Markets Media spoke with Sue Lee, Head of Markets, Asia South for Citigroup, who won Excellence in Leadership at the 2025 Women in Finance Asia Awards.

Since joining Citi in 2012, you’ve built and scaled one of the top strategic-equity solutions franchises in the region. What were the key ingredients to making that happen?

Ensuring that we had a best in class team of diverse background and skill sets was the first priority. This allowed us to tackle multiple opportunities in parallel, scaling build with every win.

 You’re a mentor to women across the region and serve on the board of Women in Finance Asia. What motivates your commitment to mentorship and advocacy, and what impact have you seen from those efforts?

Investing in talent is critical to long term success of any organization, and technology advancement can’t replace human talent in building culture. I have found that mentoring and advocacy is appreciated more than monetary compensation in the long run. To be honest, I am driven by this commercial formula that it ‘pays off’ more, as much as I am driven by a sense of reciprocity and responsibility to those who have advised and advocated for myself!

 Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that shaped how you lead today?

I think leadership is something you can always learn to be better at, so I would say it has been a journey rather than shaped by a pivotal moment. My consistent guiding principle is to lead with transparency and accountability, and I’m working on how to balance that with empathy and kindness.

What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?

My father was in finance, and he was my most enduring mentor and role model, so it was a natural path for me to follow in that sense.

In university, I studied English Literature, specializing in Shakespeare, which was not a common major for a career in finance at the time. Whilst that didn’t boost my knowledge in equity derivatives at the start of my career, over time, I have found it to be a net positive to be from a slightly different background.

What do you enjoy most about your day-to-day work?

That it provides me with so much opportunity to learn and keeps enrichening my intellectual curiosity. I meet so many impressive colleagues and clients, sometimes forming lasting friendships from building relationships in my day job!

Tell us about a passion you have outside the business.

I have a new-found interest in mindfulness and mediation. I think it is increasingly important to find alternative means to manage stress, and I have found finding daily time to quiet the mind can be more productive than constant action.

What qualities or skills do you think are essential for long-term success in your field?

First and foremost, hard work; there is no sustainable short cut around it. Then adaptability, based on continued learning and reading the room. I guess that would apply to most fields!

What’s one piece of advice you wish you could go back and give to yourself at the start of your career?

‘Your life and career path will be very different to your plan, spend less time planning and find multiple hobbies instead.’

Also ‘You will eventually learn that ’perfectionism’ is a hindrance, not a unique edge’.

 How do you define success for yourself today — and has that definition evolved over time?

Yes, my definition of success has evolved over time. It used to be vertical and professional role driven. Now I think of my ‘purpose’ more than success as a destination: being a role model to my two daughters as a professional and a mum… I fail at it many days, but hopefully in the long run my daughters will evaluate the package positively.

What’s one challenge or opportunity you’re excited to take on next?

Doing something completely different, and proving to myself that the years I put into this job taught me the ability to connect different kind of dots.