On Keeping Visa’s Balls in the Air

Visa’s senior vice president, sub-Saharan Africa, Aida Diarra was in town, hanging her hat at Villa Rosa Kempinski. She’s handling over 40 countries in Africa and so when she’s in town she hardly gets a moment to exhale. She joined Visa from Western Union.

Coupled with her passion for financial technology, she is a champion for diversity and Africa’s contribution to the industry.

In person she’s reserved and thoughtful and quite calm for someone with many balls in the air. JACKSON BIKO had tea with her.

Was there anything in your childhood that could have indicated that you’d be here today?

That’s an interesting one to start with. I was empowered young. They always said that the sky’s the limit. That you define what you want to do. I grew up in an environment where it was about making sure you work hard because work defines how successful you are, that you are not afraid of challenges, going out there and doing what was important for you. I think the path that I chose followed these principles.

What ambitions do you nurse at this point in your life?

Impact. What is important for me is to make sure that whatever I do, translates into something better than what I found and for people who are around me. From a family perspective, you want to make sure that your family is taken care of and is offered the best opportunities whatever this is for them. In an organisation set-up, you want to make sure that your team is successful and grows as professional under your leadership.

From a business perspective, it’s about making sure that you have impact. That you positively influence the market where you are and you drive change.

If you were to go back to when you were 35 years old, what would you do differently?

That’s a very interesting question because, throughout my journey everything that I have done, I’ve done it wholeheartedly. If I look at how professionally I’ve conducted myself, I don’t know that I would change and because the mistakes that you make, you learn from them and that makes you the leader you are.

So, the one thing that I can think of, is probably to be more vocal and speak up more about what I see or what I want to do.

What’s your biggest struggle as a leader?

People. People is the best asset. It’s the only asset you have. You can have the strongest strategy, resource in terms of investment, but then, it’s the people that transform it into action and impact. When you’re a leader like me that focuses on diversity, you have people coming from different industries, different experiences, different cultural backgrounds, you need to take time to ensure that everyone, with their differences, talents and skill sets, drives the impact that you need.

They say it’s lonely at the top. Is that a myth or it’s true?

It’s true and it’s false at the same time. Because it depends on the kind of leadership you chose to have. If you decide to be inclusive, and allow your teams to contribute but also allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to want to go to your teams and ask questions, ask for feedback, ask for their ideas, yeah? Then, you’re no longer lonely. The reality though is, you still have to take a step back and make sure that the direction you’re setting for your teams and for your organisation, is the right one.

That exercise can be lonely. It’s a huge responsibility.

Some leaders have an open-door policy. But then, there are some who believe that knocking on the door is your own initiative, not the leader’s. So, they close that door. Where do you gravitate towards; open-door or closed-door?

I gravitate more towards open-door. That said, you know, the trick is to create that environment where people feel comfortable to come and knock at your door in case there is a need.

When you are leading a big organisation and managing teams remotely, in our case, five regional offices in five different countries, as much as you have an open-door approach, the reality is that you may not be as present as you wish in every single market or office that you have.

So, the trick for me is to ensure that you create that environment where anybody feels that, if at any point in time, they feel they need full support, they have a question, they don’t understand a strategy, they can pick up the phone and talk to you.

Are there certain doors, this is not limited to work, that you knocked at consistently and they never opened, and you still hope they will open?

(Pause). Life is about knocking on doors. It’s about having resilience. It depends on sheer circumstances. It could be a personal one, it could be a professional one. I am a believer that one needs to have the resilience to continue to want to engage, provided that you’re clear on what the outcome is.

You know, it’s every day’s life that you come across resistance and you just need to keep at it.

What is success? By your definition. And, are you successful?

(Sighs). That’s a big one. (Laughs). You know, success for me is if you can positively impact your environment and people. Success is a journey. You can’t put a stop and say, “Oh, I’m successful. That’s it.” I don’t know that there’s an end to it. You have wins, so you’re doing some good stuff. You have some challenges. When I die and then people reflect and look at how I have had an impact, it will be up to the rest of the world to define and say, “OK. She was successful because she impacted us and she made the change.”

What’s your biggest extravagance?

Extravagance (Long pause). That’s a tough one.

It’s like pleasures. What’s your indulgence?

I love to play tennis. It’s because I have a special coach. I used to have a special coach who made me feel that I was the next thing. I was the next Serena Williams, although I play really bad. But you know, every time I finish a session with him, my self-esteem is boosted. I enjoyed playing basketball back in the days when I was in university. If I want to truly indulge, I just love Ethiopian food. I grew up in Ethiopia, I’ve lived there for some years. But I truly enjoy a good dish of the Ethiopian injera.

If you were a country, what country would you be? And why?

I would be Africa. I know it’s not a country, but I just love the diversity. I love how vibrant it is. I love the way we relate to people. There is something warm about us that I just enjoy every single day. I don’t know if you could get that out of any other market, but I’m a little bit bias here.

Last question. If we were to strip you off: motherhood, work, and wife, what would remain?

(Pause). That’s an interesting one. (Pause) An enabler. I like to look for opportunities to do things differently. Like I said, in everything I do, I try to make things better.

You come across people in a plane or in a street or in a store and you look at them in the eye and you say, “Good morning. How are you today?” and you smile. I promise you it has an impact on that person. You acknowledge that person that they are there and you make them feel a little better.