The woman chosen to run the International Monetary Fund criticised the management style of her predecessor yesterday, emphasising the importance of ethical leadership.
On her second day in the job, Christine Lagarde said that she would continue many of the reforms implemented under the previous regime of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. However, the former French Finance Minister made it clear that she would foster a very different relationship with her staff, encouraging inclusion and respect for her colleagues regardless of background or gender. “I’m probably more inclusive, more team-minded,” she said.
Ms Lagarde, below, said that she had spoken to Mr Strauss-Kahn about the transition. “It was strictly professional and related exclusively to my role as his successor,” she said.
The first woman managing director of the IMF said that she had expedited her start date in Washington because of the scale and urgency of the issues facing the global economy. Her first order of business was to implore the Greeks to implement austerity measures, taking the unexpected step of praising the Irish and Portuguese response to the crisis. “I hope that the Greek political parties can be inspired by the courageous decisions made by the political parties in Ireland, the courageous decisions made by political parties in Portugal,” she said. “There comes a time when individual interests, political rivalries should be set aside, and that was clearly demonstrated both in the case of Ireland and Portugal.” Ms Lagarde conceded that sovereign debt issues, particularly in the eurozone, were among her chief immediate concerns but, in response to criticisms that she would run the IMF with a eurocentric perspective, she said that she was equally mindful of the risk of overheating or inflation in the emerging markets and low-income members of the IMF.
She warned that the IMF must not be consumed with naval-gazing after the spectacle surrounding her predecessor. “We need to focus on what we can provide, we need to be available for our membership and not constantly look at our belly button,” she said.