Pathbreaking Leadership

It has been observed that women often get promoted to top jobs during times of crisis. That was certainly true for Christine Lagarde, the pathbreaking leader of the International Monetary Fund, who faces the difficult task of trying to help stabilize Europe’s most beleaguered economies by providing loans with tough conditions attached. Lagarde took over the institution in 2011, after its previous managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, abruptly resigned, having been charged with sexually assaulting a hotel employee in New York City. (The case was dropped, but French prosecutors, in a separate case, have since charged him with abetting sex trafficking.) She has clearly brought decorum back to the IMF. I spoke with Lagarde at IMF headquarters, in Washington, DC, in late summer (see The HBR Interview). Although she acknowledges the sometimes controversial role the IMF plays in global economic management, she clearly enjoys taking on complex professional challenges. In addition to being a formidable figure in the rough-and-tumble world of French politics, she was the first female chairperson of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. Lagarde is outspoken in her belief that institutions need to be aggressive in creating opportunities at the top for women. She supports quotas if that’s what it takes to make progress, and she has urged colleagues to display a bias in favor of female candidates to make up for the invisible restraints that she thinks still keep women from achieving corporate leadership. Lagarde is a prime example of the inspirational “triple strength” leaders that Nick Lovegrove and Matthew Thomas wrote about in our September issue: people who have experience in government, the private sector, and the nonprofit sphere. With her varied background, she has a lot to say about leadership, economics, and—it turns out—synchronized swimming. I hope you enjoy the interview and everything else in HBR this month. Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief

Pathbreaking Leadership

Partner Center