2000 Achievement Award Winner:
Professional Achievement Award
Republished with permission from the HBS African-American Alumni Association
With staffs on two continents and a mandate to influence business practices throughout the sixth largest company in the world, Paula Banks is "exploring new terrain." Named by BP Amoco Corporation to the newly created position of vice president for global social investment, Banks is setting the strategic direction for a worldwide corporate initiative that will turn both traditional thinking and some existing business models upside down. The goal, as Banks explains, is to "guide our more than 130 business unit leaders to look at social investment as an integral part of their responsibilities, and hold them accountable for the results in the same way they are evaluated on other performance measures."
"Community relations has been viewed by some as 'soft' or charity-focused," Banks continues. "We are reshaping it into serious business through activities that demonstrate, internally as well as externally, that a business-driven multinational can be a force for the greater good. BP Amoco remains focused on wealth creation, which is what we do best, but in a way that enables the communities in which we operate to participate more effectively in the whole economic structure. Our investments will help foster diverse economies that are not directly tied to our presence." Banks' work brings her into daily contact with senior managers and leaders to discuss ways to successfully realize these objectives, which should also contribute to greater access, entry, and share of world markets for the company.
Banks began her career thirty years ago as a trainee at Sears. One of three women and only two African Americans in a staff of 1400, she was approached by a supervisor who asked for guidance in managing her. "I told him to treat me like everyone else," Banks recalls, but she also assured the manager that she would be the top performer in the program. Her subsequent and varied 25-year career with the giant retailer included management responsibility for store operations and labor relations, and positions such as director of public relations and human resources. Banks was recruited to become president of the Amoco Foundation in 1996. Within two years the Chicago native was invited to move to London and join the new senior management team assembled following the merger of British Petroleum and Amoco Corporation. Her present post and scope of responsibilities were approved by the company's board of directors in November, 1999.
In addition to her role at BP Amoco, Banks is a member of the board of directors of the Public Education Network and Reach & Teach South Africa. She also serves on the corporate advisory boards of The Conference Board, The National Urban League, and the National Council of Negro Women. But perhaps her most visible and influential role is as president of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), an organization comprised of almost two hundred senior-level African American corporate executives. "The purpose of the ELC is threefold," Banks explains. "We have built a strong resource network among our members to facilitate the exchange of ideas, we support programs that will ensure a pipeline of African Americans to follow us at the top of leading organizations, and we are becoming a strong voice on national and international economic and public policy issues, particularly in the area of inclusion and workforce diversity."
Since just listening to Paula Banks describe her schedule and commitments can leave you breathless, people often ask why she never seems tired. "I have incredibly high energy, " she says, "but I also believe that when you are passionate and excited about your work, even the on the worst and most hectic days, you can find the strength to continue." Banks learned the value and rewards of hard work early in life. "My family was my inspiration and strongest mentors," she says. "We were taught to be the best we could be while supporting others." She is sustained by a deep personal faith and motivated by a "constant desire to push my own envelope, to learn more and become more efficient on both a business and a personal level."
Her belief in the value of lifelong learning, and the need to provide global leadership on the integration of business and societal issues, brought Banks to Harvard Business School in 1998. As a participant in the School's Advanced Management Program, she gained a broader world-view, which allowed her to "embrace a more holistic understanding of economies and societies" and move to London eager to take up the reins of her new assignment. While discussing her experiences with a colleague, however, old questions arose about the ability of those in staff versus line management positions to have a major impact. It was suggested that further tests of her mettle probably lay ahead. "I hope those tests will really be challenging," Banks responded, with a confident smile. "That way it will be more fun for all of us. I know I'm well prepared."