Rekha Karna on Global Leadership and Career Growth

Posted on: 1 October 2026 by Rekha Karna in Where are they now?

Rekha Karna, graduated from the University of Liverpool with an MBA in 2009. With a career that has taken her from India to the UK and now the United States, in leadership roles across several major financial institutions, Rekha shares her insights and experiences with us. Rekha is Senior Director Client Service, BNY in New York.

Looking back, what were the key decisions or experiences that most shaped your career journey?

Starting my career in India gave me a strong grounding in both the technical discipline of financial services and the importance of relationships. Liverpool broadened that perspective. My MBA pushed me to think beyond the role and more holistically about organisations, strategy and leadership.

Moving to the US was another leap. Working across multiple large financial institutions has given me very different vantage points across products, operations, client service and enterprise leadership.

The biggest lesson? Technical expertise may get you into the room, but leadership is about people: earning trust, creating clarity, developing others and bringing different perspectives together.

I have also consistently said yes to opportunities beyond the job description: building communities, mentoring, solving ambiguous problems and working across functions.

From Bangalore to Liverpool to New York, curiosity opened the doors; being willing to be uncomfortable helped me walk through them.

You have led teams across different countries, cultures and business functions. What have you learned about effective leadership in global and diverse environments?

One of the biggest lessons in global leadership has been this: stay consistent in your values but never assume one approach will work for everyone. Different cultures, functions and people bring very different strengths, perspectives and ways of working and I think there is something powerful in that.

Leadership is not about creating sameness. It’s about creating enough clarity and trust for people to contribute in their own way, while still moving toward a shared outcome. As the phrase goes “If you want to go far, go together.” The best teams I’ve led have taught me that we don’t need to think alike to move forward together!

What qualities do leaders need today to balance operational excellence with delivering an outstanding client experience?

Leaders today need to combine discipline with empathy, and experience with foresight. Operational excellence is the foundation: clients expect accuracy, resilience and consistency but outstanding client experience comes from understanding what matters to them beyond the process.

Increasingly, that also means being predictive, not just responsive. AI and data can help us identify patterns; anticipate client needs and solve issues before they become pain points. But technology only creates value when leaders combine it with judgement, curiosity and a real understanding of the client. Ultimately, operational excellence and client experience aren’t competing priorities: when you lead them well, one strengthens the other.

You completed your MBA at the University of Liverpool in 2009. How did the MBA influence your approach to leadership and prepare you for the senior roles you've held since?

My University of Liverpool MBA gave me something I’ve carried throughout my career: the ability to step back from the immediate issue and see the bigger picture. What I particularly valued was the balance between academic theory and practical application.

Liverpool gave me frameworks for strategy, leadership and decision-making, but also challenged me to think about how those ideas translate into real business situations.

That has stayed with me as my roles have become more senior: connecting people, clients, risk and commercial outcomes, while continuing to learn and adapt. The Liverpool MBA gave me the foundation; experience has taught me how to apply it with judgement.

The financial services industry has undergone significant transformation over the past two decades. What changes have had the greatest impact on your work, and what trends do you think will shape the future of the sector?

• Data will become foresight. The advantage won’t come from having more data, but from using it to anticipate what clients need before they have to ask.
• AI will raise the premium on judgement. As technology gets faster and more capable, seniority will be less about having all the answers and more about knowing what to trust, what to challenge and when to make the call.
• Regulation will increasingly be designed in, not added on. The strongest organisations will build resilience, controls and accountability into the way they innovate from the outset.
• And through all of that, trust and relationships will remain the differentiator. As execution becomes more automated and commoditised, clients will remember who understood the complexity, took ownership and showed up when it mattered.
• Leadership has evolved in much the same way for me. It is less about being in every decision and more about building enough clarity, judgement and trust that the team can make the right decisions even when you are not in the room.

What advice would you give to current MBA students and recent graduates who aspire to lead global teams and organisations?

My advice would be: stay curious, stay adaptable, and don’t rush to have all the answers. Global leadership is less about knowing every market or culture and more about learning how to listen, understand context and bring different perspectives together around a shared goal. Build depth in your craft, but also invest in relationships, communication and judgement. Those are the skills that compound over time. And perhaps most importantly, don’t try to become a version of someone else’s idea of a leader.

There is real strength in understanding what is unique about you and learning how to lead from that place with confidence and authenticity.