Case Study:
Silvana Glibota-Vigo
Silvana is the Group Head of Secretariat at Keller Group plc and has been a governance professional for over 15 years. She is a fellow of the Institute.
What is governance?
For Silvana, governance is about doing things properly, at the right time, purposefully, remembering lessons from the past and with the future in mind.
What is a governance professional?
Silvana recalls that a few years ago she read one of those management articles about what should be one’s role in an organisation to be successful. The article referred to being an integrator and it didn’t make specific reference to governance professionals but somehow it struck a chord.
She has since thought of a governance professional as the ultimate integrator – a person with balanced orientations and behaviour patterns, who brings everyone (people) and everything (procedures) together to achieve a goal; a person who doesn’t take the decisions but someone who contributes and influences those decisions on the basis of their competence and knowledge.
Governance is about doing things properly, at the right time, purposefully, remembering lessons from the past and with the future in mind.
The governance professional is the ultimate integrator
The route to a career in governance
Silvana studied Law and International Relations at university in Argentina and in Spain, and while working in Gibraltar she came across the Diploma in Offshore Finance and Administration offered by CGI (back when it was ICSA, yes, all those years ago). She hasn’t looked back since…
The essential skill for success in governance
Silvana doesn’t think there’s only one essential skill but a combination of essential skills – a governance professional should be able to plan and organise in order to anticipate and enable, whilst influencing all along the way.
Career highlight
Silvana considers discovering a career in governance was a career highlight for her years ago, and more recently being approached by a former colleague who said she had inspired her to pursue a career in governance. That former colleague did make Silvana feel old, but she also felt very proud.
How did the Institute support your career as a governance professional?
Silvana feels that from day one, studying and sitting exams in Gibraltar, until this day, the Institute has always been with her.
Words of wisdom for your governance career
Three things:1. It is not personal2. Most of the times you will find the answer in your predecessor’s files3. Be authentic
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