Business Woman Awards 2017

14 Corporate Vision / BusinessWomen Awards 2017 , BW170023 In September of this year, Lula Kosanic joined the Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”) to lead the IT Procurement team. We spoke to Lula to find out more about her new role and her career success. Most Influential Female in Procurement - Canada RBC is Canada’s largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. Partnering across Technology & Operations, Wealth Management, Capital Markets and other business units, Lula’s team delivers value through understanding the needs of their internal business units, and working collectively to enable solutions that bring value and innovation in partnership with RBC’s third party suppliers. With accountability for a $2BB portfolio in third party annual spend, Lula is clearly excited about working at the firm, and outlines her perspective on the role. “RBC is a great place to work, it has great people, and I am thrilled to be working with such a strategic and thoughtful leadership team. The quality of the dialogues across my team, peers, and leaders is continuously inspiring. Throughout my career, I have had diverse roles across procurement, financial management, strategy, and clients. I’ve enjoyed each of these roles thoroughly, and I believe this is largely because I have been able to see the impact of my work in each role. I am always excited to take on a new role and look at the opportunity for transformational change. Given the pace of change in our world today, and the increased impacts of technology, as leaders, we have an opportunity to drive transformational change.” Since starting out on her journey, there have been many developments, both within the industry and the firms she has worked for. However, Lula notes that technology has been the biggest change she has encountered throughout her career. “When I joined the workforce, we were just transitioning from Lotus Notes to Email. In 1999 I had a pager and a cell phone. I feel like I have seen a huge transition in the way we work with the implosion of technology over the past two decades. Lula’s previous experience in different companies and different roles has helped her in her current role. She explains how the ability to build high performing teams has aided her in her role, and how she has learned from others, as well as herself. “In past roles, I have had the opportunity to lead diverse teams and build high performing teams, the opportunity to develop leaders is always a tremendous learning experience. I believe we learn from our teams and grow with them, and if you allow yourself that opportunity it is extremely fulfilling. Having had client-facing roles in the past has helped me develop a strong service orientation focus, and this is the underpinning of the value that my team will deliver to RBC in working with our third party providers. Equally important, a strong strategic focus is essential to running a business, and my priority is to develop a multi-year plan with my team, and ensure alignment with business units and the leadership team.” Passionate about helping women and children, Lula has led fundraising campaigns in support of children’s mental health, youth shelters, and women integrating back into society. “This work is important to me, it’s a way to give back to the community and raise awareness. RBC is dedicated to helping communities prosper, and I am delighted to be a co- chair of the Employee Giving Campaign at RBC, it’s a great opportunity to continue to raise awareness across these areas.” These attributes have all significantly contributed to what looks like a successful future for