www.privateairny.com Private Air | Summer 2020
56
B
eing an outsider in the
workplace is tough.
Doubly so if you're
both a woman and an
immigrant, two characteristics that
can make your professional life a
great deal more complicated. And
when you're trying to lead a team on
top of having any type of perceived
"outsider" status – people who share
an upbringing you weren't part of
or set of meaningful experiences
that you don't have –it can seem
impossible to feel the kind of
engagement and respect to make
professional headway.
But the outlook isn't nearly as
hopeless as it may appear, says
Chinwe Esimai, Chief Anti-Bribery
Officer at Citigroup--the first to
hold the title in the bank's history.
e same ingredients that might
seem at first to be insurmountable
disadvantages for outsiders can
instead become the fuel for success.
Esimai has both been through it
herself and seen it done amongst
others in seemingly compromising
professional circumstances.
Esimai spent 17 years in Nigeria
before arriving in the United
States. A Harvard-educated lawyer,
EXPAT
LEADERSHIP
By: Merilee Kern, MBA
Lessons All Professionals Can Learn from
Hugely Successful Immigrant Women.
BUSINESS
