Q&A: American Express’ Holly Coventry on why ‘leading from the front’ is critical

Holly Coventry, VP, international Open Banking payments at American Express, reveals why leadership skills are so critical, even for those who don’t lead a team, and what she’s hoping to learn from her conversation with Ripple’s Sendi Young at the first meet-up.

1. What are you looking forward to most about the first WiOB meet-up? 

Bringing together such a vibrant community of high impact people and making lots of new connections.

2. In 20 words or less, what does ‘leadership’ mean to you? 

Leadership is a mindset – it’s about doing courageous things, in the right way, for the good of your colleagues and customers.

American Express’ Holly Coventry

3. Why is cultivating your leadership skills so vital, regardless of experience or long-term ambition? 

If you want to drive change, whatever that means to you, leading from the front is critical. It doesn’t mean you have to have a team to lead, you will need to lead colleagues, peers, your own leaders both internally and externally.

Being able to take people on a journey with you is essential, whether you are leading a team of 50 or an individual contributor.

4. What would you like attendees to take away from your session at the meet-up?

I have the pleasure of hosting Sendi Young from Ripple, so am confident that she will have a number of insights on building a career in an emerging industry – and maybe even pick up some new knowledge on all things blockchain!

Listen to Holly speak about the Women in Open Banking initiative and American Express’ involvement on this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, alongside Bankifi chief executive officer Mark Hartley and Open Banking Expo co-founder Adam Cox.