
expansionwillchangethis…
What do you feel the role of leadership is
indevelopingcareers?
I think it's important for people to have
role models, which is why diversity in all
its forms is so important. Leaders should
be both inspirational and offer guidance
andmentoring.
How do you strategize your game plans to
tacklethecompetitioninthemarket
We are a fabric led, solutions based brand. Our
customers find and buy us for a reason. Our clothes
look and feel great and they perform. Although our
brand was first inspired by the menopause, these are
not menopausal clothes. They are stylish clothes for
any woman, no matter her age, because it isn't only
menopause that causes women to have
temperature problems: pregnancy and breast
feeding, medications, being curvier, travel – they
can all turn the thermostat up, as can cancer
treatmentsorthyroidissuesforexample.
We see part of our job as educating consumers
about the benfits of technical fabrics. So many
women, particularly older women, have been
broughtuptobelievethatnaturalfibresarethe
bestforeverything.
We are heavily focused on sustainability.
Weknowthatcreatinganythinghasan
36
|October 2019 |

39. enviromental cost and we want ours to be as light as possible, and we can
do this because of the flexibility a small company gives us. We source
everything bar our fabric from inside the UK, meaning we know all our
suppliers.
We have just launched a new range using an even more revolutionary
fabric that incorporates an innovative material made from naturally
derived volcanic mineral called 37.5 technology. We are always
researching new fabrics and looking at interesting ways of using them.
Wewanttobeattheforefrontoffashionfabrictechnology.
We are trying to do so much more than just sell clothes. We are trying to
build a Cucumber community through our blogs and vlogs where we
interact with (mainly) women of all different ages and backgrounds that
we feel have something interesting to say to our newsletter subscribers.
Aspartofthiscommunity,itisalsoveryimportanttoustosupportcauses
we believe in. We have donated 50p off every purchase of our cashmere
mixrangetoTheEveAppealanddonatedalloursamplestoaneventheld
by Prevent Breast Cancer and have more collaborations planned with
theminthenearfuture.
Wewanttobethego-tobrandfor‘hot’women–keywardrobepiecesthat
arewornandlovedformanyyears.
What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see
yourselfinthenearfuture?
We've been expanding into luxury spas and you can find us at the Four
Seasons in Hamsphire and Park Lane and at Beaverbrook Hotel and Spa.
Thereareotherpossiblevenuescomingsoontoo.
We hope that the near future will bring Cucumber more brand
awareness. Although we have made sales all round the world, the
majorityofoursaleshavebeenintheUK.TheUSinparticularisprovinga
strongsecondmarketforusandwewouldliketogrowourmarkethere.
Nancy Zeffman
Co-Founder
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|October 2019 |

40. Ineke Kooistra is the CEO of YoungCapital, a leading Dutch recruitment agency, since
2013. She has been working in the recruitment and secondment branches for 25 years.
Additionally, she has also set up and expanded various specializations within the IT
staffing market. Her role as the CEO of the company is to get people moving, motivate
them and coach them.
Together with three male founders, she directs a predominantly female management
team and 1,300 employees, of which 80 percent is also female. This is pure coincidence,
because Ineke doesn’t believe in selecting her employees based on gender.
About the Author
38
|October 2019 |

41. Establishing
E uilibr um
t the topA“It’s all about finding someone’s strengths. Women don’t
outperform men and vice versa. But I won’t deny that it
takes a lot of discipline to stay at the top as a woman,” Ineke
expresses. Just like men, women have a lot of qualities that
match perfectly with a leadership role. It’s important that
leadership comes from the heart. And you need to have the
intention to help others grow and make them better
through your role. I call it Servant Leadership. If you want to
make your company a success, you need to be of service to
the company and its people. This has nothing to do with
gender or background.
That’s why a quota for women at the top is completely
nonsense, according to me. All women who really want to
reach the top, will find a way to break through that glass
ceiling. No bias in the world will stop a woman on a mission
to reach that top position. But it’s wrong to think that
anyone with the right capabilities – man or woman – can
work anywhere they want. There should be a match
between your personality, the company’s values and its
culture. And sometimes it’s just a case of pure luck. Being at
the right place at the right time. If this match doesn’t come
naturally, it’s just not meant to be.
But if there is a perfect match between you as a leader and
a company, it’s the first positive step, in my opinion. It’s still
a lot of work. Having all that responsibility takes a lot out of
you. You shouldn’t be afraid to make choices, and that also
means saying no to certain activities in your personal life.
I am a mother of two and am not home every day. My
husband and I have been able to make it work. I notice that
a lot of women still find it difficult. But you can’t run a
company part time. You need to dare to go full in. Those
doubts often appear during the initial job interview. Women
say “I want to be a director, but I still have children that I
need to bring to school. Is that possible?” As if there are no
male CEOs that bring their kids to school. The big
difference is that men don’t ask these kinds of questions.
They just do it!
Balance
It’s all about balance. Recently, I attended a forum on
female leadership, where I talked about my role as a CEO. In
the audience, were female students who were just about to
graduate. When the moderator asked which of them
wanted the same job as me, only three of the four hundred
students raised their hands. The moderator was shocked,
and asked the audience what was going on. “She works too
much”, was the answer. “And we also want to be able to go to
parties, exercise and have a social life.” That shocked me a
little. It’s not that I don’t do anything else besides work. My
downtime, social life and work activities are just one big
mix. It’s true that I’m constantly thinking about work. But I
also allow myself to go for a run in the morning or see my
hairdresser during the week. To me, it’s just one full week in
which I can do a lot.
Did I have this go-getter mentality as a child, since I already
knew I wanted to one day reach the top? I think so. But, at
the same time, all the things I hoped for as a child didn’t
come true. What I got is a lot better. I definitely don’t regret
the choices that I’ve made. I started a family, got married,
and am the CEO of a young and ambitious company. I should
therefore be the last person to decide whether or not one
should have a leadership position based on a ‘home
situation’. How you combine the two is up to you. And yes,
that takes a lot of discipline. But if you have natural
leadership qualities, I believe everything is going to be
alright.
The key to achieving this? As a female – or male – leader,
you need to learn to let go and prioritise. Just do your best
and focus on making things better for other people.
Unbaised Future
39
|October 2019 |