In the banking industry, leadership is often defined by the capacity to negotiate uncertainty with clarity, balance precision with perspective, and make well-informed decisions in challenging situations. The most successful leaders are those who maintain composure, adjust to change, and inspire confidence via careful judgment rather than professing to have all the answers.
Vivian Urb, Head of Finance, is a prime example of this style of leadership. Throughout her career, she has transformed the finance function into a driver of growth and innovation. She has cultivated a culture of trust, ongoing education, and creativity that enables her staff to question accepted wisdom, welcome new concepts, and produce long-term value for the company.
Trust and Accountability
When asked about the principle that defines her leadership, Vivian’s answer is clear and immediate: trust. For Vivian, trust is not just an ideal. It is the foundation of how her team works every day. She believes people perform at their best when they clearly understand their responsibilities and are trusted to take ownership of their work. “I’ve always tried to create an environment where my team feels comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, or speaking up when something doesn’t seem right,” she explains.
In finance, Vivian Urb believes mistakes are a part of learning and improvement. What concerns her most is when people try to hide them. “Mistakes can happen, but hiding them is far more damaging than discussing them openly,” she says. She sees trust and accountability as closely connected. In her view, trust encourages people to take responsibility, while accountability strengthens trust. One cannot succeed without the other.
This approach has shaped the culture of her finance team. When employees trust their leader, they raise issues early instead of waiting for problems to grow. When leaders trust their teams, employees take ownership rather than simply following instructions. The result is a finance function that goes beyond compliance. It becomes a collaborative, proactive, and accountable team where transparency, responsibility, and open communication support better decision-making.
Finance as a Strategy
Vivian’s leadership philosophy was shaped through years of experience. Like many finance professionals of her generation, she began her career when the finance function was primarily focused on reporting. The main responsibility was to deliver accurate financial reports on time. Over the years, the role of finance has changed significantly, and Vivian Urb has grown with that transformation.
“When I started my career, finance was primarily about getting the numbers right and meeting reporting deadlines, while that foundation remains essential, the role has evolved significantly to encompass far more than traditional reporting responsibilities,” she says. Her experience across the asset management and real estate sectors allowed her to witness this shift firsthand. Business leaders no longer looked to finance only for reports. They increasingly relied on finance teams for insights that could support better decision-making. The focus moved from explaining what had happened to understanding what the numbers meant and what actions should follow. Vivian Urb embraced this change.
“I now spend much more time collaborating with colleagues across the organization on investments, budgets, forecasts, and business performance, and I enjoy helping teams understand what the numbers reveal and how those insights can support better decision-making,” she explains.
This shift from reporting to strategic partnership has become one of the biggest changes in the finance profession. In real estate, where market conditions can change rapidly due to economic and geopolitical factors, finance must do more than report past performance. It must provide timely insights that help guide business decisions. Vivian Urb has positioned her team as an active business partner that supports strategy and contributes to the organization’s long-term success.
Developing Analytical Thinking
For Vivian, the most important question is not whether the numbers are correct. It is what the numbers reveal about the business. She encourages her team to look beyond preparing reports and focus on understanding the insights behind the figures. “It’s easy to produce a report, but I want my team to understand the story behind the figures,” she says.
Vivian Urb encourages her team to think like business partners rather than simply completing tasks. When revenue changes, the focus should not be limited to recording the numbers. The team should examine why the change occurred, whether it is seasonal or long-term, and whether it requires action from management.
“If costs increase, we need to determine whether the change is temporary or requires action, because developing that analytical mindset helps finance professionals grow while enabling the function to deliver greater strategic value to the business,” she says.
She believes analytical thinking develops through consistent practice. Team members need time to become comfortable asking deeper questions and challenging assumptions. By encouraging this mindset every day, Vivian Urb helps her team build the confidence to analyze issues independently.
Empowering Teams
A common misconception in financial management is that strong controls and innovation cannot exist together. Many believe that finance requires strict accuracy and that it can only be achieved through rigid processes. Vivian Urb disagrees with this view. She believes finance will always require accuracy, which makes strong controls essential. However, she distinguishes between controls that protect the integrity of financial data and processes that continue only because they have always been followed.
“I don’t want people to follow processes simply because that’s how we’ve always done it,” she says. She explains that some of the most effective improvements have come from members of the finance team. Employees have identified opportunities to automate reporting, simplify workflows, and remove unnecessary steps.
