Georgia Paphiti's advice to aspiring leaders: Be authentic be yourself

Georgia Paphiti has forged an impressive career, spanning over a decade at UBS, one of the world’s most prestigious financial institutions.

Here, she shares her views on the evolving role of the CFO, examines the challenges facing global markets and reflects on her own leadership journey.

You have held crucial positions at UBS for over a decade. Which qualities or traits have been most instrumental in helping you navigate this industry and achieve success?

Beyond technical expertise, one needs to be flexible in pivoting through change and evolving as an individual. First and foremost, there is always scope for growth and learning in this and every job but here one needs to like working with people. This is a people business; it is about connecting the dots, looking at the bigger picture; it is about relationship management and helping other people develop, too. Keeping an open mind, being flexible, appreciating and promoting teamwork and collaboration and understanding that one cannot really navigate completely on one’s own: all of these have been instrumental to my journey.

How has the role of the CFO evolved over the years? What are the most significant challenges and disruptive forces facing CFO’s today?

Traditionally, the CFO’s role focused on reporting and managing financial resources. Nowadays this role is multifaceted beyond financial stewardship. It is about strategic leadership, driving sustainable business growth and development, managing and interpreting data and analytics to support this growth, being a champion in technology and innovation, translating these aspects into operational efficiency and much more.

The Chief Financial Officer is a sparring partner for the business. When it comes to disruptive forces, inflation, energy prices and costs are always part of the CFO’s agenda, as is constant regulatory change. However, the most disruptive force nowadays concerns technological advancements and particularly AI; this will absolutely change the way we look at a finance function and the way we conduct business. Whoever does not get on this bus will be left behind forever.

What challenges have you encountered and what advice would you offer to those aspiring to leadership positions in the financial sector?

Being challenged is part of the day-to-day routine and it helps leaders evolve. You need to be constantly out of your comfort zone, to be curious and challenge things that don’t make sense. That said, the biggest challenge is usually getting the right people on board, bringing them together, inspiring them, ensuring that they develop and have the right mindset to drive things forward.

If I was to give advice to aspiring leaders, I would say that the most important thing is to be authentic; be yourself and evolve your own leadership style. One can certainly learn from others and adopt good practices but authenticity is in one’s own hands.

What impact could current geopolitical tensions have on the financial markets, investors and the global economy? How do you assess today’s volatile financial situation and how do you see the US-European economic relationship moving forward?

Geopolitical tensions have always existed in different ways and forms, creating uncertainty and speculation, but they also create opportunities and new lessons. When we talk about volatility in the system, this calls for diversification and opportunities too. As for the US-European economic relationship, things change by the day, so please allow me to be cautious on how this might move forward!

My hope would be that this does not end in a relationship that is broken beyond repair. However, I do think that Europe has to concentrate on increasing spending on defence and technology as well as on improving its competitive advantage via deregulation, when compared to our US counterpart, if we want to see growth going forward.

You have been a strong advocate for diversification and the alignment of goals between the private and public sectors in fostering a robust business ecosystem. Where do you believe Cyprus falls short in this regard and what steps should be taken to enhance the country’s potential as an innovation hub?

In Cyprus there are mostly tactical moves when it comes to growth, which don’t ensure alignment on what the end goal should be and which are sometimes impacted by corruption and certain interests. Everyone wants to go for a quick win rather than strategic and long-term sustainable growth, and we tend to forget the things we are good at or even forget to diversify as regards where growth comes from.

This has created the perception from the outside that Cyprus is not a reliable and safe place to do business. This needs to change to create a robust ecosystem and it requires this alignment of goals of the public and private sectors, as well as diversification – the latter helps the country navigate and sustains it in times of uncertainty. I don’t think we have a purpose and a clear goal that we want to achieve.

If Cyprus was to overcome this, I do believe that it could become an innovation hub and draw brain power back to the country.

President Christodoulides is keen to encourage foreign-based Cypriots to return to the island. As someone who pursued greater opportunities abroad, what do you believe is the most effective way to address the brain drain that has impacted Cyprus in the past?

One part concerns incentives but if we could answer some basic questions, we would see brain power coming back. I mean questions like “Is there a vision and a purpose regarding where the country is heading?”, “Can this be sustained?”, “Is there clarity when it comes to investments?” and “How can one make a difference?” It goes back to what I said before.

You moved to Luxembourg in 2014. How did this change your life from how it was in Cyprus? What does Cyprus mean to you now and through what lens do you view the country today?

Cyprus will always be my home but the move in 2014 opened up great opportunities for me and my family. I don’t regret it, as it helped me develop both professionally and as an individual, working in an environment which offered a larger scale in terms of business and remarkable diversity. I think that, in the future, Cyprus could offer these aspects too and I go back to what I said before about the need for a long-term strategic direction.

Achieving a position of leadership in a major financial institution undoubtedly requires sacrifices. What do you feel have been the most significant sacrifices that you have made along the way?

Allow me to change the word “sacrifices” to “choices.” One always has a choice to make when trying to strike a balance between one’s professional and personal life. Is it easy? Definitely not! But one has to be comfortable with being uncomfortable; it is part of life. If you stay still, you don’t move forward. I have people around me that support me and I support them, so it’s not always a matter of “either, or.” It is about what is important.

So I don’t feel that there are sacrifices that I have had to make but rather times where I had to get my priorities right and choose wisely. And if we want to take it a bit further, I have four amazing children and a great husband that inspire me day in, day out. So, despite how tough my job is, how many hours I work or if I may have had to make a tough choice, I can definitely say that I got the things that matter right!

This interview first appeared in the March edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.