Michelle Neal | Group CEO, Fnality

Women In Leadership Global is proud to honour an outstanding female leader each month, recognising women who embody leadership excellence and are shaping the future of our industry. The September recipient of our Women In Leadership Excellence Award is Michelle Neal. With an extraordinary career spanning senior roles at Deutsche Bank and BNY, leading the Markets Group at the New York Fed, and now serving as Group CEO of Fnality, the company behind the world's first regulated on-chain service for cross-border settlement, Michelle has built a truly stellar track record. Join Georgie Dickins in conversation with Michelle as they unpack the leadership kernels that have shaped her journey: the insights, decisions, and lessons that you can apply to your own path. In this episode: • How stuffing handbags for her father's business, a 5 am shift at Dunkin' Donuts, and a job as a credit union teller shaped her early work ethic • Her practical strategies for navigating the "year-end sprint," from Labour Day through to Thanksgiving and beyond • Why you should make your ambitions known - but earn the right to have them • Her advice to women on self-advocacy, without needing to be the loudest voice in the room • The lesson her children have taught her about letting go of control and enjoying the journey • Why she moved away from surrounding herself with "FOMs" (Friends of Michelle), and how trust can be built, not just inherited • What keeps her up at night as a CEO, and how she turns stress into action • The leadership lesson she wishes she'd learned sooner: what got you here won't get you there • Why listening might be a leader's greatest superpower • Why judgment, context and relationships matter more than ever in the age of AI • Her advice for interns, graduates and new starters entering the workforce • Why visibility and nurturing your network - up, down, and sideways - matters • How her career across financial markets led her to Finality International, and what it takes to build something at that scale • Why she believes careers - and life - are rarely a straight line, but a series of zigzags worth enjoying along the way Find out more about Michelle Neal: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-neal-051a80/ Find out more about Georgie Dickins: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgie-dickins-5083686a/ Follow Women In Leadership Global: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-leadership-global/ #WomenInLeadership #Fnality #BNY #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership #WomenInFinance #LeadershipPodcast  #CareerGrowth   Timestamps:  00:00 – Welcome & introducing Michelle Neal 00:57 – Catching up: life in Boston & Cape Cod 01:22 – Sustainable performance through the year-end sprint 02:14 – Pacing yourself so you don't burn out 04:18 – A favorite quote on focus and priorities 04:52 – Michelle's first jobs: stuffing handbags to Dunkin' Donuts 07:55 – Best advice: earn the right to your ambitions 14:21 – What her kids have taught her (and "Yes Day") 15:15 – Breaking the "always on to the next thing" habit 16:15 – Rethinking who you trust: from "FOMs" to real inclusion 20:34 – What keeps a CEO up at night 21:40 – Turning 3am worry into productive action 25:52 – The power of slowing down for better outcomes 26:58 – Listening as a leadership superpower 28:32 – Avoiding "HIPPO" thinking and skip-level insight 28:51 – The human skills that matter most in the AI era