This approach is especially relevant as automation and artificial intelligence continue to transform finance operations. Vivian’s leadership prepares her team to embrace these changes rather than resist them. Rather than simply using new technologies, the team plays an active role in redesigning how finance work is carried out.
Navigating Uncertainty
Investment decisions in emerging real estate markets often have no historical precedent to rely on. In many cases, there is no past data that fully explains how a similar situation unfolded. Vivian Urb has developed a disciplined approach to making decisions in such uncertain environments.
“When there isn’t a clear precedent, I focus on understanding the assumptions, the potential downside, and the possible outcomes,” she says. She evaluates different scenarios, consults specialists with relevant expertise, and ensures management has a clear understanding of both the opportunities and the risks involved. “We rarely have perfect information, but we can still make well-informed decisions,” she adds.
Vivian’s approach is not about taking unnecessary risks. It is based on experience, careful analysis, and confidence in a structured decision-making process. She accepts that uncertainty is a natural part of investment decisions. In her view, the ability to work effectively with ambiguity is essential for success in the investment business.
Leading with Transparency
Leadership is often defined by how individuals handle challenging situations rather than moments of success. Vivian Urb believes that difficult conversations are an essential part of effective leadership and addresses them with openness and confidence.
“I’ve learned that avoiding difficult conversations usually makes things harder later,” she says. Her approach is based on remaining calm, focusing on facts instead of personalities, clearly explaining the reasoning behind decisions, and treating everyone with fairness and respect. “Not everyone will agree with every decision, but people generally appreciate honesty and consistency,” she adds.
Vivian Urb believes that difficult conversations do not have to weaken professional relationships. Instead, they can strengthen trust when people feel they have been treated fairly, listened to, and respected throughout the process. This philosophy reflects her leadership style, which emphasizes transparency, consistency, and mutual respect as the foundation for building strong and collaborative teams.
Building Culture Brick by Brick
Vivian Urb believes that a strong workplace culture cannot be created through a single initiative or a statement of values. In her view, culture is built through consistent actions and everyday leadership. “Culture isn’t created through big initiatives. It’s built every day,” she says.
For Vivian Urb, this means being present for her team, listening carefully, and encouraging conversations that go beyond business targets. She believes leaders should be approachable and create an environment where employees feel supported. She also places great importance on knowledge sharing. Rather than keeping expertise at the leadership level, she encourages team members to learn from one another.
“Sharing knowledge not only strengthens the team but also gives people confidence to step outside their usual responsibilities and continue developing,” she says. The result is a culture where junior employees feel comfortable sharing ideas and taking on new challenges. At the same time, senior team members understand the responsibility that comes with the trust placed in them. This collaborative environment helps individuals grow while strengthening the team as a whole.
Human Edge in an AI-Driven World
The growing use of artificial intelligence and automation in finance has raised concerns across many organizations. Many routine tasks that were once handled by junior analysts can now be completed by technology in much less time.
Vivian Urb sees this shift as an opportunity rather than a threat. “I see AI as a tool that helps us spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time thinking,” she says. In her view, technology is best used to process and organize data, while people focus on analysis, judgment, and decision making.
She believes the most valuable skills for finance professionals are those that technology cannot replace. These include asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, communicating effectively with stakeholders, and providing advice based on business context. “Technology can prepare reports much faster than before, but it still can’t replace judgement, experience, or understanding the business context,” she says. For Vivian Urb, the role of a finance team goes beyond producing accurate numbers. Its real value lies in interpreting those numbers, providing meaningful insights, and helping the business make informed decisions.
Creating a Lasting Legacy
When Vivian Urb reflects on the impact she wants her career to have, she focuses less on financial performance and more on the people she has helped develop. “The achievement I’m most proud of isn’t a financial result. It’s seeing people develop,” she says.
Watching team members build confidence, take on greater responsibilities, and grow into leadership roles gives her a greater sense of accomplishment than any financial milestone. “Financial results will always matter, but they belong to a particular reporting period. Helping people grow as professionals and as individuals is something that lasts much longer, and that’s the legacy I’d like to leave,” she adds.
This people-first philosophy also shapes the advice she gives to the next generation of finance professionals. Vivian Urb believes that technical expertise is only one aspect of becoming a successful finance professional. She encourages aspiring professionals to stay curious, develop a strong understanding of the business, take on new challenges, and ask questions to continuously expand their knowledge.
