Meet Tara Yarrow-Gulatee, who has 30+ years of experience in technology and operations, working across the globe leading international teams. A passionate advocate for Diversity and Inclusion, Tara shares insights on her contributions to this area, along with valuable lessons on leadership and her truly inspiring career and life journey.

Interviewed by Anastasiia Hresko

You are currently an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, managing cross-country teams within technology operations. What are some of the key challenges you face in this role – particularly when balancing the demands of a global team with the pressures many professionals face in their personal lives, such as being in the ‘sandwiched’ phase, where they are simultaneously supporting their aging parents and their own children?

Managing multi-location teams comes with many challenges, one of which is distance. I strongly believe in the importance of face-to-face contact and try to visit my teams regularly. People tend to open up more in person - sharing both joyful news and difficult situations.

Another major challenge is work-life balance. In a large international organisation like JP Morgan, one might easily find themselves starting their day with a 7 AM Asia-Pacific call and ending it with a 10 PM US call. There was even a time when I was responsible for teams in the Middle East regions, where weekends are different, and I would receive calls on a Sunday afternoon. It started to affect my family life, so I learned to say no, which is hard for women who are perfectionists and like to please people. My manager’s advice upon promotion to Executive Director was not to spread myself too thin and learn to say “no”.

Finally, the “sandwiched phase” - the topic affecting especially women as they tend to take over care work. I went through it myself and found it extremely hard: having kids at home, normally teenagers, and parents who are beginning to need care. Juggling parents’ medical appointments, teenagers’ complaints and manager's urgent work demands, all while trying to look put together in high heels and avoiding mascara smudges... I wish I had any good advice here. I got through it with a lot of coffee and chocolate and was very lucky to have supportive friends and managers.

“Don’t spread yourself too thin and learn to say no”

With a diverse academic background spanning Chemistry, Philosophy, and IT, how have these disciplines influenced your perspective on leadership and governance within the financial sector?

I could say “absolutely not at all”, but in truth, my academic background has indeed shaped how I lead. The UK education system places emphasis on how to learn, not only what to learn, so regardless the subject, one also acquires various skills like critical thinking and articulation which are key in leadership, where vision, strategy and clear communication are essential.

I always tell young people to study something they’re passionate about. It might still be a lot of work, but it’s much easier to put in the effort when you genuinely enjoy the subject. It’s the same in professional life — if you’re doing something you love, it may take up more than eight hours a day, but that’s OK because you enjoy it.

The same applies to leadership roles: I won’t pretend I’m passionate about technology governance (I’ve never met anyone who is), but I’m passionate about my global team - many at the start of their careers, full of energy and ideas. Helping them grow and succeed is what drives me.

As regulatory scrutiny in the financial sector intensifies, how do you see the role of technology governance adapting to meet those evolving demands?

Regulatory scrutiny is, in fact, why I've got my job. Take the team I joined three years ago as an example: we started with just five people, and now we’ve grown to over fifty due to the increasing regulatory focus. It's very challenging, also for regulators, because they need to keep up with everything. The EU Artificial Intelligence Act and Digital Operations Resilience Act came out quite recently, yet some parts of them already appear outdated. As such, technology governance plays a critical role in ensuring compliance, while simultaneously enabling businesses to continue operating effectively.

You have led teams across multiple countries and worked in a wide range of cultural contexts – from Tokyo and Riyadh to Mexico and Moscow. How have these experiences shaped your leadership style and your approach to managing diverse teams?

With JP Morgan, I really travelled the world: from Tokyo, where I implemented a money transfer system, to Riyadh, where I managed the general infrastructure, to Moscow, where I built a data centre, then to Mexico, and to South America. Each of those locations and experiences has given me a wealth of stories to share and taught me to be a good leader. The key is to be flexible. You can't behave the same way in a meeting in Tokyo as you would in New York. There you need to be perhaps a little quieter and listen more. If you were that quiet in New York, you'd probably get trodden on.

My Riyadh experience was unique because when I worked there the first time Saudi women weren't allowed to work. My first day was a bit of a crisis, because they obviously had no women's bathroom. Challenges like that taught me an important lesson: not everyone thinks the way I do, nor will they react to a situation the same way, so I shouldn't take anything for granted and really need to read the room.

When I moved from Frankfurt to Paris, I received feedback that while being absolutely great, slowing down at times may be a good idea. I don’t have to go to the meeting precisely on time and come out with results. Sometimes, the result was just scheduling another meeting and going home to have a glass of wine. I thought “I can't do that!”, but I learned to adapt.

Throughout your career, you have contributed to various D&I Programmes. Could you share more about these experiences and your personal “why?” behind them?

I suppose there’s a short and simple answer: why not? It might sound like a cliché, but I genuinely believe that if everyone cared for their small part of the world, it would make a big difference. Perhaps that’s naive, especially when so many seem to have a destructive idea of what “a better world” means, considering that there’s a war in almost every part of the world now. But I still hold onto that belief.

I also have a longer and more personal answer. My mother, a Protestant Englishwoman, and my father, an Indian Sikh, were both proud of their cultures and religions, and a Jewish great-grandmother also left a lasting influence on our family. Growing up in a small English village, I assumed our diverse background was normal until I experienced first-hand that not everyone saw it that way. I remember proudly declaring being half-Indian at school, only to be told it cannot be the case because I’m not half-brown. That left six-years-old me in tears. Later, when my uncle from India visited, my friends’ fearful reactions reinforced that what felt normal to me was foreign to others. I realised that people are judgmental about what’s different. But these aren’t differences that complicate our lives. I never viewed disability as a disadvantage for example: my blind grandmother navigated our home effortlessly and baked wonderful cupcakes.

And so, inclusion and diversity became important to me. I began to see the difficult choices women face around work and family when I became mother. While in Germany, I took three years of parental leave, which was common there. Some friends felt pressure to do the same to be seen as good mothers, while others who tried to share it with their husbands were judged. Later in France, when I returned to work part-time as a senior manager, some women questioned my ambition. For me, what matters most is having the freedom to choose what suits you and your partner best. I’ve always supported programmes that make that possible.

One initiative I’m proud of was setting up an emergency kindergarten in Frankfurt. More recently, I’ve been involved in recruitment and return-to-work programmes for women after career breaks. I know first-hand how tough that transition can be. It also struck me how important role models are - women can’t aspire to what they don’t see. I’d been at JPMorgan for 30 years before I had a female manager.

I genuinely believe that if everyone cared for their small part of the world, it would make a big difference.

What drew you to the WIL network, and how has being part of it shaped your personal or professional journey?

I first learned about the WIL Network through my daughter, who joined early in her career. She got professional advice, found a mentor and built her network. I was inspired to join myself and did it one year ago. I already attended the “No AI Without Women” conference in Paris which I found very inspiring and have recently started mentoring a group of women with interesting international backgrounds as a career development leader. I’m excited about the work ahead!

If you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self just starting out in Frankfurt, what would it be?

If my younger self would listen, I’d offer two pieces of advice, depending on my mood. On a tough day, I’d say: “Life goes by faster than you think. All those things your parents told you - cuddle your babies, make memories, take chances - do them. Don’t wait for life to happen to you.” On a good day, I’d quote the poem Invictus which ends with the lines: “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

“You are the master of your fate.”