What Opened My Eyes? A Training on Hostage Negotiation

Be bold, always, and take risks – but only if you have a clear goal in mind. With that Debora Revoltella, Director of the Economics Department at the European Investment Bank (EIB), concludes the long chat in which she recalls the milestones and challenges throughout her life. It is a clear message to young women, from one who has climbed the corporate ladder and obtained her role through hard work along with technical preparation capable of combining research, policy and business. 

With an Economics degree, PhD, and passion for research, she began teaching at the University, focusing her economic research on Eastern European countries. “At that time, Italian banks were beginning to buy credit institutions in those countries. The then Banca Commerciale Italiana was already doing so, and wanted to know more. I was the right person; they gave me an offer and I accepted.” It was an inspiring period “with a market that was changing very quickly”. Two years later, shejoined UniCredit toset up a research officededicated to thatgeographical area: “I was young and in charge of a research team that was equally young and dynamic. I never felt put to the test as a young person or as a woman. Ambition was needed, but it was by no means a hierarchical or restrictive environment. Those who were capable of doing so, succeeded.”

Debora Revoltella found a completely different experience at the EIB, where she was called upon to rebuild and give new momentum to the Economics Department, which was fragmented over the years. “Here I initially found myself in a very closed and narrow-minded environment, with people who all grew professionally within the institution. I came from outside, from the private sector, and did not know anything about the operating mechanisms of the EIB.” Debora found herself in front of a wall of skepticism “with one side of the team looking forward to the transformation, and the other – on the other hand – decidedly resistant. Add this to having to create a role and operation that did not exist prior, and having to rebuild exposure of the institution that had been lost.”

Debora reached an empasse where she tried to avoid tensions and please everyone, but to no avail – until she attended a hostage release negotiation training: “It opened myeyes. Idid not want toupset anyone,but Irealized that Iwas lettingsome peopleclip mywings. Meanwhile, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.” This led to the change and launch of two of the projects for which the EIB has been in the spotlight in economic research for years: the survey of 12,500 European businesses and the report on investments in Europe.

For Debora, it also resulted in self-awareness and a message for everyone: “Often we women try to avoid conflict in order to gain consensus, especially within our team. This is fine, but only up to a certain point because there are people who will never accept change. Perhaps experience has taught me to be a little more decisive and to know how to set boundaries first. However, I always try to create a positive environment.” 

For young women who would like to pursue an international career like she did, she recommends focusing ona solidfoundation of technicalexpertise, as well as having the courage to dare. She adds, though: “Do not tie yourself to your area of expertise only; rather, be open to other experiences that can enrich you in your job. Thanks to mywork inboth thepublic and private sectors,for example,I havebeen ableto combinea technicalresearch profile with a policyand managerialprofile. This allows me to grasp the business implications from what emerges from the research.”