Her Account: Inga Johnson

Her Account: Women Shaping the Future of Banking District Manager of CIBC Caribbean Bank For Inga Johnson, banking has never just been about dollars and cents – it’s about people. At CIBC Bahamas, she has built her reputation on a passion for helping clients reach their goals and for guiding young professionals coming up behind her. Whether she’s delivering top-notch customer service or mentoring the next generation of bankers, Inga’s approach is grounded in empathy, patience and a genuine desire to see others succeed. It’s this people-first mindset that has set her apart in an industry that is often seen as all business.

How did your career begin and where are you now?

I’ve been in banking for the past 35 years and during that time I’ve had the privilege of serving in a variety of roles. I started out as a customer service representative through 11 roles and the majority of them being leadership roles. Currently, I am in a District Manager role, which is the retail branches in New Providence and the Family Islands that deal with the people, customer service and risk and compliance aspects. I started as a teller and then I moved on to a customer service officer which entails opening up accounts and foreign exchange transactions and then I moved to what we call a discount clerk – someone who processes loans or loan officer.

Then we moved into a junior lender, senior lender and then moved into personal banking manager dealing with a team of lenders; consumer finance manager handling all of the consumer part of the business.

Then I went into a senior branch manager role. Since 2011, I’ve been in my district manager role here at Shirley Street. It’s been a journey of constant growth professionally and personally. I was fortunate to mentor quite a bit of individuals earlier on and up to today to ensure that they too would’ve grown in their banking career. It has given me the opportunity to learn the importance of being resilient and adaptable to change. Banking has changed over the years, so it has given me the ability to learn how to adapt in times of crisis.

Those experiences to me have shaped my leadership style. I believe vision is really what drives progress for each individual. Once you have vision and know where you’re going and are able to mentor others to see what’s in it for them and find out how they can also develop and grow that has been a rewarding thing for me in my career here.

What makes The Bahamas’ financial services sector unique to other jurisdictions?

We have a robust banking system. We have attractive rates, products and services. We’re regulated by the Central Bank. The sector is as strong as any in the region. In terms of foreign investments, we have better taxes. There are greater opportunities with land development. The Bahamas has been a great place for investors to go after because many see the benefit of being here. We have great offshore services and retail banking places. And I do believe that those who come here for temporary work; you find a lot of them find a love for The Bahamas and that carries them into the next step of residency and things that are very attractive to borrowers as well.

How has The Bahamas financial sector grown?

I’ve seen the amount of offshore banks that have developed over the years. You’ve seen a number of banks offer not just consumer finance services, you’ve seen them branch out into the mortgage space and become wholistic one-stop shops for customers. So, the development I’ve seen has grown by leaps and bounds, where a bank would’ve just offered consumer banking facilities like unsecured lending with cars, we are seeing those types of things where banks are developing into a one-stop shop where clients can avail themselves to the various products of lending and over the years the rates have been great and very competitive so the products have been very competitive across the banking landscape. By all means, that has leaned into foreign investments where persons have been interested in purchasing a home being here in the mainland or in the Family Islands. You have a lot of that whether they use the banking services or personal funds. We’ve seen quite a bit of growth in the commercial space and the offshore space as well.

Did you always envision yourself in leadership?

My passion has always been in helping others and others helping others; meant developing other individuals. In doing so, I also honed in on my skill sets and my leadership skills. The passion and purpose that I see in my life have always been to help others achieve their greatest investment or I guess growth. Mentoring and training others to do well, I always thought ‘how can I help this person to do better and to lead and hence that’s how I was able to obtain leadership roles. I’ve always been open with my view of leading others. Leading with precision means to lead with the understanding of where you want to be, where you want your organization or your team; I think that pushed to get others to understand what they can do and what they can offer to be a great leader. So just to see others come up behind me and be that leader that I have been able to mentor and assist with their development, I think that I’ve always been told that I am that leader. I’m very honored to see my team members come up and they are right underneath me with leadership roles, that is very warming and gratifying to me as a leader.

What is the most challenging aspect of what you do?

There’s been barriers in the career of banking and in the earlier years banking would’ve been more male dominated. And as a woman stepping into leadership, at times you’d have to work twice as hard to prove yourself. You’d have to remain resilient and able to pivot and change. But choosing not to let those experiences define you is important. Instead, focus on results such as building strong teams and relationships. Stay true to your values and over time the consistency helps to break down those barriers and open doors for women like myself, and young professionals coming up to acquire these roles. Those were perhaps the biggest challenges along with change. But I’m in an institution that always changes because it’s global and we’ve always been able to adapt to change. Just being in the leadership role and being able to move and getting folks to understand where we are going and understand why we are doing what we are doing; or why we are changing and how they can benefit, it is always a win-win from both sides.

How do you see the role of women shaping the future of this industry?

Women are resilient by nature. We are nurturing. Being a woman we just have that nurturing way to develop others. ‘Failure is not an option’ is a personal motto for me. I think if you go into something with passion and with focus on what it is you want to achieve and do it not only with passion and purpose but also to look at the immediate goal and also look at the long-term goals: ‘what are you going to get out of this?’ ‘How does this help my business and others?’ And I do believe that many female leaders do that. We are very strategic in our thought process. We’re very creative and innovative and I think, more so in the business and in leadership I’m seeing women become more strategic, innovative and savvy individuals. If you look across the banking sector, you will see that a lot of the banks are led by strong, female leaders. No longer are you only seeing men at the top. You are also seeing strong female leaders that have proven and tried.

What are your proudest accomplishments thus far?

I’ve seen individuals that I have managed or mentored move up the ranks and meet me where I’m at. I feel so overjoyed when I’ve seen an entire team move up. My entire team was promoted in one month. I was completely overjoyed because I knew I was developing people that others wanted on their teams. What that does for me is that I am able to mentor and be able to create opportunities for others. I am gratified when I am able to see others win. For young women wanting to start a career in this industry, what would you say to them?

I think people look at salary or level. I think you have to be passionate about what it is that you want to do. Make sure what you are going after, you are going to love it and you are going to feel selfmotivated to come out every single day, work and enjoy it and watch it evolve into success. It’s going to grow. Your attitude determines your altitude. The right attitude – the passion around what it is that you do and naturally the growth will come. Your work speaks for itself. The way how you connect with others and collaborate is going to be key. But you have to be passionate about what it is that you are going to do. Banking is enjoyable. It can be stressful. But it all depends on the mindset.